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Title: Heroes in Dungarees: The Story of the American Merchant Marine in World War II by John Bunker ISBN: 1-55750-093-2 Publisher: United States Naval Inst. Pub. Date: October, 1995 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $36.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.6 (5 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Filled with stories of heroism and loss
Comment: Granted, a Liberty Ship doesn't have the firepower of a battleship, the reach and awe-inspiring bulk of an aircraft carrier, or even the swashbuckling glamour of a destroyer or PT boat. Still, after reading this exhaustively researched book, it's hard to believe many Americans apparently considered merchant mariners little better than draft dodgers (one merchant sailor who'd had seven ships torpedoed out from under him was thrown out of a club for 'not being in the service'). It took nearly fifty years for them to officially be accorded 'veteran' status.
The story of World War II can't be told, the war itself couldn't have been fought, without the merchant marine. Merchant mariners, in turn, suffered a higher percentage of casualties -- nearly one in four -- than any (other) American armed service. John Bunker, himself a former merchant mariner, has produced a book that tells the merchant marine story in detail ... in an awful lot of detail, in fact. Not really a history of the Maritime Service, or of the strategy of merchant shipping, a slightly more accurate subtitle might have been 'The story of American merchant mariners in World War II.'
733 American merchant ships were lost during the war, and Bunker sometimes seems determined to tell us about every single one of them. I sometimes found myself skimming over tales that, for all their heroism and undoubted drama, still sounded similar to others he'd already told. One chapter, for example, is about ships being torpedoed and men surviving on rafts in the icy waters of the North Atlantic. The next chapter is about ships being torpedoed and men surviving on rafts in the shark-infested Caribbean. The next is about ships being torpedoed and men surviving on rafts in the trackless wastes of the Pacific. Then came the one about ships that went down in storms...
Despite the repetitive nature of some of this, however, many memorable stories do stand out. Men like Gustave Alm, Cadet Edwin O'Hara, or Rexford Dickey, or the crews of the 'Stanvac Calcutta,' the 'Stephen Hopkins' (O'Hara's ship), or the 'Cedar Mills' can rightfully take their place in any collection of genuine war heroes. I encourage any student of the war to study this story of shamefully neglected American heroes.
Rating: 5
Summary: They delivered!
Comment: This book is a wonderful tribute to the Wartime valor of the US Merchant Marine. These largely unheralded heroes delivered desperately needed supplies across perilous seas to our beleagered Allies and to "Uncle Joe", the enemy of our Enemy. FDR's stated willingness to sacrifice up to 90% of convoys, with "all hands and cargoes", proved a staggeringly accurate prediction. Yet Merchant seamen and Naval Armed Guard gunners -- all volunteers -- gallantly braved the Uboats, torpedo planes, and mines, as well as freezing winter storms and other hazards of the sea to fulfill their duty. Without them, the War could not have been won. They deserve recognition, and this marvelous book provides it! Here are their own descriptions of sailing, camaraderie, and life aboard ship. Here too are their harrowing anecdotes of war, heroism, and loss. My father was skipper of a freighter and a survivor of the Murmansk runs, and these stories remind me of his. "Heroes in Dungarees" would make a great gift. I intend to give copies to all my family and friends! Anyone who appreciates the subject of this book will also enjoy Humphrey Bogart's "Action in the North Atlantic" and Jan DeHartog's novel "Captain".
Rating: 4
Summary: Gone but not forgotten
Comment: This is not a scholarly work but rather, this book is a marvelous collection of wartime sea stories.
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Title: Liberty: The Ships That Won the War by Peter Elphick ISBN: 1557505357 Publisher: United States Naval Inst. Pub. Date: September, 2001 List Price(USD): $46.95 |
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Title: Sailing on Friday: The Perilous Voyage of America's Merchant Marine by John A. Butler ISBN: 1574882996 Publisher: Brasseys, Inc. Pub. Date: 01 October, 2000 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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Title: The Fighting Liberty Ships: A Memoir by A. A. Hoehling ISBN: 1557503699 Publisher: United States Naval Inst. Pub. Date: October, 1996 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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Title: The U.S. Merchant Marine at War, 1775-1945 by Bruce L. Felknor ISBN: 1557502730 Publisher: United States Naval Inst. Pub. Date: January, 1999 List Price(USD): $32.95 |
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Title: Unsung Sailors: The Naval Armed Guard in World War II (Bluejacket Books) by Justin F. Gleichauf ISBN: 1557504202 Publisher: United States Naval Inst. Pub. Date: January, 2003 List Price(USD): $21.95 |
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