r/behindthebastards • u/theclosetenby Banned by the FDA • 1d ago

Merchant Marines in WWII

Pretty sad and interesting backstory to this role in WWII - while the men are now considered combat veterans and certainly were in just as much danger as combat veterans, they weren't considered as such after the war. Several of my great-uncles were merchant marines, and I learned they weren't eligible for any veteran benefits until 1988 (the same year my merchant marine gay great-uncle died, so he never got any recognization or benefit).

So for all of them, no medical care, education benefits, home loans, burial in military cemeteries, etc, until 1988. That's 43 years after the end of WWII, and well after Guthrie died.

I wanted to get the dates right so I looked it up just now, and there's a sick (in a bad way) quote from Charles Dana Gibson, apparently a former merchant marine himself, in a 2010 article from a Jacksonville, FL newspaper (the article itself is good), saying how merchant marines, in 2010, who want a pension are just greedy and how they weren't in that much danger. The men were late 80s and older at time of that article. Journalist provides facts after the quote proving him wrong.

Anyway, to say, Woody Guthrie would've never been considered a veteran under the benefits of the law or have any formal recognition. It wasn't worth touching in the episode itself I'm sure, as it's not relevant, but I think it's another interesting piece if you're curious.

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u/Kushan_Blackrazor 23h ago

My mother's father was a radioman on a merchant marine. She had to fight to get a flag for his funeral, but succeeded. This was back in the mid 1990's.

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u/theclosetenby Banned by the FDA 22h ago

Good for her! That's so messed up that even after recognition was formalized, she would still have to fight for that. Terrible.

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u/BonhommeCarnaval 18h ago

It’s so bassackward too. Industrial power and logistics won the war as much as anything else. The US built so many merchant ships and had them moving so many supplies across the ocean that they practically could have won without the Navy. The Japanese and Germans couldn’t have sunk ships faster than the US was launching them. Lend Lease had a huge impact in keeping Allied nations closer to the front in the fight. And they took all the same risks as any naval ship with less ability to defend themselves.