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The Forgotten Heroes: The Heroic Story of the United States Merchant Marine

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As I read the book I am disappointed with the minimal mention of the men of the USN who, after a delay in the early months of 1942,sailed on the merchant ships as Navy gunners and communications personnel as members of the USN Armed Guard. On most Liberty ships there were about 28 members of the USN. I served on four Liberty ships and had a very high admiration for the MM as shipmates in periods of tedium as well as in enemy action. The inability of the civilian sailors to get the post-war benefits enjoyed by their Navy crew members was unfortunate but they did not sail alone. The book is enjoyable.

Brian Herbert's motivation for writing this book is fine. The U S Government treated the merchant marine (which suffered a higher death rate than any military branch) shamefully during and after WW II. Second only to the way it treated the women pilots who were kicked out without even bus fare home. For that reason alone, I hope a lot of people read this book.

But Herbert makes the argument over and over again - seemingly on every second or third page - until you get really sick of reading it. Also the book is an example of awful editing. With typos on nearly every page, the publisher should be ashamed for serving the author so poorly.

And one final complaint: Any author who presumes to write about the sea should know better than to use the phrase "knots per hour." A knot is a measure of nautical miles per hour. To say, "ten knots per hour," is to say, "ten nautical miles per hour per hour." Anyone who uses the term "knots per hour" is immediately and justifiably presumed to know absolutely nothing about the sea.

How did all of those troops get to Normandy on D-Day? Who brought all of their supplies over for that momentous day? Some of the soldiers and their supplies were brought over by military transports, but much, much more made its way across the Atlantic in Liberty Ships: merchant vessels that navigated the treacherous wartime waters in ships that would later be called "Kaiser Coffins" (because of how often they were sunk by enemy attacks...and how easy they WERE to sink.)

And who were the men that grabbed the helms of these tin-cans, risking life and limb time and again? They were (are) known as The Merchant Marines. Never officially inducted into the military, many men in The Merchant Marine failed the basic physical exams given by the Armed Services. Their only hope to help fight and win the war was The Merchant Marines. And they streamed in by the thousands, volunteering to help bring needed supplies over to Europe, Australia, the Pacific Theater, and places beyond.

It wasn't just WW II in which we find the heroic deeds of The Merchant Mariner either. Oh no. When George Washington and his army were fighting the Brits, who helped transport his legions of men? Yep. The Merchant Marine. From the U.S.'s founding fathers, to the Persian Gulf War, The Merchant Marine has been there, hauling our sons, daughters, and their needed supplies across deadly seas. And they've died in numbers larger than any of those in the Armed Services.

So one would think that The Merchant Marine deserved a little recognition, maybe a GI Bill style package to help out those returning from wartime service, right? Especially if they were wounded during the course of the war, right? Wrong. Since The Merchant Mariner is not an "official" member of the Armed Forces, they get none of that. No GI Bill. No war memorial. No medical benefits coming anywhere near those given to veterans. Where did America go wrong? Why were these men (and women) swept under the rug of our society?

The answers are in this book, The Forgotten Heroes by Brian Herbert.

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The book basically follows the history of Dean Beaumont, the son of Arthur Beaumont, the unofficial "Artist Laureate" of the U.S. Navy (many of Arthur Beaumont's paintings are hung in places such as The White House, the first nuclear submarine, and in private collections...often valued at over $100,000.) Dean is an asthmatic and he fails the Armed Forces medical exam, but he doesn't give up. He joins The Merchant Marines and travels the war-torn seas during WW II. And when he returns to the States, wounded and much more savvy in the ways of the world, he finds that The Merchant Marine is a disgrace. They don't qualify for anything, nothing at all.

Although Mr. Herbert tells a story that needed to be told, his methods became a bit preachy and repetitive at times but, even so, that still didn't detract from the overall history lesson the author gives us. I'm sure most Americans had no idea of this bloody smear on our past that never made it into "High School History 101".


This is a great book for those who wish to learn a greater depth of maritime history, and for those who'd like to remember The Forgotten Heroes.

