When England defiantly stood alone, a tiny and fading light against Nazi hegemony in Europe, it needed U.S. supplies desperately. Winston Churchill told Parliament in 1940 he needed a minimum of 20 ships docking daily, each carrying 120,000 tons of food and fuel oil. And so the Battle of the Atlantic raged, as merchant ship after merchant ship was sunk by U-Boats. Wolf packs prowled the Mid-Atlantic, outside the reach of long-range aircraft. Despite these dangers, enough U.S. Merchant Marine convoys eluded these German patrols to feed and fuel Britain. They did so without firing a shot. To a man, they were all volunteers. No less an authority than FDR himself remarked, “They delivered the goods when and where needed in the most difficult and dangerous job ever undertaken.”They paid a price. One out of every twenty-six merchant mariners was killed in action, a higher percentage than any other branch of service. But loose lips sink ships. That information was classified, to keep Germans from knowing the extent of their success.
On Thursday, at 1 PM, LV Congressman Charlie Dent will finally present fifty WWII Merchant Mariners with long-overdue honors for their service. This follows Congressional action earlier this year, recognizing the important wartime contributions of the U.S. Merchant Marine. He will recognize these heroes at Alumni Hall - Room 130A, Northampton Community College, Gates Center, 3835 Green Pond Road, Bethlehem, PA.
