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A Maritime Commission Victory Ship during WWII.

THIS BOOK IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE.

IF YOUR INTERNET SEARCH BRINGS YOU TO AMAZON.COM, BARNES & NOBLES.COM, OR GOOGLE, YOU MIGHT BE ABLE TO PURCHASE A USED COPY FROM OTHER MERCHANTS.

RATIONALE:

This revised edition is necessary because the writer discovered more information on the subject that he would've included in the original edition. That information wasn't available during the initial five years of research that he'd put into it already. Therefore, to prevent the book from bloating itself on the inexhaustible wealth of data concerning the Merchant Marine during World War II he limited himself to including it without comment, which contains the facts of the press's shameful treatment of American merchant seaman during that period. The segment is the Appendix appearing on page 381. He resisted also the temptation to edit the document, letting the few punctuation typos, the grammar, and the tenor of the piece speak for the era in which the author and publisher wrote and edited it.

Other corrections in this edition are amplification of dialog and narration, deletion of questionable, though still factual scenes and narrative due to some criticisms from well-respected sources, and to these persons he wishes to extend his sincere thanks.

THEY GO TO SEA--The Story of an American Merchant Ship and the Battle of the Atlantic in World War II

A Brief Synopsis:

Underage for the Navy, young Ken Mason, impressionable and adventurous, enlists in the United States Maritime Service and undergoes radio operator training during the summer after graduating from high school. He is not yet 18.

For the past year and currently, Nazi U-boats in a feeding frenzy are sinking dozens of ships up and down the US East Coast and far out to sea. Ken, whose father is a New York admiralty lawyer, has, in his father's words "run away to sea," survives a convoy run across the Atlantic to England. He ships out again upon his return to New York.

As the assemblage of ships disappears over the eastern horizon on its way to England, Ken Mason and his shipmates must now face the U-boat menace in the bloody North Atlantic Ocean. This time his ship, however, damaged during a storm, must drop out of the convoy, and return to Halifax, Nova Scotia, for repairs. But, forebodingly, the newly launched SS Orion Victory is not alone. She is being stalked by U-218, in the deadly periscope crosshairs of a submarine ace, Kapitänleutnant Walther Starken, better known to the U.S. Navy's COMEASTSEAFRON as "Iron Cross Wally."

Starken, forebodingly, is pursuing not only Ken's crippled freighter but he's eager to achieve a higher goal: winning the Knights Cross of the Iron Cross with the much coveted Eichenlaub or Oak Leaves for record tonnage sank. The question then is, does he gain either, both, or none?
--------------------------------

Review by a columnist of a local newspaper:

"They Go To Sea is not just another war story about a war that took place long ago, but an engaging novel about the lives of these men, their loves, their families. It is enjoyable reading."

World War II American Poster

"They go to sea, and back to sea, and back to sea again, until one wonders how it is possible to face the continued expectation of death or long chances of survival. Those who have suffered the most seem the most anxious to get back to sea."
--January 1943 U.S. Government Report on Convoy Fatigue

World War II American Poster

Comparison of Merchant Marine Casualty Rate to Other Services
Merchant Marine: Serving 243,000, War Dead 9,497, Per Cent 3.90, Ratio 1 in 26
Marine Corps: Serving 669,108, War Dead 19,733, Per Cent 2.94, Ratio 1 in 34
Army: Serving 11,268,000, War Dead 234,874, Per Cent 2.08, Ratio 1 in 48
Navy: Serving 4,183,466, War Dead 36,958, Per Cent 0.88, Ratio 1 in 114
Coast Guard: Serving 242,093, War Dead 574, Per Cent 0.24, Ratio 1 in 421
Total: Serving 16,576,667, War Dead 295,790, Per Cent 1.78, Ratio 1 in 56
(Note: Figures and graph copyrighted US Maritime Service Veterans at www.USMM.org)

World War II British Poster

Maritime Commission T-2 tanker with crated planes on deck.

