Respect the Merchant Marines

Editor,

I’d like to comment on Jonathan Madison’s column “Unfortunate Irony” in the Oct. 24 edition of the Daily Journal on the Merchant Marines. Like his grandfather, my father, Bert Goldrath, served in the Merchant Marines during World War II as a telegraph operator in the Pacific. He reports that the Merchant Marines his grandfather served with were “transporting ammunition, planes and medicine to soldiers on active duty — an activity that left he and his comrades unarmed during combat.” As my father explained it to me, no Merchant Marine vessels ever carried weapons. I believe his estimate of the percentage of Merchant ships lost is accurate. It was common practice for German U-Boats to lie in wait off the U.S. eastern seaboard and destroy hundreds of Merchant Marine vessels. This is in addition to countless ships sunk by Germans crossing the Atlantic and nearing European ports. It is very important to note that Merchant Marines were never classified as veterans. They did not receive veterans’ benefits.