merchant marines. When the war broke out, he was 18. To enlist at that age and time your parents had to sign off as opposed to being drafted. My great grandfather was a legendary character. Very strong willed, the family has 100s of stories about him. Anyway, my Grandfather wanted to be pilot, but my great grandfather wouldn't sign off on that. He went down to the recruitment office to pick out where his sons could enlist. He picked the merchant marines because he thought it was the safest. At the time, the merchant marines were not well regarded. People considered them draft dodgers. So my grandfather wasn't happy, but his father wouldn't sign off on anything else. So he signed up with his younger brother.

Later, my great grandfather discovered how dangerous the merchant marines were. Should have realized this really, I mean they were the supply lines, which are always targeted. Plus the navy often took the arms off of merchant marines ships to double up on navy vessels, replacing them with painted broom handles lol. So you got targeted the most and had no defense. He was so mad that he wrote a letter to FDR demanding that his sons be transferred somewhere else haha. Needless to say, they were not transferred.

Anyway, I meant a great deal to my Grandfather when he finally received the veteran status he deserved in 1988.