Tag: star

Almost every April or March since 1985, the outgoing class of the United States Merchant Marine Academy hosts a gathering of First Classmen, alumni, and distinguished guests called the “Battle Standard Dinner.” Before a packed crowd in Delano Hall, the keynote speaker – invariably a high-ranking military officer or an official in the Federal government – gives a speech apropos to the audience. The dinner affirms the strong link the Academy shares with the armed forces and how the crucible of war fashioned the Regiment’s identity. The dinner both celebrates the Regiment and honors its roots.

The gathering’s name evokes the flag that the United States Merchant Marine Academy alone holds among its five sister service academies; The Battle Standard. A battle standard – or battle flag – is a type of ceremonial heraldic flag used by military units as a rallying point in war. The Academy has one since it is the only academy that has sent its students into war zones. A part of the Academy’s curriculum during the Second World War was for its students to enter a Sea Year after their indoctrination period; while these cadets under instruction shipped out to learn the ropes of their new vocation, all went directly to a raging war. Many were injured, and many died – either by direct enemy action, shipboard accident, or illness.  These individuals are memorialized by the Academy and are known as the 142.

At the Battle Standard Dinner, the 142 are often mentioned, and their link to the present Academy and is emphasized, reminding students they are not only remembering those earlier generations of Kings Pointers but are part of a continuum. In 2014, noted maritime author and researcher Commander Thomas F. McAffey, USNR (ret.), gave an address at the Battle Standard Dinner in which he spoke of Kings Point students’ courage as they headed off to wartime seas. He further linked those who survived and died during the Second World War to current Kings Pointers through the shared ritual of the Sea Year. He emphasized the Battle Standard was a remembrance of King Point’s participation in the war.

War flags often hold elements of the national flag or national symbols; the Battle Standard is laden with such, but none is more specific to the Academy than the number 142 emblazoned on a compass card. Admiral Mark Buzby, both a United States Maritime Administrator and Kings Pointer, described the number’s meaning succinctly in a message celebrating the Academy’s seventy-fifth year:

142 is a special number. It’s the number of USMMA midshipmen who lost their lives in combat during WWII while embarked onboard transport and resupply vessels supporting our Nation’s Armed Forces. […] In memory of the 142, the battle standard bears the number “142” on its field of red, white and blue. In its center is the eagle of the Academy’s seal in blue and gray, the school colors, and the anchor of the merchant marine in gold. From its top hang the ribbons which represent the various combat zones in which the Academy’s cadet-midshipmen served.

Admiral Mark Buzby, “One Hundred and Forty-two.” Maritime Logistics Professional, April 12, 2018.

An example of the Battle Standard may be found in the center of Wiley Hall, the veritable heart of the Academy (above), and another behind glass at the nearby American Merchant Marine Museum (see below). The latter is installed in a beautiful space called the “142 Gallery” along with a permanent exhibit, “Remembering the 142.” In the same room are a framed citation, a medal, a ribbon, and a photo of their posthumous recipient. It truly is a place of quiet contemplation, where the distance of time almost makes the sacrifices of the 142 feel like a foreign country.

July 31, 1944

Dear Mrs. Chamberlin:

By the authority of the Congress of the United States, it is my honor to present to you, the mother of Cadet Midshipman Arthur Richard Chamberlin, Jr., the Mariner’s Medal in commemoration of the greatest service anyone can render cause or country.

Cadet Midshipman Chamberlin was lost when his ship, the SS STEPHEN HOPKINS, was sunk by enemy raiders September 27, 1942. He was one of those men who today are so gallantly upholding the traditions of those hearty mariners who defied anyone to stop the American flag from sailing the seas in the early days of this republic. He was one of those men upon whom the Nation now depends to keep our ships afloat upon the perilous seas – to transport our troops across the sea; and to carry the vitally needed material to keep them fighting until victory is certain and liberty secure.

Nothing I can do or say will, in any sense, requite the loss of your loved one. He has gone, but he has gone in honor and in the goodly company of patriots. Let me, in this expression of the country’s deep sympathy, also express to you its gratitude of his devotion and sacrifice.

Sincerely yours,
E.S. Land,
Administrator.

E.S. Land letter to S. Chamberlin, July 31, 1944. Col.: AMMM 1984.028.0002

I decided to honor the memory of the 142 by charting – where known – the places of their death. A list of individuals, their photographs, and dates do move the conscience, but to see how some were so very close to home when they died and how some lost their lives in such faraway seas is particularly sobering. In comparing this chart, and the maps below, the 142 died in every war zone, with the heaviest concentration of losses between Fall of 1942 and the Winter of 1943. Edwin O’Hara, the only of the 142 to receive a posthumous award of the Merchant Marine Distinguished Service Medal, lost his life at the cusp of mounting casualties in September 1942; his award came just before a turning point in the War of the Atlantic, where the tide began to turn toward the Allies.

The map coordinates were culled from the following works: USMMAAF, Braving the Wartime Seas: A Tribute to the Cadets and Graduates of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy and Cadet Corps who Died During World War II (2014); Captain Arthur R. Moore, “…A Careless Word … A Needless Sinking ” : A History of the Staggering Losses Suffered By the U.S. Merchant Marine, Both in Ships and Personnel, During World War II (1993); wrecksite.eu; uboat.net. Full specifics on “the 142” may be found in the below table:

A complete table may be found here.

In-depth and detailed maps of the 142 from year to year may be found here.

Many thanks are due to the USMMAAAF for permission to reprint their materials and Dr. Joshua Smith of the American Merchant Marine Museum for access to the “142 Gallery” and for showing me the amazing plaques in the Museum’s storage.

More often than not, when the dust settled merchant seamen tended not to speak about The War, leaving their children and grandchildren to wonder about their service to the country. Oftentimes, tucked away in an old trunk or in a box they left behind clues, such as a U.S. Department of Commerce “Seaman’s Identification Wallet.” These thick black oilskin wallets embossed with a twin-stacked steamship or a four funnel liner held a seamen’s work history and identity documents – from their discharge slips, Seaman’s passport, to award cards. Sometimes they might have a prayer or a photo of a loved one inside. These wallets had a chain on them to be linked to a seaman’s belt loop – that way, if the owner was blown overboard, their documents would go with them.

Other indicators of a life on the sea were union books and the once-hated Continuous Discharge Book. The latter was derisively called a “fink book” by the more militant union rank and file. Fink books could hold secret markings by masters upon pay off stating whether or not a seaman was a troublemaker, thus affecting future impartial employment and the use of the rotary system of ship assignment. Or at least that was the fear. Many books may have had a single entry during the course of the war – some mariners signed on to a single ship and it sailed to and fro for the duration. After that, short-timers left the industry, leaving this singular record for others to ponder.

Irving Nachwalter

Anthony J. Morengo