Two corrections to the article.
1. The Marine Corp had the highest % casualty rate, the US merchant service was 2nd.
2. Merchant mariners who served in WII on the oceans did receive veterans status in 1988.
After 1988, the American Legion opened its membership up to those mariners who had received veteran status.
It has been a few years since I checked but the VFW has refused to open its membership up to those mariners. The gun crews on the merchant ships were US Navy personnel and have always been eligible for VFW membership/
That would have been established by the following then?
From the article:
This injustice was not corrected until 1988 when President Reagan signed the Merchant Marine Fairness Act.
I know this is true for the Marines and is probably true for the Merchant Marines, their numbers are a purified essence that leaves out much administration and support people, making their combat loss percentage artificially high, they only count a small slice of their entire operation. In the Army or Navy, everyone is counted, except the Navy whose ground troops (Marines) are pulled from the Navy total.
In the Army for instance, Dentists, and all of the vast administrative and support personnel are counted, not just the more combat oriented portions and Divisions.
For instance in the Pacific combat, the United States Army losses in the Pacific equalled, or even exceeded, the Navy, the Marines, and the Merchant Marines all combined but the intensity of that loss is concealed by the vast numbers of Army personnel back in the states for instance.