As far a money goes, I really doubt it my Dad needs it. Its the recognition. Why has it taken so long for WWWII vets to be recognized? And why even longer for the merchant marines?
I don't know. I guess I never realized that he didn't get any sort of allowances. But you know, in that generation, it was duty. They didn't expect to be coddled and won't hardly talk about their service even when pressed. IT was just a fact of life that there was a job to do and someone needed to do it, so they stepped up to the plate. My FIL was in minor league baseball and left that to go into the Merchant Marines. I found some pictures recently taken of him at work at that time. He didn't really have much to say about it - it was just his job. So they are hardly the folks who would be raising a stink to get recognition, you know?