What Allied Seamen Faced At Sea:

Armament on Deck of a U-boat

Kriegsmarine Admiral Karl Dönitz's Famous Four Imperatives For Sea Warfare:

1. All attempts to rescue members of ships that have been sunk, including attempts to pick up swimmers, or to place food and water, will cease. The rescue of survivors contradicts the elementary necessity of war for the destruction of enemy boats and their crew.

2. The order for the capture of captains and chief engineers remain in force.

3. Survivors may only be rescued when interrogation may be of value to the U-boat.

4. Be severe. Remember that in his bombing attacks on German cities the enemy has no regard for women and children.

Merchant ship boat drill in mid ocean

World War II North Atlantic Convoy

U.S. Army Air Force photo

SOME KIND WORDS FOR THE AMERICAN, BRITISH, AND CANADIAN MERCHANT SEAMEN:

President Franklin D. Roosevelt:

"The men of our American Merchant Marine have pushed through despite the perils of the submarine, the dive-bomber, and the surface raider. They have returned voluntarily to their jobs at sea again and again, because they realized that the lifelines to our battlefronts would be broken if they did not carry out their vital part in this global war."

General Douglas MacArthur:

"I wish to commend to you the valor of the merchant seamen participating with us in the liberation of the Philippines. With us they have shared the heaviest enemy fire. On this island I have ordered them off their ships and into foxholes when their ships became untenable targets of attack. At our side they have suffered in bloodshed and in death. The caliber of efficiency and the courage they displayed in their part of the invasion of the Philippines marked their conduct throughout the entire campaign in the southwest Pacific area. They have contributed tremendously to our success. I hold no branch in higher esteem than the Merchant Marine."

Prime Minister Winston Churchill:

"Wonderful exertions have been made by our Navy and our Air Force...and, need I say, by the officers and men of the Merchant Navy, who go out in all weathers and in the teeth of all dangers to fight for love of their native land for a cause they comprehend and serve."

Historian John Keegan:

"The 30,000 men of the British Merchant Navy who fell victim to the U-boats between 1939 and 1945...[and]...their American, Dutch, Norwegian or Greek fellow mariners...stood nevertheless between the Wehrmacht and the domination of the world."

A Sailor Serving in a Royal Canadian Navy Corvette:

"We had great respect for the merchant seamen. I think they were underestimated, especially now by the British public today, because they talk about the Battle of Britain. Granted the pilots did a marvelous, marvelous job, but when you stop and think, how did they get the fuel across to fly those planes, it was the merchant seamen. And, honestly, I think they're the bravest men out, the Merchant Navy."

World War II Poster

Sixty-two steps to Hachiman Gu Shinto Shrine, Kamakura, Japan

THE LAST OF ALL DESIRE is no longer available. IF YOUR INTERNET SEARCH BRINGS YOU TO AMAZON.COM, BARNES & NOBLES.COM, OR GOOGLE, YOU MIGHT BE ABLE TO PURCHASE A USED COPY FROM OTHER MERCHANTS. HOWEVER, A NEWLY REVISED EDITION OF THE NOVEL IN EBOOK FORMAT IS AVAILABLE FOR $5.99. THE BOOK IS AVAILABLE FOR IMMEDIATE SAMPLING AND SALE IN MULTIPLE EBOOK FORMATS, READABLE ON VIRTUALLY ANY EBOOK READING DEVICE. THE NEW TITLE IS: THE AMERICAN OCCUPATION OF JAPAN 1945-1952: A LOOK BACK.

Have you ever wondered what Japan was like in the postwar years? Read this account of a beautiful Japanese girl studying Zen who meets an American merchant mariner. They fall in love almost immediately although she's to be married soon. Against the backdrop of the American Occupation, the ship's radio officer must decide what to do: pursue her as if his life depended upon it--and, in the end, it does. Or walk honorably away from his karma to allow hers to come to fruition, as her national customs, her parents' wishes, and her Zen Master have all arranged for her?

Click here for the eBook.

