Braving the Wartime Seas

Book excerpt: Political and Military Statements in Support of the Thousands of Merchant Mariners Including Those We Honor in This Book Braving the Wartime Seas “The Academy serves the Merchant Marine as West Point serves the Army and Annapolis serves the Navy . . .” (September 30, 1943, dedication of USMMA campus) President Franklin D. Roosevelt “The only thing that ever really frightened me during the war was the U-boat peril.” Prime Minister Winston S. Churchill “This is a hundredth gone. Too damned many of these fine lads gone. Wish there was more we could do to minimize losses.” Captain Richard R. McNulty, June 16, 1943 Note on report of death of a Cadet-Midshipman “They have brought us our lifeblood and they had paid for it with some of their own . . . they have delivered their cargoes to us who needed them so badly. In war it is performance that counts.” Quotes from Douglas MacArthur, General of the U.S. Army “Yours was the first front on every ocean, and without you, no Army and Navy can survive . . . one of the vital teams participating will be recognized as the merchant seamen in dungarees . . . we of the Navy will salute you with a final ‘Well done’.” Admiral Harold R. Stark, Commander of U.S. Naval Forces in Europe “Our operations would not have been possible without the strong support of our Merchant Marine. These gallant officers and men maintained a bridge of ships across the Pacific, and bore their share of the Japanese attacks while unloading on distant islands where the struggle was still intense and the issue not yet decided.” Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, U.S. Navy, Chief of Naval Operations Braving the Wartime Seas is the final book of the American Maritime History Project, a private nonprofit foundation. The quotations were drawn from www.usmm.org. Front cover was designed by Marek Mutch, Bay Village, OH.