I admire Brian Herbert's attempt to fill a void in military history. I'm a cadet at one of the Maritime Academies in the U.S. training for my license as a 3rd Assistant Engineer, and no one knows better then I that the history of the U.S. Merchant Marine (USMM) is grossly overlooked. However He could of been well served by having a historian co-write his book. I normally have trouble putting down a history, but this one I struggled through. The chapters and stories are poorly organized. For example, less then half the the chapter on the Russian Gauntlet was actually about the Murmansk Run. He could of used to embellish or give extra detail to the individual narrative he writes, most are only a paragraph long and give the reader nothing more then a taste of what happened. No doubt there were many acts of uncommon bravery on the merchant ships plowing through the North Atlantic and Pacific; however, simply saying does little to validate that. He tells of how a merchant seaman rescued sailors from another ship, sunk by a German U-Boat or Japanese I-Boat, but doesn't tell what the man did to save the desperate sailors or give more information other then the rescue happened. Another time he tells about was a merchant ship ramming a French sub. He mentions essentially no more then that, he doesn't tell how or why the sub was rammed (was there fog, did the sub suddenly surface in front of the ship...), he simply mentions it happened and moves on. Additionally he tells the same story multiple times throughout the book. I constantly found it frustrating that he would begin telling about an incident and then direct the reader to a future or previous chapter where the actual narrative is contained. While it is obvious that he has passion for the story of the USMM, the book reminded me of a high school or college history student trying hastily a paper and give is some weight with few sources and poorly conducted research: rambling, ill-organized and incoherent.

To me it seems that he let his passion cloud his work; good portions of the book are nothing more then rants about how the government hung the merchant sailors out to dry after the war and how merchant sailors were regarded as bums, drunks and draft dodgers. While the first part is true, merchant sailors were denied many of the benefits enjoyed by those serving in the armed forces, he could of easily dedicated the beginning chapter to this subject, and used the rest of the book to show why the sailors deserved them through the story of the USMM in WWII. Instead he keeps coming back to it, and using the same stories, or versions of those, chapter after chapter to try to prove his point. At times his opinion is so vehement that you can picture the frown on his face and feel his blood pressure rise.

He seems so intent on making a connection with those merchant sailors that he gives the example of one, Dean Beaumont who's father was a noted painter of naval images, to his own life, where is father invented the Dune series set in "vast deserts with dunes like the waves of a great sea, and monsters beneath the sand that are worse than anything Ahab ever faced." And says that "Frank Herbert even 'invented' containerized shipping; thus my family had a connection with the Merchant Marine long before I met Dean Beaumont." Unfortunately it is obvious that that "connection," as far stretched as it is, is not enough. His nautical knowledge is sorely lacking, he often refers to a ship's speed as "knots per hour," redundant if nothing else.

Finally, while I don't doubt the accuracy of his research, he notes very few sources throughout the book, such as the tale of the merchant ship noted above that rammed a French sub. Which, besides making it harder to uphold, also gives an interested reader no place to turn for more information on the skimpy narratives he offers.

If your simply looking for a book with lots of small tales of men in the merchant marine, but not a lot of substance, this one would fit the bill. I would not recommend it however to someone looking for a history of the USMM in WWII, either interested persons, historians or students.

This book really opened my eyes to the plight of the US Merchant Mariners and their value to the WW11 effort and how they were treated.

"Abe Lincoln failed in business 1831 and again in 1833. In the meantime, he ran for state legislator and lost. His sweetheart died in 1835, and he had a nervous breakdown the next year. He lost the nomination to Congress in 1843, was defeated again for Congress in 1848 and 1855 and lost the vice presidency of the United States in 1856. Then he ran for Senator in 1858 and lost. In 1860 Abe Lincoln was elected president of the United States. The rest is history." (Mtn. Wings, 10-26-2004)

This is a most interesting and researched history of a group of unsung United States' heroes. Called the 'forgotten heroes' because the government refused benefits, recognition, parades, medical and educational aid, simply because they were civilian seamen. Though they have been around since Revolutionary War days (they actually formed the first Navy of U.S. in colonial times when more seamen died during that war than did the soldiers of George Washington's Continental Army.), they received no compensation and had duties which put them in peril. During WWII, their casualties were so high it was kept a secret.

And yet, the members of the U.S. Merchant Marines, civilian 'fighters', they were called, were vital to the Allies' victory. Using diaries, interviews with surviving 'veterans.' government records, and historical documents, they are shown to have performed innumerable 'feats of extraordinary bravery' as they delivered food, fuel, even the troops which were deployed -- every essential needed in wartime to assist in our victory. Many perished at Pearl Harbor where their transport ship was the first to be torpedoed by a Japanese submarine.