Some Reviews:

"David Arturi obviously has an intimate knowledge of Japan...about history, customs, atmosphere, daily living... He writes very well indeed, and fascinatingly."             --Dan Wickenden, Editor, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc. Publishers, New York, N.Y.

"This book truly is a labor of love, meticulously written, and surely something the author has cared about deeply."        --Eleanor S. Rawson, Executive Editor, David McKay Company, Inc. Publishers, New York, N.Y.

"Mr. Arturi is quite skilled in his character studies, and by playing out strong feelings against fixed social patterns he creates many interesting textual qualities throughout. The first problem I detected...the Zen student is asked, apparently, to believe in a paradox: he must study, yet his books are called worthless in teaching him what he needs to know. The author handles these episodes very charmingly and knowingly." --Lambert Wilson, A Complete Literary Service, New York, N.Y.

"We've found the book delightful, and its content compelling. Thanks for this novel, which has proved to be an especially enjoyable reading experience."        --Scott Meredith (Original) Literary Agency, Inc. New York, N.Y.

Juniper Tree Planted in Kencho Ji From Seeds Carried From China By Rankei Doryu, 1253 A.D.

The 750th Anniversary of the Founding of Kencho Ji

In center: Gyoshu's son Rev. Etsuo (r.), grandson Rev. Hirofumi (l.), and some family members. 2003

Perfection

Dai Butsu Amidabha

Sign posted at the entrance to Kotoku-in Ji, on which ground sits the famous bronze statue of Dai Butsu (Amidabha), the Great Buddha of Kamakura, Japan:

STRAnGER, WHOSOEvER THOu ART and whatsoever be thy creed, when thou enterest this sanctuary remember thou treadest upon ground hallowed by the worship of ages. This is the temple of Buddha and the gate of the eternal and should therefore be entered with reverence.

From THE DHAMMAPADA SUTRA

Volition is all important. Our future depends on our present volition, and our present state depends on our past volition. All that we are is the result of what we have thought; it is founded on our thoughts; it is made up of our thoughts. If a man speaks or acts with an evil thought, pain follows him, as the wheel follows the foot of the ox that draws the wagon. ---BUDDHA

--Carus, Paul; Buddha; Bodhisattva, Asvaghosha; Olcott, Henry; De La Valle-Poussin, Louise; Shaku, Soyen; Marks, Darryl; Muller, Max; Beal, Samuel (2010-11-04). BUDDHISM and BUDDHIST TEACHINGS: Ultimate Collection of Texts For Beginners (Kindle Locations 4574-4576). Everlasting Flames Publishing. Kindle Edition.

Photo by David Arturi

Photo by David Arturi

Chief Abbot Gyoshu Oi, extreme left. Kamakura 1954

Author has visited with him during frequent ship's calls at Yokohama.

Celestial Princesses Dancing

to Lure the Sun Goddess Out of Her Cave.

Torii at Hachima Gu (Shinto Shrine), Kamakura

Located on Dankatsura "Cherry Blossom Tunnel Avenue"

Statue of Kuan Yin seen from train window.

At Ofuna, between Yokohama & Kamakura.

Civil War Memorial Arch in Grand Army Plaza, Brooklyn, NY.

Click HERE to read sample pages from Google Book Search.

THE BELVEDERES OF BROOKLYN--
A Family's Attempt to Conquer the 1930s
Size: 6"x9"
340 Pages
22 Illustrations

THE AUTHOR'S THIRD OPUS is a stirring Italian-American novel that is bold and honest in its treatment of detailing the years of America's Great Depression. It is also a virtual guided tour through the wonders of the architecture and history of the former Dutch town of Breukelen, then becoming the City of Brooklyn, and eventually one of the five boroughs of the City of New York. The entire story, based on some true incidents, is, however, a fictional memoir, a stunning roman à clef, passionate in its themes, yet thought provoking, engrossing, and volcanic.

