[Maine Mariner]

Thank you for mentioning the merchant mariners who lost their lives at sea during WWII. The merchant marine had the second highest per capita losses during WWII except for the USMC.

[Rockingham]

My late uncle was a merchant marine radio operator on the North Atlantic during WW II. He was on ships in convoys that were attacked by U-boats, with orders not to stop and render aid or pick up survivors. My uncle saw friends lost that way.

In a galling injustice, covert US Navy opposition due to jealousy over higher pay led to US Merchant Mariners never getting the full recognition and veteran and survivor benefits that were promised in wartime as an inducement to service.

[Jacquerie]

I’m not brave enough to have been a WWII North Atlantic Merchant Mariner.

[rottndog]

Yes...a horrific injustice has been done to Merchant Mariners in the way their service and sacrifice has been swept under the rug. Their lives meant no less...the memory of them does not either.

[oldvirginian]

An informational article devoid of politics.

https://www.defense.gov/News/News-Stories/Article/Article/3037882/wwii-merchant-mariners-receive-congressional-gold-medal/#:~:text=Between%201939%20and%201945%2C%209%2C521,National%20World%20War%20II%20Museum.