Excellent WW11 Merchant Mariner Book

books:


	• The Forgotten Heroes: The Heroic Story of the United States Merchant Marine Brian Herbert Forge Books, 2005 - 328 pages average customer review:based on 8 reviews view larger image
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Interesting but flawed book

Brian Herbert's motivation for writing this book is fine. The U S Government treated the merchant marine (which suffered a higher death rate than any military branch) shamefully during and after WW II. Second only to the way it treated the women pilots who were kicked out without even bus fare home. For that reason alone, I hope a lot of people read this book.

But Herbert makes the argument over and over again - seemingly on every second or third page - until you get really sick of reading it. Also the book is an example of awful editing. With typos on nearly every page, the publisher should be ashamed for serving the author so poorly.

And one final complaint: Any author who presumes to write about the sea should know better than to use the phrase "knots per hour." A knot is a measure of nautical miles per hour. To say, "ten knots per hour," is to say, "ten nautical miles per hour per hour." Anyone who uses the term "knots per hour" is immediately and justifiably presumed to know absolutely nothing about the sea.

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Excellent WW11 Merchant Mariner Book

This book really opened my eyes to the plight of the US Merchant Mariners and their value to the WW11 effort and how they were treated.

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UNREWARDED LOYALTY

In the Introduction, the author, Brian Herbert, writes "Under precarious conditions these merchant seamen performed extraordinary acts of bravery, they were the lifeline of the Allied forces, making victory not only possible, but inevitable." In a strict sense they were not members of the armed forces. However, in World War II, the Merchant Marine suffered 8,380 battle deaths or 3.899 % per-capita; that was greater than the Marine Corps that suffered 2.949% battle deaths per-capita.

A brief account of the buildup of the American Merchant Marine is given. Starting in 1936 with a vigorous ship building program, of which the liberty ship designed for rapid construction, was a key design. The U.S. Merchant Marine grew rapidly. In 1942 the U.S. Navy attempted to take control of the Merchant Marine, which the ship owners and maritime unions successfully defeated only to pay a high post war price for winning.

A somewhat disjointed text narrates the World War II perils and accomplishments of the U.S. Merchant Marine which suffered horrendous losses of men and materials. Several examples of wartime merchant marine engagements are given; many will be familiar to readers of WW-II maritime history. Merchant Marine officer, Dean Beaumont, purser on the liberty ship SS Brander Matthews is one of the WW-II narrative vehicles as the text follows his ship in the Pacific until Dean suffered a nervous break-down and was returned home.

Upon returning home, Dean Beaumont found that he, along with all merchant seamen, was not eligible for any medical benefits nor for the educational and/or financial benefits of the GI Bill. Had they been under the control of the U.S. Navy as proposed in 1942, they would have been eligible. Regardless of their heavy losses and merchant marine participation in all the major invasions including Normandy, the merchant marines in the post war period were treated as noncombatants, not allowed to participate in parades with armed force members, provided no benefits and were often treated as second-class citizens. Consequently, some ex-merchant seamen became homeless and many could not participate in the postwar prosperity. This book is a plea for justice for these men who gave the county their full loyalty, often giving their life.

The text also includes a brief outline of the Merchant Marine history dating back to the Revolutionary War when the Merchant Marine was also the Navy in the form of privateers.

If the reader has access to the DVDs now available of the 1952 TV series titled "Victory at Sea", they will find that viewing the episodes "Sealing the Breach" and "Guadalcanal" while reading the book will make the text more meaningful. Regardless of its somewhat jumbled text, this book is worth reading.

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reviews: page 1, 2

The United States Merchant Marine has a tradition of being in the forefront of every American military action and has served with distinction in every conflict. New York Times bestselling author Brian Herbert chronicles the amazing exploits of these gallant seamen, assembling a fascinating array of data from historical documents, government records, diaries, and interviews with surviving veterans.This brilliant history details the heroism, self-sacrifice and grim determination that have always been the hallmark of the United States Merchant Marine.Herbert also reveals one of the great injustices of American history. The civilian fighters of the Merchant Marine performed feats of extraordinary bravery during World War II; they were the lifeline of the entire Allied war effort, delivering troops, materiel, food, fuel, and every essential needed for victory over the Axis. In doing so, the Merchant Marine suffered losses so high that the casualty rates were kept secret. At war's end, the men and women of every other service branch were honored by parades and given medical and educational benefits--but the members of the Merchant Marine, who were so vital to our victory, have received neither the benefits nor the recognition they deserved.Herbert is part of a growing movement across the United States to right the wrong. The Forgotten Heroes is a history of these unsung heroes and a plea for justice.

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