Merchant Marine

I congratulate you for your article on the SS Lane Victory [“We Deliver the Goods,” July 2004]. Rarely does a major magazine publish favorable articles about the Merchant Marine. With all the outrageous lies that have been told about the Merchant Marine in World War II, very few, if any, support the loss of life and the loss of ships that these civilians suffered.

The Veterans of Foreign Wars and American Legion fought to deny these people veterans’ benefits, to their everlasting shame. Congress was hardly better. [The time] is long overdue to pay homage to the sacrifices made by the Merchant Marine in World War II. Who was it that brought the supplies, ammo, and support to the men who landed in North Africa, Anzio, the Solomons, and Normandy? It wasn’t the Navy!

I, too, have recently visited the National D-Day Museum in New Orleans. It is a great museum, but there is one tiny, solitary pedestal [among] three floors of artifacts that recognizes the Merchant Marine in World War II. The docents are only concerned with collecting information about “the fighting forces.”
What in [heck]’s name was the Merchant Marine?

Of course, now we finally have a national memorial to World War II in Washington. I say again, where is the Merchant Marine?

You veterans of World War II should by now realize that your PXs, beer, sundries, clothes, airplanes, bullets, and the tons of paraphernalia [that enabled you to] survive were hauled across the seas by men and ships you have not deigned to acknowledge.

Cmdr. Norman Hansen, USN-Ret.
Chula Vista, Calif.

True enough, merchant mariner Floyd Hall would not have qualified for a purple heart for wounds in 1945, but he would have qualified for the Mariner’s Medal, the Merchant Marine’s Purple Heart equivalent.

While on the subject of the Merchant Marine, all other issues aside, no one should forget that merchant sailors were paid far more than their armed forces counterparts and did not have to go.

Lt. Col. Wayne Silkett, USA-Ret.
via e-mail

Reserve Health Care

I am a physician reservist and veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom [who served] with 3rd battalion, 23rd Marines in the Al Kut area for five months in 2003. I am writing to express my support for reservist access to TRICARE. I noted a recent editorial from Sen. Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) also supported this benefit for reservists. As you know, Congress authorized a one-year trial, and to my knowledge this has not been implemented. It appears rather obvious that DoD is dragging its feet to avoid even a trial period.

As a self-employed individual, I purchased a high-deductible plan that I cancelled in 2003 upon activation, then I had to repurchase private insurance this year. I have now experienced three sets of deductible expenses in less than 18 months. As one can imagine, this can be quite expensive.

I have been told that 40 percent of the medical providers in the 4th medical battalion have left the reserves since Operation Iraqi Freedom deployment. I am now at the point that I may have to leave the Navy Reserve medical corps if reservists are going to become a part of the rotation for deployment, as interruption of insurance and providers is such a huge financial and time expense.

I am willing to continue to serve, but DoD has to come up with some kind of plan to avoid these burdens. I am willing to pay for the insurance during periods of inactivation, I just need a steady source of insurance that I do not have to cancel when activated.

John M. Dawson, D.O.
Assistant Director,
Emergency Medicine
Salem Community Hospital, Ohio

Small Benefit to Survivors

Anytime I read or hear anything concerning [the Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP)], it just serves to infuriate me. I have just recently turned 62. I was receiving a small SBP check each month in the amount of $447; however, because I am now 62, my check has been cut to $288 a month. It amazes me how people who are supposed to be as smart as those who have great political careers can possibly think that because a person gets older it doesn’t take as much for them to live on and to pay their bills. They become so patriotic when things like Sept. 11 happen but then forget those men who are responsible for the freedoms we enjoy.

My husband, who passed away in September 2002, served 22 years of his life in the Navy. He was a Navy seal [and] an honorable and patriotic man until the end. He was also the love of my life. And I am offended that people we elect to office think only of enlarging their bank accounts and furthering their careers. They should each one have the same benefits that our retired military have, and then perhaps they might change their ideals.

Linda Harper
via e-mail

Sounding Proud

I was proud to see my father’s name (Lt. Col. Richard L. Van Nest, USN) on your list of “Sounding Taps” [May 2003]. He passed away Dec. 28, 2002. My brother is in the Army National Guard, and his unit has been activated recently. He would give anything if our dad could see him now. He is 42 and not the young kid ready for action, but yet he is proud to fight for our country and will do so with our dad’s memory with him.

Natalie Hafen
via e-mail

Auf Wiedersehen, Garmisch

“The Hills Are Alive” [“On Leave,” July 2004] left me with a mixed emotions regarding the Armed Forces Recreation Center (AFRC) in Garmisch, Bavaria. As a Seabee in the early ’50s stationed in Port Lyautey [now Kenitra], Morocco, I spent happy days in Garmisch on leave.

As I recall, there was a nightclub called the Casa Carioca, which was one of the best anywhere, bar none. The retractable dance floor covered an ice rink where first-class ice reviews were held for the gis and performed by American and international skaters from all over Europe. It was better than being in New York, and I always wondered if it continued through the years. …

Now according to this article many of the facilities (Patton Hotel, Lake Hotel at Chiemsee, etcetera) are being closed permanently. It would be heartbreaking if the Iraq security problem were used as the excuse not to fund AFRC attractions in Bavaria. It would seem that, to the contrary, now is when they are needed by our armed forces.

Capt. Ronald F. York, USNR-Ret.
DeLand, Fla.

Major League Pilots

The “Spotlight” column [“News Notes,” July 2004] stated that Jerry Coleman is “the only former Major League Baseball player to see combat in two wars.” How could you forget Baseball Hall of Famer Ted Williams, who also was a Marine Corps pilot during World War II and Korea?

Capt. Joe Burch, usmc-Ret.
Oceanside, Calif.

Editor’s note: According to “The Official Ted Williams Web Site” (www.tedwilliams.com), Ted Williams missed combat in World War II. He trained as a naval aviator, but “V-J Day was declared while Ted was in San Francisco. … He was sent to Hawaii anyway—and it  was in Honolulu where he finally received his orders to return home.”
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