Brave or Coward? Vet or Not a Vet!

[Manchu34]

This is about a group of unsung, often slandered, and unrecognized American heroes of World War 2. Who am I talking about? It’s not the Navaho code talkers, the OSS, or similar groups. I am talking about the American who served as Merchant Marines in the US Maritime Service.

Let’s start with some of myths and slander that was written about them during WW2 and in later years. They were and still accused of being drunks, cowards, refusing to enter a combat zone, and even being draft dodgers. These are just a few slandering of these veterans. Now, let’s read the real story behind these unrecognized heroes.

Let’s examine each of the above slanderous claims made against them. Sure there were drunks in the US Maritime Service, but then each of the other branches had them as well. While on board under sail they were not allowed to drink while on duty.

As far as being cowards and refusing to enter a combat zone, I vote NO and here’s why. For starters they are the only branch that had members at every invasion that the US took part in, be it the Pacific, Atlantic, Mediterranean. Be it Anzio, D-Day, Guadalcanal to Iwo Jima, Leyte, and Mindoro to name a few. For fatalities the US merchant marines had 1 in 25 killed in action. While the US Army had 1 in 48, the Marines had 1 in 34 Navy had 1 in 114, the Coast Guard had 1 in 421. Furthermore, the US Merchant Marines lost over 1,500 ships were sunk, with 1 in 8 mariners losing their ship.

Furthermore a few of the US Merchant Marine’s ship masters earned US military medals. Joseph Aloysius Gainard, Commander USNR: US Navy Cross (North Atlantic); John A. Mattson: Distinguished Service Medal (support of Bataan); Henry H. Hauffman, Silver Star (Anzio), 9 Bronze Stars (Normandy Invasion); Williams Atkinson, Richard J. Bordeaux, and James De Puey: Navy Marine Corps Medal; 26 Purple Heart (Bari: 19, New Guinea: 1, Corregidor: 1, Antwerp: 3, North Africa: 1, Lyman Abbott: 1).

Below are some specific acts of bravery, heroism, and dedication.

Anzio:

Many Liberty ships had temporary accommodations for 200 troops and headed for the beaches under enemy fire with invasion barges in the rigging ready to lower. During 9 days at Anzio, Italy, the Liberty ship SS F. Marion Crawford counted: 76 air attacks by 93 planes, and 203 near misses from shore artillery. The ship took 2 hits from 170 mm shells. Her crew hit 3 enemy planes.

Normandy;

About 2,700 merchant ships were involved in the first wave of the invasion on D-Day, landing troops and munitions under enemy fire. In Operation Mulberry, about 1,000 American mariner volunteers sailed 22 obsolete merchant ships (Blockships), to be sunk as artificial harbors at the Omaha and Utah beachheads. American mariners also crewed many of the tugs which towed the huge concrete caissons across the English Channel to be sunk with the Blockships. During the next year, at great risk, mariners continued to shuttle 2.5 million troops, 17 million tons of munitions and supplies, and a half million trucks and tanks from England to France

One of the most dramatic acts of heroism occurred Sept. 27, 1942, in the South Atlantic on the Liberty ship SS Stephen Hopkins. She came upon the heavily-armed German raider Stier, disguised as a neutral ship, and her escort, the Tannenfels. When the Hopkins refused to surrender, both vessels shelled her. The Hopkins fought back valiantly. With his ship in flames and her stern gun-crew dead, engine cadet Edwin O'Hara, from the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, fired the last five available shells, setting the Stier on fire. O'Hara, killed by shrapnel, and 40 others went down with the ship. The Stier blew up and sank. The 19 survivors of the SS Stephen Hopkins set off on a 2,000-mile, 31-day voyage to Brazil in a lifeboat during which four crewmen died.

Captain Paul Buck, O'Hara and three officers were given the Distinguished Service Award posthumously. The Hopkins received the Gallant Ship Award. Furthermore, the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy is the only Federal academy authorized to carry the Battle Standard Flag, by virtue of her 142 Cadets killed in action.

The SS Admiral Halstead was in Port Darwin, Australia on February 19, 1942 with 14,000 barrels of high octane gasoline when the Japanese launched heavy air raids on the port. After the first raid, military authorities ordered the crew to leave the ship. For 9 days, 6 of her crew voluntarily reboarded her each morning to take her away from the docks, and each night brought her back to discharge her precious cargo. They manned her two machine guns successfully -- the SS Admiral Halstead was the only one of the 12 ships in the harbor which was not damaged or destroyed.

