There is a good discussion over at Tippecanoe Politics on the issue of Rep. Buyer and the Merchant Marines.
Go to Tippecanoe Politics and the Lafayette J&C story for more detail, but basically the issue is this: Merchant Mariners of World War II engaged in hazardous duty as part of the military effort — they transported bombs, gasoline, shells, ammunition, food, guns, and more and an estimated 9,497 died during the war — but were not recognized as veterans until 1988. Because of the delay, they were not able to take advantage of such benefits as the G.I. Bill.
House Resolution 23, entitled “Belated Thank You to the Merchant Mariners of World War II Act of 2005,” currently has 258 sponsors and would provide to a merchant marine or surviving spouse a monthly benefit of $1,000. To qualify for the benefit, the merchant marine must have served 1) between December 7, 1941 and December 31, 1946; 2) on a vessel operated by the War Shipping Administration or the Office of Defense Transportation (or its agent); 3) in waters other than inland waters, the Great Lakes, or lakes, bays, or harbors of the U.S.; and 4) was a licensed crewmember of the vessel.
Presuming the 258 sponsors all voted for the Act, it would have enough votes for passage if the resolution was allowed to be taken to a vote. Unfortunately for the merchant marines, Rep. Steve Buyer, a former military lawyer, is the head of the House Veterans Affairs Committee where the resolution has been languishing since January 4, 2005.
By way of explanation (sort of), Buyer’s office had this to say:
A spokeswoman for Buyer praised the merchant mariners and acknowledged their service “played a fundamental part in the successes” of the Allies in both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.But, said Buyer’s deputy chief of staff Laura J. Zuckerman, “These men were volunteers working for shipping companies, who could choose their voyage with the knowledge of potential risks and could end their service at any time.”
To me, this supports the case for the merchant marines rather than diminishing it. These guys criss-crossed a North Atlantic full of German subs and other dangers to keep our war machine functioning. They volunteered to do it. And they kept doing it even though they were free to leave.
Reminds one a little of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs) and their 30 year battle after World War II to be recognized.
It pales in comparison to Ronald Reagan’s wartime service in the Movie Division.
Didn’t Reagan have some kind of delusion about serving in Europe?
I think at some point while president Reagan told a story based on one of his movie roles that left the impression that he thought the story was a true event from WWII. As I recall though, he did not put himself into the story. In other words, the “delusion” wasn’t that he had served in a combat zone, it was that a movie role he had played was an actual event, and that it was something he had heard about but had not been involved in.
Reagan supposedly told both Yitzhak Shamir and Rabbi Marvin Hier that he had filmed the concentration camps while in the Army.
Maybe so; maybe he was misunderstood. Maybe it was Alzeheimer’s.
I’m certainly no Reagan fan. There’s plenty of other evidence in both word and deed that he had an idiosyncratic approach to the truth. It’s difficult to understand what benefit would derive from such an easily exposed falsehood, though of course that doesn’t make it impossible.
Reagan’s bad eyesight is supposed to have disqualified him from from most military roles and he served, voluntarily, in the film corps. He didn’t make any Hollywood films between 1943 and the end of the war. Compare the great military hero Duke Wayne, who hid behind his wife’s skirts for the sake of his career.
Even Elvis served in the Military!
The point is that Buyer was installed by Tom Delay to reduce veterans benefits, and he is doing it even at a time when the Bush regime is sending more and more troops into harm’s way, and creating more veteran casualties. (What’s it to Buyer, when he makes a cool ~$160,000+/year?)
A very informative web site that tells the history of the Merchant Marine in WWII is:
http://www.usmm.org/ww2.html
By the way, the Merchant Marines were not paid more than the regular servicemen and women.
“During World War II, some gossip columnists claimed that merchant mariners were getting rich on outrageous salaries. In a 1943 letter to the American Legion, Admiral Telfair Knight of the War Shipping Administration compared salaries for equivalent positions in Navy and Merchant Marine, and found salaries to be equivalent or even higher for Navy personnel. In addition, the Navy offered outstanding benefits, including paid leave, disability and death benefits, free medical care for personnel and dependents, free uniforms, and a generous retirement pension.”
http://www.usmm.org/men_ships.html
Great article! These guys were in the war before we were at war. They carried war material to Britain while they alone faced the Nazis and before the US had entered the war, so these guys were unescorted until they reached British waters. That’s a lot of love of country.
It isn’t quite true that the merchant marine went unescorted any distance across the Atlantic. The US Navy was providing escort before Germany’s declaration of War. One of the reasons Hitler went ahead with a declaration of war (remembering that we did not declare war on Germany the same day as we did on Japan) was that the war in the Atlantic was already effectively a shooting war between the US Navy and the Kriegsmarine. None of this really takes away from the fact that the sailors of the merchant marine were putting their lives on the line, and in fact, were probably in more danger than the sailors on board the naval escorts.
But really, compared to the dangers of a stint in the JAG Corp during Desert Storm, repeatedly crossing German-infested waters during World War II is child’s play.
I can’t quite get the image of German-infested waters out of my mind. Would that be a swimming pool in Fort Wayne?