Similar in varying degrees of intensity and poignancy to John Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath and Pietro Di Donato's Christ in Concrete, this tale of the struggling Belvederes depicts the challenges confronting Italian-American immigrants struggling to overcome the odds placed before them to survive during the Depression years of the 1930s. Remember:

The scaffolds are not safe,
for the rich must ever profit more.
--Pietro Di Donato,
Christ in Concrete, 1939

Hard cover: $20.00 plus s/h - HURRY! ONLY 8 COPIES LEFT!
Soft cover: $15.00 plus s/h - End of inventory sale price!
----------------------------------------------

Following is a review by Dr. Patricia Wellington who is a retired English professor and freelance writer.
March 2, 2007

The Belvederes of Brooklyn is David Arturi's tribute to the Brooklyn of his youth in the Depression-era 1930s. It is part memoir, part fiction, but with few exceptions, he declines to tell us which is which. Though there's a huge cast of characters representing a cross section of Brooklynites, two families dominate--the wealthy Vandermeers and the poor, blighted Belvederes.

Early in the novel hedonistic widow Maureen Vandermeer, who preys on young boys her children's ages, has fixated on the younger Belvedere son, Adrian, who bears a striking resemblance to the Roman Antinous, who was deified in his lifetime for his celebrated, breathtaking beauty.

Interestingly, the history of the Belvedere family mirrors Arturi's own as he tells us in "About the Author." Marius Belvedere leaves Italy for America hoping to find a better life. But his wife Anna develops an inoperable brain tumor for which medical science at the time offers little treatment.

At her deathbed, she asks her older son, Rick, to get the family out of the city to a place of fresh air--perhaps the mountains. He is thwarted in his mission, however, when Marius loses his job and is forced to put the four children--Paula, Rick, Adrian, and Linda--in Catholic orphanages. Blaming America for his wife's death, he returns to Italy.

Six years later, Marius returns to America to claim his abandoned children. He has recently married Claudia, an Italian-American New Yorker. By then, they feel little loyalty toward him and plot their escapes from Brooklyn.

Arturi's Brooklyn is a sexy place, a sort of an X-rated A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, full of fondling, "I'll show you mine if you show me yours," and explicit sex acts. Even the architecture, according to the author, encourages carnality: "She met him in the vestibule, which is Brooklyn's secret sex chamber. Amorous adventures take place in there at night, from a hesitant first kiss between pre-teens and the culmination of stand-up copulation. The tiled vestibule at midnight was an erotic sanctuary securely locked between two doors."

Those familiar with Brooklyn should delight in the many place names, yesteryear's close-knit neighborhoods of candy stores and parks, nostalgic memorabilia, side trips in history, and well-placed old photographs corresponding to the content.

The Madragone Head of Antinous 130 A.D. Marble. Louvre. Height 37".

Roman Emperor P. Aelius Hadrianus 117-138 A.D. Patron of Antinous

Congestion at Prospect Park Boat House, Brooklyn N.Y. 1945

Coney Island's Famous Wonder Wheel, Brooklyn, N.Y. 1940s

Crowded Coney Island, est. 1,000,000 bathers, Brooklyn, N.Y. 1940s

From the Author:

Any resemblance between the lives of the siblings mentioned earlier and the four Belvedere children in this fictional memoir is coincidental only to the extent that a great deal of the depicted events must be attributed to the writer's lively imagination. However, true episodes portrayed are not merely coincidental. They are, well, true.

When World War II swept across the globe, the author enlisted in the Navy after graduating high school. Upon being discharged, he pursued his career in maritime radiotelegraphy by going to sea in the U.S. Merchant Marine for more than four decades. And, as you will see below, by visiting more than 100 countries and places where, in discussions with innumerable persons of various official positions and dispositions, would return home to New York in shock and awe at the world's complexity.

What you will read in this novel are factual and fictional episodes from his life in Brooklyn. It is just this method of interpreting those life-altering events and one's reactions to them that prompted the writer to use a new phrase, Realistic Fiction Writing in the 21st Century, that appears on this web site.

Stand upright, speak thy thought, declare
The Truth thou hast, that all may share
Be bold, proclaim it everywhere.
They only live who dare.

