S1c Charley Tatro was among the 152 personnel lost when USS Morrison was sunk by the Japanese on May 4, 1945, while on picket duty. Tatro's officially engraved Type 3 posthumous Purple Heart and short titled presentation plus some interent research make up this group. The engraving style is consistant with the engraving being done in 1946. Tatro and his shipmates were declared missing when Morrison sunk, and officially declared dead on May 5, 1946.
During the Okinawa invasion, USS Morrison DD560 was assigned the most critical radar picket station commencing April 30, 1945. For the first three days of the assignment bad weather precluded air activity, however on May 4 an enemy force of 25 planes were detected approaching the area. Combat Air Patrol was able to splash several of the attackers but some got through. The first attack on Morrison was a near miss bomb attack off the starboard beam, which was closely followed by two more kamikazes making unsuccessful attacks on the ship. The fourth attack through intense AA fire succeeded in crashing into the stack and bridge, inflicting heavy casualties and knocking out most electrical equipment. Three more kamikazes then crashed into the ship. With damage of this magnitude, Morrison took on a prolonged list to starboard. Two explosions followed almost simultaneously and minutes later Morrison sank. A total of 152 men were lost.
