Memorial Day - The Forgotten Service

Marion Pellicano Ambrose

Dedicated to my father, Lieutenant JG William F. Cunningham ,USMM

Memorial Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the last Monday of May (May 30 in 2011). Formerly known as Decoration Day, it commemorates U.S. soldiers who died while in the military service. For many years, one of the services, the one that held the record for the highest casualties during WWII, was totally forgotten and unappreciated. That service was the United States Merchant Marines.

The Merchant Marine is a civilian auxiliary of the U.S. Navy, but not a uniformed service, except in times of war when, in accordance with the Merchant Marine Act of 1936, mariners are considered military personnel. In 1988, President Ronald Reagan signed a bill into law granting veteran status to merchant mariners who served in war. Prior to such legislation, they did not receive veteran's benefits.
Talking about the Merchant Marines at the end of World War II, President Franklin D. Roosevelt  said:

"[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 dangerous job ever undertaken. As time goes on, there will be greater public understanding of our merchant's fleet record during this war.

My dad was a Mariner during WWII.  He was turned down by the Navy, Army, and Marines because he was legally blind in one eye. The Merchant Marines gladly took him and sent him to the U.S. Maritime Service Officers' School. There he earned top honors and was made ship’s engineer. (by the way, the Navy then tried to recruit him but he felt indebted to the Merchant Marines and stuck with them.)

In the early days of WWII, most merchant ships weren't armed, so crews disguised telephones poles mounted on the ships to look like guns, their only recourse against attack. Later on, ships became armed with guns that were manned by mariners and a special unit of the U.S. Navy, the Armed Guard, whose joint assignment was to deliver the troops, armament, ammunition, planes, fuel and supplies to all fronts. Standing regular watches, handling winches and cargo gear, cooking meals, checking engine room equipment and manning the guns was the life of a merchant marine. As soon as a ship left port it was "on the front line," subject to attack by German U-boats, battleships, bombers, Kamikazes and sea mines. Mariners fought desperately to save their ships and their own lives against enemy attack. Many ships, with invasion barges ready to lower, brought troops to the beaches under enemy fire. Because of the danger, other ships traveling in the convoy were not allowed to stop and help ships that had been attacked. 

During this “War to end all wars”, the Merchant Marines had the greatest casualty rate of any branch of service – about 9,300 mariners died at sea, more than 12,000 wounded and 604 men and women were held prisoners of war. More than 800 American ships were sunk and countless mariners died on shore of their injuries after their ships were shot at from the air, hit by torpedoes or blown up by floating mines.

One of the most dangerous voyages mariners faced were the ones to the Russian port of Murmansk, above the Arctic Circle on the Barents Sea. This was my father’s job during his term of service.  He also took part in the most deadly of the 40 convoys to Murmansk, “Convoy PQ17,” which left Iceland carrying cargo worth $700 million.  This convoy slowly crept through the Atlantic and was the lifeline of the Allied campaign in Europe during World War II. The Germans knew that if they could cut that lifeline, they would be that much closer to victory. The convoy was forced to follow the coastline of Nazi-occupied Norway and was not only threatened by submarines but subject to attack by land-based aircraft and surface vessels from Norwegian ports. These hazards were compounded by the brutal and often unpredictable weather. Finally, throughout the Artic summer, the convoy was forced to tread their way north fully exposed in 24 hours of daylight.  Only 11 of the 34 merchant ships reached the port of Murmansk, making it one of the most deadly operations during the war.

My father would never talk about his experiences during the war to me or my sister. Any information we received was from our mother, who cautioned us not to ask Daddy any questions because “He watched so many of his friends die all around him.”  Now I understand why.  After doing a lot of research to find out about this Murmansk Run and my father’s role during the war, I am even more proud that he served his country so bravely and never took a life in the process.

 “In times of peace or war, the civilians serving in the United States Merchant Marine have helped keep our Nation safe and prosperous. We depend on these men and women serving on our ships and tugs, in our ports and shipyards, close to home or far at sea, to connect businesses, service members, and citizens around the world.”  President Barrack Obama 2011