JOURNAL of COMMERCE, July 21, 1998
Guest Opinion
Justice for merchant mariners
BY DANIEL HORODYSKYBy law, the Merchant Marine is a naval and military auxiliary. During World War II, merchant vessels were nationalized under the War Shipping Administration and turned into armed warships. Their guns were manned by mariners and a special unit of the U.S. Navy, the Armed Guard, whose joint assignment was to deliver the troops, armament, ammunition, planes, fuel and supplies to all fronts.
As soon as a ship left port it was "on the front line," subject to attack by submarine or surface raider. Many ships -- with invasion barges ready to lower -- brought troops to the beaches under enemy fire. During nine days at Anzio, Italy, one Liberty ship counted attacks by 93 planes, plus 203 near misses and two direct hits by shore artillery. The invasion of Leyte, Philippines, claimed 27 cargo ships, 18 of them to kamikazes. More than 100,000 mariners were awarded combat bars.
In World War II, the Merchant Marine had the greatest casualty rate of any service: 6,830 dead at sea, over 11,000 wounded, and 604 men and women prisoners of war. The infamous Murmansk Run claimed one in every eight ships, and 22 of 33 ships in one convoy.
Mariners were accused of earning high pay compared to their Navy shipmates. But according to a 1943 study, their pay was comparable because the Navy man got dependent allowances, survivor pensions, family medical care, paid leave and continued pay if his ship sank. In addition, he later got job preferences and the GI Bill. The 1944 Seamen Bill of Rights, which promised educational and disability benefits, died with the mariner's champion, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
Mariners' quest for veteran status was suspended until 1977, when Women Air Service Pilots, or WASPs, with Air Force Reserve General Sen. Barry Goldwater in command, sought veteran status. Congress insisted on an application procedure for others, and the Air Force Secretary was named administrator. WASPs, who were refused military status by Congress in 1944 and disbanded at the end of that year, were the first of many air-related groups to get veteran status. The Civilian Military Review Board, with its Air Force "maritime historians," kept turning down the Merchant Marine.
In 1987, a federal court mandated veteran status for mariners after an expensive and obviously unnecessary trial. The judge stated: "The Secretary of the Air Force abused (his) discretion . . . The record contains unrefuted evidence that merchant seamen were trained in weaponry . . . The record is silent . . . as to the military training of dietitians, telephone operators and other successful applicants . . . The denials were arbitrary and capricious . . . and contrary to law."
After the trial, the Air Force Secretary "declared" Aug. 15, 1945, as the end of World War II for mariners. However, 25 U.S. ships hit mines, resulting in seven dead and 30 wounded mariners between the Air Force secretary's date and Dec. 31, 1946. On that date, President Harry S. Truman proclaimed: "Although a state of war still exists, it is at this time possible to declare . . . that hostilities have terminated." Congress set that date, which is recognized for other services and by the Department of Veteran Affairs, into law.
Mariners still faced war hazards after Aug. 15, 1945, as they carried bombs and leaking poison gases; mines by the tens of thousands remained in the Mediterranean, North Sea and the Pacific. Mariners were still subject to military justice: 81 were court martialled after that date. Mariners entered war zones where Japanese military units continued fighting after that date. The only significance of the Aug. 15, 1945, date was that the Emperor of Japan announced surrender. But according to the War Shipping Administration, there were more sailings after Aug. 15, 1945, than any time before. Also, U.S. Navy Armed Guard and military passengers on board the ships accrued veteran benefits.
The mariners, who are between 70 and 90 years old and whose ranks are dwindling every day, still struggle for the right to call themselves veterans. The Civilian Military Review Board has been "reviewing" the end date of World War II for the past year. The board, whose meetings are closed to the public, is run by a retired Air Force lawyer who acts as judge and jury for veteran status applications. Mariners also have a bill in Congress co-sponsored by over 275 representatives but opposed by a powerful politician and the Air Force. The Senate version passed with 72 sponsors.
Mariners have served our country in every war since 1775, when privateers faced the British Navy during the Revolution. Congress granted pensions to their widows. World War II mariners just want belated recognition, and perhaps a $7 flag for their coffin.
Daniel Horodysky, a maritime historian, was in U.S. Maritime Service training on Aug. 15, 1945. The U.S. Maritime Service, an official U.S. government service that operated from 1938 to 1954, was also denied veteran status by the Air Force secretary. He served on a War Emergency tanker carrying aviation fuel for the Army Air Force through Mediterranean minefields, and on U.S. Army transports in the Pacific after Aug. 15, 1945.
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