Phil Morris joined the Navy December 19, 1944, and went to the USNTC at Great Lakes, Illinois, for boot camp and 16 weeks of (Gun) Fire Control School, graduating as the Honor Scholar. He was sent to Ft. Lauderdale for advanced FC training that was terminated after V-J Day. He shipped out from San Diego aboard the Attu (CVE-102) to Pearl Harbor, then to Guam aboard the Bon Homme Richard (CV-31). The hangar decks of these carriers were converted to bunk space for troops. Having had 3 1/2 years of refrigeration experience in civilian life, he was assigned to the Guam Naval Operating Base Public Works refrigeration department. Upon earning a Machinist's Mate Refrigeration Third Class rating, he was put in charge of the crew, predominately Seabees. He was assigned to the crew of the General William Mitchell (P-114), a troop transport, for the return trip to San Francisco, and stood watch, 4 hours on /8 off, in the refrigeration machine room. While stationed at the Treasure Island Naval Station (in San Francisco Bay) he was assigned to Shore Patrol duty in San Francisco. He had a brief assignment at the nearby Alameda Naval Air Station, mothballing the refrigeration equipment on four minesweepers. He was discharged at Lambert Field, St. Louis, July 13, 1946, and returned home to continue his life's work; refrigeration -- 45 five years of it. He retired July 3, 1986, as service manager of McElroy's, Inc., a mechanical contracting firm in Topeka, Kansas. During the working years, he managed to squeeze in a Freshman year at Kansas University and 13 years of evening classes at Washburn University, Topeka, graduating with a BA Degree in English, May 15, 1983.