[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 114 (Tuesday, September 13, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1833]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            THE U.S. MERCHANT MARINE: WE DELIVER THE GOODS!

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                            HON. BOB FILNER

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 13, 2005

  Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, when I introduced H.R. 23, the ``Belated 
Thank You to the Merchant Mariners of World War II Act'' the positive 
response was overwhelming. Many of these Merchant Mariners have shared 
their harrowing, 60-year-old stories and experiences with me, and each 
personal account strengthens my resolve to see that these brave heroes 
are treated with respect by the U.S. government.
  In my ongoing fight to correct the injustice being done to the U.S. 
Merchant Marines--men who have yet to be given full benefits as World 
War II veterans--I would like to submit the following article from The 
American Legion by Dan Allsup, a freelance writer from the St. Louis 
area, entitled, `We Deliver the Goods':
       It's not that Bob Bodine wanted to avoid the World War II 
     draft in 1943. He just didn't think being an Army infantryman 
     sounded like a whole lot of fun.
       Bodine tried to join the Army Air Corps but failed the 
     vision test. He talked to a Navy aviation recruiter, but the 
     Navy was bringing on 17-year-olds at the time. Bodine was too 
     old at 18.
       ``What else is there?'' he asked the recruiter. ``Well, 
     there's the Merchant Marine, but they've got a hell of a 
     casualty rate,'' the recruiter said.
       Bodine, now 80, recalls the conversation. ``What does a 
     teenager care about casualty statistics? I always liked 
     boats, so the Merchant Marine sounded pretty good to me.''
       He secured a slot at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy at 
     Kings Point, NY. In his second year, Bodine sailed off on a 
     required 9-month cruise to the Mediterranean. It didn't take 
     long for him to realize that if he was trying to avoid the 
     draft, he could have taken an easier route. Bodine was a 
     crewmember aboard the USS Fleming, which was hauling a dozen 
     P-51 aircraft and a huge load of vehicle and aviation fuel to 
     the troops. The Fleming was part of a 110-ship convoy. While 
     it escaped the war unscathed, 50 of her sister ships were 
     sunk by German U-boats and floating mines.
       Bodine is one of the more than 243,000 civilian volunteer 
     mariners who served aboard ships that provided the greatest 
     sealift in history. Critical to the war effort, the U.S. 
     merchant fleet delivered troops, supplies, ammunition and 
     equipment all over the world. It took part in every invasion 
     from Normandy to Okinawa, often becoming sitting-duck targets 
     for enemy submarines, mines, bombers and kamikaze pilots. 
     Fighting was especially fierce in the Atlantic, where 
     ``wolf packs'' of German submarines and deadly U-boats 
     prowled the ocean destroying Merchant Marine ships in an 
     attempt to isolate Great Britain. Closer to home, enemy 
     submarines sank hundreds of ships off the eastern coast of 
     the United States.
       In the first 6 months of 1942, German U-boats alone sank 
     more than 400 U.S. merchant ships. Because no official 
     history has been written of the Merchant Marine in World War 
     II, casualty numbers vary from source to source. It is 
     believed, however, that about 9,300 mariners were killed 
     during the war, and more than 1,500 of their ships were sunk. 
     Fortunately, because most Merchant Marine ships traveled in 
     convoys, many of the mariners aboard wounded vessels were 
     fished from the sea by nearby ships. About 600 mariners were 
     prisoners of war and another 11,000 were injured.
       Susan Clark, public-affairs officer for the U.S, Maritime 
     Administration--the Federal agency most involved with the 
     Merchant Marine--said that other than the U.S. Marines, 
     mariners had a higher death rate than any other branch of the 
     service during the war. (Some mariners may take exception to 
     that statistic. A web site for Merchant Marine veterans says 
     their death rate was 1 in 26 and the Marine Corps was 1 in 
     34.)
       President Franklin Roosevelt summed up the war 
     contributions of the U.S. Merchant Marine: ``The (mariners) 
     have written one of its most brilliant chapters. They have 
     delivered the goods when and where needed in every theater of 
     operations and across every ocean in the biggest, the most 
     difficult and most dangerous job ever taken.''
       Despite their losses and their importance to the war 
     effort, surviving mariners weren't met with parades and flags 
     when they returned home. They weren't considered veterans. 
     They couldn't take advantage of the GI Bill, small business 
     loans or medical care for disabilities. Officially, they were 
     civilians. If they were lucky, they received a thank you 
     letter and a lapel pin from the President. After years of 
     fighting the system and a long court battle, some World War 
     II mariners finally received limited veteran status on Jan. 
     19, 1988.
       Sixty years after he last hung up his Merchant Marine 
     uniform, Bodine and many of his Academy classmates still 
     can't believe they weren't considered members of the U.S. 
     Armed Forces during the war. ``I didn't know otherwise until 
     I realized that I wasn't eligible for the GI Bill or any 
     other veterans benefits,'' he said.
       Although some bitterness about the lack of recognition 
     remains, the Merchant Marine sails on today. After the Sept. 
     11, 2001 terrorist attacks, 29 Merchant Marine Academy 
     students operated a fleet of boats into New York Harbor, 
     transporting firefighters and other emergency workers, along 
     with food and medical supplies.
       Today, more than 8,000 mariners serve in the Military 
     Sealift Command, most of them working in support of the Iraqi 
     war. An average vessel moves the equivalent of about 300 C-17 
     cargo aircraft, freeing up aircraft for other critical 
     missions.
       From the Revolutionary War to Operation Iraqi Freedom, the 
     U.S. Merchant Marine has delivered the goods.




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