Merchant Marines angry about rejection

The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review ^ | Saturday, April 24, 2004 | Dominick DiRienzo

[Willie Green]

Butler County resident Nathan DeSantis tried to enlist in the Marines the day after Pearl Harbor but flunked his physical because he lacked opposing molars.

Sixty-five years later, he thinks he's being overlooked again.

DeSantis is one of 243,000 Americans who served during World War II in the Merchant Marine, a group that suffered proportionally heavier losses than any other military branch. The sacrifice, DeSantis said, makes Merchant Marines worthy of equal billing with the Army, Navy, Marines, Army Air Corps and the Coast Guard on a new World War II memorial planned in Butler.

Not everyone agrees.

[Arkinsaw]

The Merchant Marine is often overlooked.

Personally, It would be much easier for me to tolerate being on a warship with a weapon at hand rather than on the unarmed supply ship hauling supplies to those warships.

The Coast Guard is also often overlooked but they played an important role, particularly against U-boats in the Battle of the Atlantic.

[DefCon]

My Dad was turned down by both the army and the navy
and so he joined the Merchant Marines.
He served on 5 different Liberty Ships in both theaters.

PACIFIC THEATER; BASED OUT OF PEARL HARBOR; JULY 1942 - JULY 1943.
PACIFIC THEATER; BASED OUT OF SEATTLE; JUNE 1944 - SEPTEMBER 1944.
ATLANTIC THEATER; NEW YORK TO LIVERPOOL; OCTOBER 1944 - DECEMBER 1944.

[stylin19a]

I'm scratchin my head...
tried to enlist in the Marines the day after Pearl Harbor but flunked his physical because he lacked opposing molars.

[DefCon]

My dad was turned down because he was color blind.

[madison10]

What? He didn't have the capacity to chew? That kept him out of the Marines?

[sinclair]

I still carry my Merchant Mariners Document in my wallet although I haven't officially used it except for identification in years.

[blu]

Just slightly OT here, but...I talked to a guy who's Merchant Marine now. He was just getting ready to go back aboard. He told me 2 things:

Uncle Sam can tell the MM ships to offload their cargo, then load Uncle's stuff and ship it, instead.

The guys get an extra $100. for sailing in the Persian Gulf. Now, stop your guffawing...the $100 is federal tax-free! Quite the hazard pay, huh?

[Eric in the Ozarks]

My dad served in the AAF as a civilian pilot over the Hump in the China-Burma-India Campaign for nearly two years and was involved in a crash landing and was treated at a vet's hospital. He never got vet's benefits because he was a civilian, yet we're handing out benefits to former Royal Lao troops who weren't even born here.

[jackbill]

I linked to the article and while reading it, several things rubbed me. When I was young, I knew some of the Merchant Marine sailors and I never, ever heard one referred to as a Merchant Marine. So I looked it up.

From a web site dedicated to the Merchant Marine, at:

http://www.usmm.org/

FAQ:What is the Merchant Marine?
The Merchant Marine is the fleet of ships which carries imports and exports during peacetime and becomes a naval auxiliary during wartime to deliver troops and war materiel.

FAQ:What do you call people who are in the Merchant Marine?
Mariners. Seamen. Seafarers. Sailors. Never marines! Mariners is the preferred designation, just like the Seattle professional baseball team. The term Merchant Marines is incorrect, but sometimes used by some old time mariners.

That said, I recall, as a teenager during WWII, a lot of animosity between members of the military and the mariners. The latter were exempt from the draft, as long as they didn't stay on shore leave for more than 30 days. And, as I recall, the mariners' earnings were much greater than military draftees. There were a lot of suggestions that the mariners were using the "service" for financial benefit, and as a means to avoid the draft.

[Willie Green]

There were a lot of suggestions that the mariners were using the "service" for financial benefit, and as a means to avoid the draft.

Well WWII was a few years before my time
but the overall impression I get is that it wasn't a very luxurious manner to dodge the draft...
Looks like a lotta long hours of hard work and hazardous duty...
yeah, the pay might've been a little better, but there certainly wasn't much "glory" or recognition for the vital contribution they made...
Maybe they did have a little extra freedom and liberty to whoop it up while they were in port... I dunno... But I can't picture any of 'em having much of a picnic during the height of THAT war. My hat's off to all of 'em!

[Oatka]

Back in the 50s I worked with a Navy guy who was in the Armed Guard (manned the guns aboard the merchants). Military pay while the MMs raked in the dough. At the end of the voyage, the crew usually passed the hat and the Armed Guard split the proceeds. Some were pretty stingy.

He said he vividly remembers one attack when the shop steward was running around saying "That bomb exploded less than 100 yards away, that's another $50!" I think they got a $100 bonus for every torpedo fired at them. How they could ever verify these things was beyond me.

[lizma]

I'm scratchin my head... tried to enlist in the Marines the day after Pearl Harbor but flunked his physical because he lacked opposing molars.

I don't know. Sounds like he couldn't chew regular food.

My uncle was turned down for Army combat duty because he had flat feet, but he did get to measure Elvis for his uniform!

[TheOldRepublic]

My old man was turned down because of his hearing in the regular military. He joined the Merchant Marines and sialed some of the most dangerous waters in the world.

Let 'em in!!

[Sam the Sham]

but there certainly wasn't much "glory" or recognition for the vital contribution they made...

I don't know about that. Action in the North Atlantic was a great movie. Humphrey Bogart's burial at sea scene at the end was on a par with the ends of Purple Heart or Bataan.

[Sam the Sham]

My father was WW2 merchant marine, too.

[ErnBatavia]

What? He didn't have the capacity to chew? That kept him out of the Marines?

Neither of you have had the pleasure of "dining" at a USMC mess hall, I assume...

[edwin hubble]

Supply routes like the Murmansk Run were as treacherous for the Merchant Marine as Ploesti Raid was for the Air Corps.

[stylin19a]

check my profile

[navyblue]

Supply routes like the Murmansk Run were as treacherous for the Merchant Marine as Ploesti Raid was for the Air Corps.

If I remember correctly, 3 out of 10 got through to Murmansk.

Hell of a way to dodge the draft, wouldn't ya think?