--Editorial Masthead of DAWN, Karachi, Pakistan's English language daily newpaper.

Official emblem and flag of the United States Merchant Marine designed by the U.S. Army Institute of Heraldry and first displayed in 1994. Reference to the year 1775 is to John Paul Jones, father of the U.S. Navy, who first converted his ships from merchant service to the newly authorized naval forces. Other merchant ships, under letters of marque issued by George Washington, then joined naval ships in seeking out and destroying ships of the British fleet.

Chelsea, Massachusetts 8-Day Clock in Ship's Radio Room

The Significance of a Ship Radio Officer's Clock

1) Prior to sending an SOS, international radio regulations require you to send out an automatic alarm to alert ships of your distress situation. Turn on your main CW transmitter and guided by the red peripheral bands on the clock's face, depress telegraph key for 4 seconds, then release it for 1 second. Do this for a minimum of 4 dashes. Do it for more than that (for 1 minute) to allow for bursts of static on 500 kHz (the International Calling and Distress frequency) that might corrupt any sequence of those 4 dashes. The result of that Morse code signal would be loud almost ear-shattering alarm bells going off on the bridge, in the radio room and in the radio officer's cabin, on every ship within a nominal 300-400-mile range at sea. Regulations state to wait 2 minutes (to allow time for the other radio operators to get out of their sacks and rush next door to their radio shacks). Of course, in an ultra emergency, you can dispense with this option and immediately pound the brass to transmit your SOS.

2) The red "bowtie" appearing at H:15 to H:18 and at H:45 to H:48 is called "the silent periods." Ships and marine coastal radiotelegraph stations, standing watch on 500 kHz, are forbidden to transmit any Morse code signals other than a bonafide SOS on that frequency. This silent period ensures that faint distress signals, not only stronger calls, are heard to be acted upon.

3) By radio regulations, the clock must be checked daily with a standard time signal propagated by various national services covering the globe such as that broadcast by the United States's Bureau of National Standards at Fort Collins, Colorado. The black hour and minute hands must be (and are) set to UTC (Universal Coordinated Time, formerly known as GMT--Greenwich Mean Time), while the small silver hour hand (mostly obscured under the hour hand) can be set to ship's local time. The clock, made to strict specifications that keep it accurate for at least 8 days, is wound customarily once weekly. The small dark circle above the "6" on the clock's face is the indentation for the square hollow shaft brass winding key.

4) These routine daily tasks must be entered into the radio log when they are performed, noting the number of seconds gained or lost in the past 24 hours. If no signals are heard during the silent period (above), the correct log entry must only be "SILENT PERIOD OBSERVED--NO SIGNALS HEARD." If you do hear Morse code signals, you must enter the time and call sign of the offending ship or coast station. These radio logs are sent to the Federal Communications Commission at the end of each voyage.

Author in Radio Room of SS Carroll Victory/WRRS 1951

How I Became A Writer

What makes a guy want to write? What's the impetus? I was hanging out with the guys on the corner of Putnam and Ralph Avenues in Brooklyn on a summer's eve and said "...I subscribe to the theory that I'm gonna be a writer some day." They mocked me. "Why are you using such big words? Subscribe? To what?" Not being one to tolerate mocks lightly, I replied, "That I'm gonna write about something some day. Not you guys, though! You're mocking me. Anyway, it's a feeling I got. You just watch."

