Collection Veterans History Project Collection

They Also Served: Coast Guard and Merchant Marine

The often-neglected branch of the armed forces is the Coast Guard. Formally established in 1915, the service can trace its origins to 1790. During wartime, the men and women of the Coast Guard have served under the Navy; now it is part of the Department of Homeland Security. The men who served with the Merchant Marine during World War II, hauling precious cargo around the world, pulled the most dangerous duty during that war. But veterans’ status and benefits were denied the Mariners until 1988.

Coast Guard Coast Guard duty took the veterans featured here up dangerous rivers above the DMZ in Vietnam, on dangerous convoys across the Atlantic, and to lonely atolls in the South Pacific. Whether dodging kamikaze planes off Okinawa or delivering British troops to Juno Beach as part of the Normandy Invasion, the Coast Guard has been in the thick of the action.
Merchant Marine Working sometimes without escort and with only modest fire power aboard, the ships of the Merchant Marine sailed through mine fields and dodged submarines and bombers to deliver invaluable cargo everywhere from Arctic Russia to the Persian Gulf. For over 60 years, these brave men were denied formal military recognition.

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Holly R. Harrison