Merchant Marines Still Fighting Battles After War

My husband served in Vietnam. His Dad served with Patton and 3 uncles fought during WWII and one of them was a Merchant Marine. His ship was hit by the Japanese and he ended up in the ocean. When he got stateside, it was clear he had what they used to call "shell shock" and he was give two choices about the rest of his life. Go into an institution or go live on a farm in Massachusetts with other veterans. He took the farm and lived the rest of his life with a couple taking care of veterans just like him.

‘Giving their lives’: Merchant Marine vets seek compensation, recognition
Belleville news Democrat
Mike Fitzgerald
August 15, 2015

When Orville Sova, 88, returned to the metro-east after years overseas serving his country during World War II, he was welcomed home with neither parades nor medals.

Unlike other veterans of his generation, Sova was not eligible for the GI Bill, VA medical care or even burial in a military cemetery.

The reason: Sova served as a sailor with United States Merchant Marine, the civilian-run cargo arm of the U.S. war machine that delivered troops and war supplies to war theaters from Siberia to Australia.

Even though Sova and his fellow mariners played an essential role in winning the war; and even though they served under some of the harshest conditions and in some of the most dangerous war zones, in the eyes of the U.S. government, Sova was still a civilian — and therefore entitled to nothing.

Seven decades after the end of World War II, the lack of recognition and denial of benefits for his wartime service still rankles Sova, a Collinsville resident.

“Every merchant seaman you see floating around today has this fire in their belly because we didn’t get recognition,” Sova said. “We should’ve got it.”
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Merchant Marine Bill not signed by John McCain
Merchant Marine veterans fight for recognition

WWII Merchant Marine remembers guardian angel

The day Eugene Quidort listened to his guardian angel
Posted by Brian Albrecht
January 17, 2013


Eugene Quidort was a cadet midshipman aboard the tanker "Esso Gettysburg," getting ready to go down to the engine room when a voice of warning came out of nowhere. That voice, and later, a school of dolphins, saved his life when the ship was torpedoed by a German submarine during World War II.

Then he heard a girl's voice, clear as the blue sky overhead: "I wouldn't go down there if I were you . . . Go to the flying bridge and get some sun."

Professor told joke in front of Aurora victim's family

UPDATE August 21, 2012

Family Says Professor Shouldn’t Be Fired Over Aurora Joke
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: August 20, 2012

DENVER (AP) — The family of a man killed in the Aurora, Colo., movie theater shooting last month said it did not want a United States Merchant Marine Academy professor dismissed for a joke he made about the attack.

Original report

Gregory Sullivan, Professor At U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, Suspended For Colorado Shooting Remark
AP/The Huffington Post
Posted: 08/16/2012

KINGS POINT, N.Y. -- A professor at the United States Merchant Marine Academy faces dismissal for joking about the Colorado movie theater shootings in front of his students, including one whose father was among the victims.

James Holmes, the suspect in the Aurora, Colo., mass shooting, has dyed his hair bright orange.

The professor had just turned down the lights to show the documentary and was preparing to step out for a few minutes when he made the remark.

According to The New York Times, the professor said, “If someone with orange hair appears in the corner of the room, run for the exit."

Shashi Kumar, the institution's academic dean, called the joke "notoriously disgraceful conduct" and recommended that Sullivan be fired. The internal document said Sullivan was informed on Aug. 10 that he had 10 days to contest his dismissal.

The document also said Sullivan had been unaware that the father of one of his students was killed in the shootings. It said he immediately apologized to the student after being told of his loss. He also offered apologies to the entire class and the administration.

But the notice also said the professor should have been aware of the student's loss because the school had sent an email about it on July 25 and the student had been absent for a few days. It said Sullivan also had given two other students permission to miss class to attend a funeral in Colorado.
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Veteran of 4 armed services dies on Fourth of July

Veteran of 4 armed services dies on Fourth of July
By KVAL News
Published Jul 9, 2012

FLORENCE, Ore. - Ron Mossholder, a veteran of four different armed services, died on the Fourth of July from lung cancer.

He would have turned 85 on July 14.

Services for Mossholder are planned Aug. 11 at 2 p.m. at the Three Rivers Casino.

Tom Adams from KVAL News interviewed Mossholder in May after a caregiver discovered Mossholder's interesting past.

Mossholder was honorably discharged from the Navy, Merchant Marines, Coast Guard and Army; once sparred with Muhammed Ali; and helped manage the cleanup after the Exxon Valez oil spill.
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Carbon monoxide leak at Merchant Marine Academy in NY sends 38 to hospital

Carbon monoxide leak at Merchant Marine Academy in NY sends 38 to hospital for evaluation

By Associated Press, Updated: Monday, January 9, 12:46 AM

KINGS POINT, N.Y. — Nassau County police say about 38 people have been taken from the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point to area hospitals for evaluation after carbon monoxide was found to be leaking at the facility.
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Stamps Commemorate Misunderstood Merchant Marine

'An Overdue Honor:' Stamps Commemorate Misunderstood Merchant Marine

All-volunteer maritime industry is recognized as the backbone of America's growth and strength, and unsung heroes of World War II.