And, sure enough, one day it happened. An insect planted the seed. I was in Port Said, Egypt, once (actually, I've been there numerous times). I was sitting outside a bar drinking beer, watching the passing parade. A very dark black fly (or flies) was buzzing me. I shooed it away. It flew back and brushed my forehead. A thought came to mind: "...the persistence of a Port Said fly..." I immediately understood that those were the words of a writer. I'd never said or thought of anything like that in my life before. I savored the words, the rhythm of them, the alliteration, too. The phrase was indelibly saved to the hard drive in my brain. But, I have yet to use it, I think. You, however (the guy who's reading this), may use it anytime you wish.
It's not only in Port Said that you have to contend with these little buggers. I was also in a bar in Mauritania, then walked outside to the vast expanse of sand and sky, drinking my beer, where there are swarms of these black predators whirring in dark clouds in nooks and crannies of sand-colored buildings. They, too, are persistent little rascals.
(Side note: The Sahara desert seen here is an astonishing thing. Strong winds from the east pile up sand and form high cliffs at the water's edge. These steep mounds stare out over the blue-white sky and sea of the blustery Atlantic Ocean. And, while you're standing there, teetering on the extreme western edge of the African continent, you realize that our hurricanes are spawned here. This is where the desert first cast its spell upon me. It's awe-inspiring. I also flew over this fabled, horizon less desolation--and was further awed--on a flight from Durban to Johannesburg to the Congo for refueling and passenger loading and disemplaning, and then on to Nice, France. But, don't believe for a moment that the Sahara is barren, unfruitful, or a wasteland. It is not. The desert is a wonder and a Creative Force in our existence. The refreshing wind, the blowing sand, the endless vista renews your spirit, filling you with a strange calm and joy. The final and most welcome gift that this marvel of Nature bestows upon you, however, is the instantaneous satori or blessed understanding that you who are reading this and I [the guy who's standing on the cliff of sand washed by the foaming, crashing white waves of the azure Atlantic] are nothing--nothing--nothing but inconsequential specks of dust in Buddha's eye, and should be humbled by that knowledge if we would only listen to the wind-swept voice of the silent Sahara sands.)

So, there you have it. The stirrings that makes a guy a writer. From a harmless thought spoken aloud in my youth on a Brooklyn brownstone stoop to the Nile delta, the journey's concluded. It helps a little bit more, though, to go to sea for 45 years to see the world and to go ashore and mingle with the natives such as the good people of Egypt, Mauritania, Morocco; and if in Europe, Germany, France, Italy, and if in Asia, every country in the area you can possibly visit during the few precious years that the gods have allotted us.

The following port visits, therefore, are laid out here to establish my bona fides and authority to say that I am an author--a writer at last who must state that my books are not entirely fiction. There are truths in them, some harsh, some profound, some debatable. But, all relevant. They're all summed up in the term I've applied to them: Realistic Fiction.

Author's Visits to Over 100 Countries and Places by Ship

Abu Dhabi                     Ethiopia                      Lake Erie                    Puerto Rico
Alaska                          France                        Lake Huron                 Quebec
Angola                          Germany (West)          Lake Michigan             Rastanura
Aruba                           Ghana (Gold Coast)      Lake Ontario               Santo Domingo
Australia                       Gibraltar                      Lebanon                      Sao Tome è Principe
Azores                          Greece                       Liberia                         Sardinia
Bahamas                      Greenland                   Libya                           Saudi Arabia
Bahrain                         Guam                         Malta                          Senegal
Bangladesh                   Guantanamo Bay        Mauritania                    Sicily
Belgium                        Guinea                       Mexico                         Sierra Leone
Brazil                            Hilo, Hawaii                Midway Island               Singapore
Cameroon                     Holland                       Mog Mog, Ulithi            Somalia
Canada                         Hong Kong                 Morocco (French)          South Africa
Canary Islands              Honduras                    Morocco (Spanish)        Spain
Cape Verde Islands       Iceland                        Mozambique                 Sri Lanka
Chile                            India                           Namibia (S.W. Africa)    Sudan
Colombia                      Indonesia                    New Caledonia              Tahiti
Congo (Fr. Eq. Africa)    Israel                          New Zealand                 Taiwan
Crete                            Italy                            Newfoundland               Tanzania
Curacao                        Ivory Coast                 Nigeria                          Thailand
Cyprus                         Jamaica                      Norway                         Trinidad
Dahomey                      Japan                         Nova Scotia                   Tunisia
Denmark                       Jordan                        Oahu, Hawaii                 Turkey
Djibouti                         Kauai, Hawaii              Okinawa                        Venezuela
Dubai                           Kenya                          Pakistan                       Viet Nam (South)
Ecuador                        Korea (South)              Panama                        Virgin Islands
Egypt                           Kuwait                         Peru                             Yemen
England                        Labrador                      Philippines                     Zaire (Belg. Congo)

REALISTIC FICTION WRITING IN THE 21ST CENTURY!
Established publishing houses acquisition editors and literary agents are invited to contact the author who retains all rights to these absorbing and singular novels for republishing.

