Marvin Douglas Morris
Corporal Marvin D. Morris served with Mike Company, Third Battalion, 4th Marines.
He was captured at Corregidor and died while a prisoner of war at Cabanatuan, Philippine Islands, on 27 July 1942.
Branch
Marine Corps Regular
Service Number 279934
Current Status
Remains not recovered.
Pursuit Category
This case is under Active Pursuit by the DPAA.
Capsule History
Pre-War Life
Birth
August 22, 1918
at Carnegie, OK
Parents
Burrell Douglas Morris
Minnie O. (Williams) Morris (d. 1924)
Education
Hamlin High School
Occupation & Employer
Details unknown
Service Life
Entered Service
January 4, 1940
at Dallas, TX
Home Of Record
Hamlin, TX
Next Of Kin
Father, Mr. Burrell Morris
Military Specialty
—
Primary Unit
M/3/4th Marines
Campaigns Served
Philippine Islands / Corregidor
Individual Decorations
Additional Service Details
—
Loss And Burial
Circumstances Of Loss
Marvin Morris was stationed at Cavite, Philippine Islands, when the United States entered World War II. His unit was re-designated as the Third Battalion, 4th Marines, and Morris served with Mike Company in the defense of the Philippines and the siege of Corregidor. He was promoted to the rank of corporal in April 1942.
Morris was captured in the fall of Corregidor on 6 May 1942, and held as a prisoner of war at Cabanatuan Camp #1, Nueva Ecija province. Unsanitary living conditions, harsh treatment by guards, and a starvation diet took a rapid toll on the prisoners of war; Morris suffered from a lethal combination of malaria and dysentery. Finally, he was carried to “Zero Ward” – a building for hopeless patients – and died on the afternoon of 27 July 1942.
Burial Information or Disposition
Marvin Morris was buried in a mass grave in Cabanatuan’s prison cemetery – but unfortunately, the exact location was not recorded at the time.
Graves Registration personnel working in Manila after the war were unable to identify any remains as belonging to Corporal Morris. There is a high likelihood that he is buried in the Manila American Cemetery as an unknown.
Note: Burrell Morris was informed that Marvin died on 31 October 1942: this was a wartime decision made “for administrative purposes.” Prisoner records from Cabanatuan give the corrected date as 27 July 1942.
Memorials
Next Of Kin Address
Address of father, Mr. Burrell Morris.
Location Of Loss
Corporal Morris died at Cabanatuan Camp #1.