Battle for the Philippines

In October 1944 merchant ships delivered 30,000 troops and 500,000 tons of supplies to Leyte, during the invasion of the Philippines. They shot down at least 107 enemy planes during the almost continuous air attacks.

In the Mindoro invasion of the Philippines, more merchant mariners lost their lives than did members of all the other Armed Services combined. Sixty-eight mariners and Armed Guard on the SS John Burke and 71 on the SS Lewis E. Dyche disappeared, along with their ammunition-laden ships as result of kamikaze attacks. The SS Francisco Morazon, also in the same convoy, fired 10 tons of ammunition defending herself.

Leyte

Twenty ships loaded with troops and ammunition were anchored at Leyte fighting off the round-the-clock kamikaze attacks. Merchant mariners were fully involved working with the Armed Guard gun crews, rescuing soldiers from fiery decks below, and often assisting the Army doctors with the wounded

[b]Murmansk Run: Cold, Deadly Voyages]/b]

Here, I want to ask whose brave and whose not. The most deadly of 40 convoys sent to Murmansk, USSR, above the Arctic Circle on the Barents Sea, was PQ17 which left Iceland carrying cargo worth $700 million. A large battle fleet of British and U.S. Navy ships sailed on a parallel course. The Allies hoped to lure the Germans into an uneven battle. But when the British Admiralty mistakenly thought the German battleship Tirpitz with firepower superior to the British ships and the battle cruiser Scheer were on their way to intercept PQ17, the Admiralty ordered British and American warships to abandon the convoy to avoid heavy Navy losses. They told the convoy to: "Scatter fanwise. Proceed to destination at utmost speed." The merchant ships were thus abandoned to almost certain destruction, and an icy death for their crews.

The 5 destroyers were ordered to join the fleeing Navy ships. Some of the escorts ran for safety; many bravely tried to help the merchant ships the remaining 700 miles to safety. Between July 4 and July 14, 1942, Nazi torpedo-bombers and U-Boats launched repeated, devastating attacks on the lightly armed ships.

Only 11 of the 34 merchant ships reached port. Twenty-four were sunk, along with 153 mariners and Armed Guard, 250,000 tons of war materiel, including 3,500 trucks, 200 aircraft and 435 tanks. Lifeboats brought some mariners to German-occupied Norway where they became POWs. Some survivors spent up to 3 weeks on rafts and open lifeboats and lost limbs to frostbite

Military Leaders comments.

Commenting on the part the Merchant Marine played in the Mindoro Invasion, Gen. Douglas MacArthur said: "I have ordered them off their ships and into foxholes when their ships became untenable under attack. The high caliber of efficiency and the courage they displayed mark their conduct throughout the entire campaign in the Southwest Pacific area. I hold no branch in higher esteem than the Merchant Marine."

Lt. Gen. Alexander A. Vandegrift, U. S. Marine Corps Commandant: "The men and ships of the Merchant Marine have participated in every landing operation by the United States Marine Corps from Guadalcanal to Iwo Jima -- and we know they will be at hand with supplies and equipment when American amphibious forces hit the beaches of Japan itself."

Now as far as being draft dodgers, I still vote “NO”. For starters, the US Maritime Service accepted men from the age of 16 to 78 years old, some with one eye, one arm, one leg, or heart disease. Many were high school dropouts, eager to help win the war. Furthermore, if a US Merchant Marine had his ship sunk, he had approximately 30 days to either sign on and set sail on another ship of they were immediately drafted.

Now in closing, to this day the American Government still resists recognizing the US Merchant Marines as WW2 veterans. Even after the military set standards to who is or is not a WW2 veterans and began recognizing the Women Air Corp (pilots who shuttled planes to debarkation fields. However, the US Air Force who was assigned the task to determine the status, still refuse to recognize them, despite the fact they have met the standards set by US Air Force and Depart. of Defense.

[Woodmonkey]

What an amazing group of men they were. Thanks for posting this, Ed.

[daniels116]

I would have to agree that the merchant marines are not cowards, and I also think that they should be recognized as veterans and should be allowed to have the benefits that are allowed to the title

[redtanker]

ecellent posting with some great information thanx