ArtoriusPublicationstitled3.6x6.0inches.JPG

Aurora Borealis

WWII Veteran Merchant Marine 'Sparks' Disband

Group Dwindles Still Seeking Veteran Status Recognition

WASHINGTON, July 4 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Hoffman Island Radio Association (HIRA), World War II sea-going Merchant Marine radio operators ("Sparks"), announced today that it has voted to disband because of deaths and increasing incapacitating illnesses of its aging members.

Hoffman Island is a small island at the mouth of the New York City harbor, where the U. S. Maritime Service Radio Academy was established to train volunteers in radio theory, practice and the Morse code during WWII. Those who passed the difficult course reported as Radio Officers to the ships of the Nation's rapidly growing merchant navy. Founded in 1991, by Richard Waechter, its first President, HIRA soon admitted veteran radio operators trained at the Gallups Is. Radio Academy, in Boston Harbor, the only other Radio Academy, and then members of the U.S. Navy's Armed Guard, who manned the cannon put on merchant ships in the latter stages of the war. (Until then, the fore and aft cannon were manned by the Merchant Marine crew.) Wives and HIRA family members were admitted as Associates. HIRA reunion meetings were held annually at various port cities, where sea tales were swapped with great camaraderie.

Shipboard radio operators were essential in obtaining routing instructions, warnings and, of course, in sending out "SOS" following torpedoing. Today's merchant ships no longer carry radio operators. Their "radio shacks" have been replaced with telephonic communications. Only amateur radio operators keep the Morse code alive, because of its static-piercing clarity over great distances at low power.

The Merchant Marine became the first U.S. armed service upon the capture on June 12, 1775, of the British schooner HMS Margaretta near Machias, Maine by Colonial seamen in response to the battles of Lexington and Concord.
Since then, the Merchant Marine has played a key role in every U.S. war, carrying the millions of tons of munitions and the millions of men that won World War II.
Constant targets of Axis submarines, surface raiders and enemy aircraft, the Merchant Marine suffered the highest WWII death rate of any service (3.90% v 2.94% for the U.S. Marines, (http://www.usmm.org/cd.html).
Nonetheless, the all-volunteer Merchant Marine was the only service not granted the GI Bill. In 1988, the mariners were recognized as veterans, inexplicably placed within the Coast Guard, but still refused the major benefits of the GI Bill.
Since then, the House of Representatives has repeatedly passed a bill to grant those benefits, but the corresponding Senate Bill, S663, has been just as repeatedly blocked from a full Senate vote by Senator Daniel Akaka, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
HIRA's president, Gilbert V. Levin, appealed to Akaka with the attached letter, but never received an answer. "We are the Rodney Dangerfield of the U.S. services," said Levin, "Even the Coast Guard, from Commandant Admiral Thad Allen on down, refused to respond to our repeated invitations to address our final meeting."

August 20, 2009

Senator Daniel K. Akaka
Chair, U. S. Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs
412 Russell Senate Building
Washington, DC, 20510

Dear Senator Akaka,

I have just been elected President of the Hoffman Island Radio Association. We are war veterans of the U. S. Maritime Service. Our name stems from tiny Hoffman Island in New York Harbor, where a Radio Academy was established to train World War II volunteers to become sea-going radio operators. They were badly needed on our then rapidly expanding fleet of merchant ships so essential to conducting - and winning - WWII. One end of the New York Harbor anti-submarine net was anchored on our island, from which we could see ships sailing forth into harm's way, a daunting path we soon followed. As President of this rapidly dwindling group of victorious veterans, I am writing on their behalf to ask you to align with your fellow Senator, Evan Bayh, and support U. S. Senate Bill 663, known as the Belated Thank You to the Merchant Mariners of World War II Act of 2009.

As a 17-year old, I remember President Franklin Roosevelt on the radio, soon after we entered the War, praising the bravery of our merchant seamen, and promising that they would receive the same benefits that America bestowed on its armed forces veterans. I remember it, because it was this talk that got me interested in the Merchant Marine, and, ultimately, led to my enlisting. Reading your on-line biography, it seems we share a number of wartime experiences: leaving school to enlist, being on the front lines (sea lines in my case) of action, and completing technical training (civil engineering for me) after the war. Unfortunately for me, the similarities end there, as I was the only war veteran returning to the Johns Hopkins University that had to pay tuition! My fellow returning classmates soon made me aware of all the other components of the GI Bill that I missed out of. They kidded me that apparently the Government thought the Merchant Marine had it too soft!
Recalling the 17 attacks on my ship in one transit up the English Channel, and that, had our ship gone down, our pay would have immediately ceased, I found, and find, that irrational line hard to believe. Instead, I believe we were all in the War together, doing our assigned duties, with little to choose concerning everyone's small remuneration. What really separated us was the GI Bill. For the surviving veterans of the U. S. Maritime Service, it is much too late for them to benefit significantly by being included in the GI Bill - but one very important benefit would be realized. It is the knowledge that the United States of America, at long last, recognizes the vital role and the enormous sacrifices of life and limb we made to keep our country free.

On perusing your website, I am very encouraged that you will support the Bill to include us. In addition to sharing key aspects of our experience, you acknowledge the importance of the GI Bill to you. You say, "... I find myself reflecting on what the original GI Bill did for me as a young veteran. When I returned from World War II, the GI bill gave me the opportunity to build my life on the foundation of a quality education... The GI Bill will go down in history as one of those that has a profound impact on quality of life and attitude in the United States."

Senator Akaka, as late as it is, we want to be part of that history. The modest amount of money and benefits we would receive is not our objective. It's all about the recognition for our service, which they would convey. Your fine website concludes with "He continues to work ... to improve veterans' care and benefits through oversight and legislation." Please do so for our neglected veterans!

Thank you for your service and for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Gilbert V. Levin
President
Hoffman Island Radio Association

TRIUMPH OF THE SPIRIT
An Existential Poem
On the Occasion Of The
Exiting From The World Stage
Of The Most Reviled Man On Earth
By David Arturi
Begun on January 20, 2009
Revised on July 4, 2009
=========================
At last, America is free
Is free to breathe again
The air of Liberty!
At last, the night has turned to day
Though years of fearful dark
Denied our Liberty!
=========================
(This work is written for a dramatic presentation on stage
and consists of 6 pages of 31 short verses and 3 pages of addenda.
Order a copy for only $5.00 plus $2.00 first-class shipping.
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Above are two sample verses.)

FOR NATURE'S SAKE, DON'T BUY BOTTLED WATER!

(Click on link below to read why.)

Brian Clark Howard, the journalist who wrote the story, removed the detailed graphic from the site. This is his reason: Due to editorial consideration, the infographic and accompanying text have been removed from this post. Sounds to me that Arianna Huffington caved into the demands of the bottled-water industry and shut it down! SO I DON'T RECOMMEND CLICKING ON THE LINK.

<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/brian-clark-howard/stop-drinking-bottled-wat_b_660499.html"><img src="http://images.huffingtonpost.com/2010-07-27-bottledwater_500.png" alt="Bottled Water" width="500" border="0" /></a><br />Via: <a href="http://www.termlifeinsurance.org/">Term Life Insurance</a>

GOOD NEWS! Someone at HuffPost probably read my warning because now the detailed graphic mentioned above is shown on that web page. SO GO AHEAD AND CLICK ON THE LINK!

BAD NEWS! Ariana pulled Clark's "Infographic" off the web site again! What a brave person she is! Click on the link, anyway, to see for yourself the lame excuse she uses!