Merchant Marine Survivors of World War II: Oral Histories of Cargo Carrying Under Fire

by Michael Gillen

Overview

World War II could not have been won without the U.S. Merchant Marine. Crewed by civilian seamen in peacetime and carrying much of the nation's ocean-borne commerce, the Merchant Marine became the "fourth arm of defense" in wartime, providing vital support for beachheads in all theaters of operation.

Twenty World War II Merchant Marine veterans are featured in this oral history. Most had at least one ship torpedoed, bombed, shelled or mined out from under them--some of them two. Some became prisoners of the Japanese for the duration of the war, working on the infamous River Kwai Bridge. Many spent time on lifeboats or flimsy rafts under harsh conditions; one--Donald Zubrod--endured 42 days in a lifeboat with several others before their eventual rescue, close to death.

American merchant mariners suffered a casualty rate that was a close second to the Marine Corps during the war.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781476618876
Publisher:	McFarland & Company, Incorporated Publishers
Publication date:	12/17/2014
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	216
File size:	4 MB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

A former merchant seaman, Michael Gillen (Ph.D., Public History, New York University) was later a maritime labor reporter, an historic site curator and a program director and professor of Asian history at Pace University in New York. He also served as director of the project that preserved the Liberty Ship John W. Brown as an operational World War II ship museum in Baltimore. He lives in Lafayette Hill, Pennsylvania.
A former merchant seaman, Michael Gillen (Ph.D., public history, New York University) was later a maritime labor reporter, an historic site curator and a program director and professor of Asian history at Pace University in New York. He also directed the project that preserved the Liberty Ship John W. Brown as an operational World War II ship museum in Baltimore. He lives in Lafayette Hill, Pennsylvania.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Preface: The Ship
1 deleteWilliam J. “Bill” Bailey: “I just couldn’t take it any longer”
2 deleteHoward Bethell: “No longer bums, they were heroes”
3 deleteDaniel J. Bradley: “I’ve been on borrowed time”
4 deleteRexford Dickey: “He died from a broken heart”
5 deleteStanley E. Gorski: The Minefields of Manila Bay
6 deleteJack A. Holt: “We all piled out on deck”
7 deletePaul J. Jarvis: “Okinawa was absolute hell”
8 deleteEric H. Johanson: “We were scared to death”
9 deleteRuel N. Lawrence: “The ship pulled me down”
10 deleteJohn M. Le Cato: “Norluna, you’re supposed to be sunk!”
11 deleteEdward A. MacMichael: One Step Ahead of the Japs
12 deleteEdward C. March: Torpedoes and Molasses Don’t Mix
13 deleteJohn S. “Jack” McCusker: “Did you ever hear a ship die?”
14 deleteHarry A. Morgan: Walnuts and Bauxite for the War
15 deleteDennis A. Roland: A Prisoner of the Japanese
16 deleteWilliam J. Shearer: “She was there, and all of a sudden it wasn’t”
17 deleteHenrik E. “Hank” Sievers: Cargo for Pearl and Nawiliwili
18 deleteRobert B. Smolen: “Captain, they’re gonna ­machine-gun us!”
19 deleteJohn H. Tiencken: “I hated to see her lost”
20 deleteDonald E. Zubrod: 42 Days in a Lifeboat
Appendix A: Glossary
Appendix B: The Crew of a Typical Liberty (Dry Cargo) Ship During World War II
Chapter Notes
Bibliography
Index

Editorial Reviews

the transcriptions are gripping in their details of the perils faced by mariners...an enjoyable read”—Military Review

From the Publisher