Philips was Laurel’s first casualty of WWII

I began working at the Advocate in 1961 when I was a sophomore in high school and continued through 1969 when I graduated from college.

One of the jobs I had back in those days was printing the Memorial Day program. The list of deceased veterans was much smaller then — probably a third of what it is now.

As I printed the programs, I often wondered who some of these old soldiers were and how they died. A number of years ago, I wrote about the Civil War vets and the World War I vets. For the next few weeks, I plan to write about the ten Laurel men who were killed in action during World War II.

Duane Phillips was the first Laurel boy to be killed in action during World War II. Born to Mr. and Mrs. Arland Phillips of Randolph on May 12, 1923, Duane came to Laurel with his parents in 1937.

He graduated from Laurel High School with the Class of 1941 and enlisted in the Navy on July 8 of that year. Then 17 years old, Phillips was sent to the Great Lakes Naval Training Center for basic training and later was assigned to the destroyer U.S.S. Sims.

With the outbreak of World War II on Dec. 7, 1941, the Sims was assigned to a task force built around the aircraft carrier Yorktown and was sent to the South Pacific to engage the Japanese navy.

Assigned to the task force’s fueling group, the Sims final role was to escort and protect the oiler Neosho —a tanker used to refuel the warships of the task force.

Thinking the home islands were beyond the reach of American air power, the Japanese government was stunned by Col. Jimmy Doolittle’s daring bombing raid over Tokyo on April 18, 1942. In response to the raid Admiral Yamamoto ordered the Japanese navy to extend the nation’s defense perimeter by occupying New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.

Three carriers, four heavy cruisers, twelve troop transports and a number of escort ships were sent to capture Port Moresby and Tulagi.

Apparently unaware of the presence of two U.S. task forces in the Coral Sea, part of the Japanese fleet came around the southern tip of the Solomon Islands and entered the Coral Sea on May 5, 1942. Some 70 miles to the north were the two American carriers Yorktown and Lexington together with their support vessels.

The next day Rear Admiral Frank Fletcher finished refueling the ships of the Yorktown task force from the fuel carried on the Neosho. Nearly empty, the Neosho was then detached from the task force and sent south escorted by the Sims. On the morning of May 7, the pilot of a Japanese reconnaissance plane sighted the two American ships which he mistakenly identified as a carrier and a cruiser. Admiral Takagi ordered an attack. The Japanese ordinarily would not waste bombs and ammo on ships like these. But by the time Takagi realized his error, it was too late to recall the planes.

Several waves of Japanese dive bombers attacked the Sims and the Neosho. Struck by at least seven bombs and one plane which crashed into her deck, the Neosho soon was a blazing wreck. But despite the damage it remained afloat for several days. The Sims was hit at least three times. Two 500-lb. bombs penetrated the deck and exploded in the engine room. Within minutes the Sims began sinking stern first. As she was going down, a massive explosion lifted the ship nearly out of the water causing it to buckle and break in two. Out of a crew of 235, only 15 survived. Two of the fifteen died while waiting to be rescued. In a report made shortly after being rescued, Petty Officer James Dicken noted: “I never saw any sign of panic. Everyone was on their stations doing their job and the whole ship worked as a well-organized unit until the end. Discipline was excellent.”

The Battle of the Coral Sea marked the first naval battle in history between aircraft carriers. Both sides attacked with carrier-based dive bombers and torpedo planes rather than naval artillery.

The heavily damaged Yorktown lived to fight another day but the Lexington was dead in the water and had to be scuttled. One Japanese carrier was sunk; two others were heavily damaged.

The Navy dropped a veil of secrecy over the incident and it was several months before Mr. and Mrs. Arland Phillips learned that their son was among the casualties.

The Advocate did not report Phillips’ loss until September 9, 1942, at which time a headline noted: DUANE PHILLIPS MISSING IN ACTION -- FORMER LOCAL BOY IS FIRST TO BE REPORTED MISSING IN ACTION BY NAVY. By that time the Phillips family had moved to Omaha where Mr. Phillips had taken a job in a bomber plant.

Not until July 1943 -- more than a year after the Sims was sent to the bottom of the Coral Sea -- did the Navy Department declare Seaman Duane Phillips dead. Memorial services for the 19-year-old sailor were held at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Laurel on July 8, 1943. Listed as survivors were his parents Mr. and Mrs. Arland Phillips of Omaha; sisters Eleanor and Joyce; brothers Darrell and Arland Jr.; grandparents Mr. and Mrs. James O’Connor of Coleridge and Mr. and Mrs. A.C. Phillips of Randolph.

Duane Phillips was one of Laurel’s unsung heroes of World War II. His name did not appear on Laurel’s Memorial Day program until 2007.

The Military Personnel Records Center in St. Louis released little more than his name, rank, serial number and the name of the ship on which he served. All of the muster rolls, log books and other important papers went down with the Sims.

The wreckage still lies somewhere on the ocean floor in what is now the Australian Coral Sea Heritage Park and is protected by the Australian government.

Duane Phillips’ body is currently listed as unrecoverable by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency.