SS Alexander Majors unloads. She was severely damaged by a kamikaze during Leyte invasion.

Tugs left England 2 days before D-Day, towing concrete breakwaters to Normandy.

Merchant Marine in Every Invasion

Lt. Gen. Alexander A. Vandegrift,
Marine Corps Commandant:

Merchant marine "participated in every landing operation by the U. S. Marine Corps from Guadalcanal to Iwo Jima."

Gen. Douglas MacArthur, U.S. Army:

"With us they have shared the heaviest enemy fire...I have ordered them off their ships and into fox holes when their ships became untenable targets of attack. At our side they have suffered in bloodshed and in death... I hold no branch in higher esteem than the Merchant Marine."

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