Merchant Marines: An Often Overlooked Branch of Military Service

[Boats]

Merchant Marines: An Often Overlooked Branch of Military Service
By: Melissa Linberg - Library of Congress 05-27-22
Re: https://blogs.loc.gov/picturethis/20...itary-service/

The following is a guest post by Antoinette O’Bryant, Senior Cataloging Specialist, Prints & Photographs Division.

For as far back as I can remember I have stared at a portrait of a young sailor hanging on a wall at home. “Who’s that?” I asked. “That’s your Uncle Melvin. He was in the Merchant Marines,” was the response.

He enlisted when he was eighteen years old but he was probably twenty years old at the time his portrait was painted. He stood proudly, wearing his Merchant Marine’s uniform, a hint of a smile and his arms folded across his chest.

He planned to study engineering when the war was over but regrettably, his plans were never realized because he was killed, January 25, 1944, while serving aboard the Liberty ship, the SS Penelope Barker. A German U-boat torpedoed the ship as it was traveling to Murmansk.

When he died three months before his 22nd birthday, a life full of promise tragically ended.

Liberty ship convoys were attacked and torpedoed constantly by enemy U-boats. A 2016 article in Smithsonian magazine explains: “The U-boat war was particularly unforgiving to merchant mariners. The Merchant Marine suffered a higher casualty rate than any branch of the military, losing 9,300 men, with most of the losses occurring in 1942, when most merchant ships sailed U.S. waters with little or no protection from the U.S. Navy.” [1]

1st Photo link of US Tanker Mechant Marines 1938:
Re: https://blogs.loc.gov/picturethis/fi...1u-768x631.jpg
A United States tanker torpedoed by an Axis submarine. Despite a raging fire which sent columns of black, oily smoke billowing into the sky, crew members were able to bring the flames under control and the tanker was towed to port by a United States Naval ship… Photo by U.S. Navy, Office of Public Relations, between 1938 and 1945. //hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/fsa.8e00811

Merchant Marines and Liberty ships were vital to the war effort because they were responsible for transporting shipments of supplies to military bases around the world for U.S. and Allied forces. The convoys carried vehicles, guns, bombs, gasoline, food, planes, medicine, and military personnel — all the necessary ingredients for warfare.

2nd photo link: https://cdn.loc.gov/service/pnp/fsa/...0/8e01532r.jpg
Sturdy cargo ships fill the sea lanes leading to all fronts, bearing guns, tanks, and planes for the United Nations. The Liberty ships are visible in this section of the convoy
Digital ID: (digital file from intermediary roll film) fsa 8e01532 http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/fsa.8e01532
Reproduction Number: LC-USW33-034629-ZC (b&w film neg.)
Repository: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print

Sturdy cargo ships fill the sea lanes leading to all fronts, bearing guns, tanks, and planes for the United Nations. The Liberty ships are visible in this section of the convoy. Photo by U.S. Navy. Office of Public Relations, 1942. //hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/fsa.8e01532

Uncle Melvin received the Mariner’s Medal posthumously. It was presented to my grandmother on National Maritime Day, May 22, 1944. The Mariner’s Medal recognizes seaman killed or wounded by enemy forces while serving aboard a ship during war.

At least four newspaper articles reported his death: The Evening Star. “Ship Fireman O’Bryant Reported Killed in Action.” (March 10, 1944); The Baltimore African American. “Medals to Kin of 48 Sea Heroes.” (May 23, 1944); The Michigan Chronicle. “Posthumous Award for Dead Hero.” (May 27, 1944); The Omaha Guide. “Mother Receives Mariner’s Medal for Son Lost at Sea.” (June 3, 1944).

After his rescue, Mr. Andrew McMurray, a former crew and bunkmate of my uncle traveled to Washington, D.C. to speak with my grandparents and give an account of how their son died. The photos below, from the National Archives and Records Administration, document the occasion when they met.

[1] Geroux, William, “The Merchant Marine Were the Unsung Heroes of World War II: These daring seamen kept Allied troops armed and fed while at the mercy of German U-boats,”
Smithsonian. (2016, May 27).
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Personal note: My Brother Larry & I were both in during VN. Larry was Army.
I went Navy. I also lost several guys I grew up with from the old neighborhood
during Nam. The neighborhood had many voluteers as well as my Wife's
Brother Jimmy he also died from AO.
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Larry did six years and I did 12 years. Larry got A.O. which later took his life.
But before he died he also did mechant marine service which took him to several
countries he never thought he'd see. He got married fathered a son of which
him and his wife late split up and she re-married another guy. I got a telegram
from the Navy Dept. while in San-Deago, CA. My Brother Larry was in the Balboa
Army Hosp. He later died and was cremated and buried with our Father in
Evergreen Park Cemetary.
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I got permission to take emergency leave and went there to find out he was dying
from AO. His merchant marnie ships were out of the Port of Washington - and I
gathered up his stuff and gave it to his X-Wife and Son - now living New Jersey.
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Larry also had a twin Sister Linda who became a Nun and is still living in Northern IL
at a Catholic home for older Sister's & women.
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A few more I knew got AO or some other agents used during the military.
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As so many families have suffered and continue to suffer today with all the
chemicals we used in the military and are now suffering the side effects
from that exposure.