By Bruce Goldfarb
July 29, 2011

Aboard the John W. Brown docked at Baltimore’s Inner Harbor--one of only two Liberty ships remaining out of a fleet of more than 2,700 built during World War II--people line up to buy an everyday household item, but one that holds special symbolism.

For Friday and Saturday, the venerable ship has been designated a special post office by the U.S. Postal Service. On Thursday, USPS issued a set of “forever” first-class stamps to commemorate the U.S. Merchant Marine, and they were going fast.

Since America’s founding, the maritime industry was integral to the nation’s growth and security, said Postal Service Vice President Jim Cochrane at a July 28 ceremony at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Port, NY.

The stamps “pay homage not only to the ships, but to also to the valor of the thousands of dedicated members of the U.S. Merchant Marine who served their country and served it honorably,” Cochrane said in a USPS statement.
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Stamps Commemorate Misunderstood Merchant Marine

Merchant Marine veterans fight for recognition

While my husband's father and uncles were all in WWII, one of them was a Merchant Marine.

Merchant Marine veterans fight for recognition
Members of the Merchant Marine, a civilian organization that fought the Japanese in World War II, are now in their 80s and 90s. But now their battle wages on for recognition from the U.S. government, which recently passed a bill that would provide a monthly stipend for mariners, in lieu of benefits they didn't receive after the war.

By Erik Lacitis

Seattle Times staff reporter


In this World War II photograph, Peter Chelemedos, also a Merchant Marine veteran, is shown with his crew after his ship was sunk by the Japanese.

Some had tattoos on their forearms. Some had brought along pictures of themselves from more than six decades ago.

That would have been during World War II. The pictures showed skinny guys, heads full of hair, with unlined faces looking to the future.

They had been Merchant mariners, young and sailing the world in their cargo ships that ferried troops and war cargo.

Now all that exploring is done.

Now they're in their 80s — some past 90 — and along with the tattoos a good portion wear hearings aids. They sport white hair — if hair at all — and walk stooped.

Now what matters to them is a battle they've been fighting since the end of World War II.

It is simply, they say, to be recognized for the war veterans they are, even if Merchant Marine members are civilians.

During a war, by federal law, the Merchant Marine becomes an auxiliary to the Navy. That is what happened during World War II, when 250,000 of the sailors manned some 5,000 ships, says the American Merchant Marine Veterans. It says 1,554 of their ships were sunk, with a total of 9,497 war dead, a higher casualty rate — 1 in 26 — than any of the military services.

"The Army, the Navy gave us our orders. They put us amongst torpedoes and kamikaze pilots. We were hauling the troops and keeping them supplied," says Bob Barbee, 84, of Sequim.

"But if our ship got sunk, our pay stopped. No medical benefits. If two men were in the water, and one was a Navy man, and the other a Merchant Marine, the Navy man would always get picked up. The Merchant Marine might get picked up, taken to India and he had to find his own way home."
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http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2009417093_merchant04m.html

Merchant Marine Bill not signed by John McCain

Merchant Marine vets may yet be honored
Art Sloane
Special to the Republic
Feb. 5, 2008 12:55 PM

World War II has been over for 62 years and one group of men that served never has been recognized for its heroism.

These are the men of the Merchant Marine and Army Transport Service. Legal age to enter service was 17 with permission during the war, but many younger men enlisted by lying about their age.

Many chose the Merchant Marine because legal age was 16. When President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the GI Bill in 1944, he stated, "I trust Congress will soon provide similar opportunities to members of the Merchant Marine who have risked their lives time and time again during war for the welfare of our country."





Now all these years later, the few Merchant Marine war veterans still alive would like to see Senate Bill S961 passed. The House of Representatives passed the bill in 2007. Our two Arizona senators, Jon Kyl and John McCain, have not signed on even though 57 other senators have.

The bill is known as the "Belated Thank You to the Merchant Mariners of World War II."

• Throughout the Valley are collection points for used clothing, shoes, etc. These containers are marked Loved Ones Lost. A portion of the clothing collected goes to veterans' charities. In addition, there are two thrift shops. The organization is donating clothing to Stand Down For Homeless Veterans the weekend of Feb 15-17. For the collection depot nearest you call 480-252-1270.

Organizers of the Stand Down still need many items, such as backpacks. It is estimated that there are more than 3,000 homeless veterans on the streets of the Valley. 602-305-8585.
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