They even performed rescues of British Royal Air force fliers from life rafts in the Mediterranean during WWII. The SS Martin Van Buren ship was torpedoed off the coast of Nova Scotia. There is an account of Merchant Marines actually freezing to death. They fought along with military servicemen over a period of more than 200 years. Their motto has always been "Deeds, Not Words."

The were called the lifeline of the Allied Forces and were sent into war zones to transport troops, bombs, tanks, planes and their fuel, torpedoes, munitions, and other dangerous war material. The photo section displays these activities. In 1936, the government declared the Merchant Marine ships as auxiliary military vessels. They suffered more deaths per capita in WWII than any of the American armed forces.

Because of their cargo of delivering war supplies to our overseas troops and transporting the soldiers into battle zones, the Merchant Marine ships were targets of German U-boats and Japanese kamikaze planes. Their petroleum tankers were blown up, and the merchant ships carrying ammunition which were torpedoed had explosions so immense that no traces of the vessels or their crews were ever found.

In 1984, Michael Pare starred in THE PHILADELPHIA EXPERIMENT which depicted this very thing. In it, he looked like my high school sweetheart, Jim Darling. Since then, he has made more than forty films. For me, though, this was his best!

Written by the son of Frank Herbert, whose novels about DUNE influenced my son Zach to write science fiction, he is aided in this research by a Merchant Marine vet, Dean E. Beaumont of Arizona. They'd met by chance on the ocean liner, Queen Elizabeth II and he'd regaled Brian with incredible stories of the Merchant Marine exploits and bravery under fire. Stanley Hildbreth of Oregon was injured on a Liberty ship (photos and drawings of which are included in the photo section), in the invasion of Sicily, told how he went on to take part in the Normandy invasion directly from the hospital. "I didn't want to miss the big one," he'd said.

It was my good fortune to know an actual Merchant Marine who told fascinating accounts of all the places he'd been and things he'd seen, leaving out the dangers he'd been in. Robert Wrisley of Pulaski, TN, had led (in my opinion) a glamorous career and had many memories to share. Many times I encouraged him to write a book, but he seemed more interested in making up limericks to entertain his friends. Perhaps his glossing over the dangers he'd endured as a young man in the name of our country was his ploy to try to forget the actual happenings.

This book is full of valiant heroic deeds and accounts of so many survivors and their families who had suffered immensely. The losers in the war, Germany and Japan, were treated better by the American government than the men of Merchant Marines. These vanquished foes received billions of dollars in reconstruction aid. The Merchant Marine vets were lucky to receive cardboard medals which they had to request by mail.

They were treated similar to our Viet Nam vets (only without the monetary benefits) from a government who wanted to sweep them 'under the rug.' There were no victory parades or "welcome homes" for them, either. They were considered as 'disgraces' and treated as such.

Finally, forty years after the end of that war, they were awarded minimal, extremely limited benefits -- which were of little use to most of the aged survivors. To this day, they have never received the recognition they deserve. What is wrong with American politics? These 'legitimate' heroes have been dealt 'a terrible wrong' by the greatest nation in the world -- their own homeland.

He's written several science fiction novels listed on New York Times Bestseller lists and received numerous literary honors including being nominated for the Nebula Award. One of his early books, THE DRAGON IN THE SEAS, was similar to the actual happenings in the real MERCHANT MARINES. He published some follow-ups of the DUNE series himself and co-authored MAN OF TWO WORLDS with his famous dad. Last year, his biography of his illustrious father, DREAMER OF DUNE, was published. Like father, like son!

This a good subject and I have much respect for the men who served in the Merchant Marine. But this is a badly written book. I'm sorry to have to say it, but it's true.

Billed on the cover as 'the heroic story of the United States Merchant Marine', this book, in reality, turns into a case for federal recognition of the heroism & service provided by Merchant Marine sailors during the major conflicts of the 20th century.

There are ample stories of individual heroism, of suffering of captive crews in Axis POW camps, of the valor these sailors displayed in getting the job done. There is no doubt in my mind the Merchant Marine was a major reason why the Allies won WWII. Without their sacrifice, it is doubtful that the Allies would have survived the early stages of WWII in Europe, or retaken territory after territory in the island-hopping campaign of the Pacific.

The principal character is Lt. Dean Beaumont, serving aboard a freighter with the Merchant Marine. Very intriguing personal story, one that chronicles his exploits on the high seas, with other Merchant Marine stories interwoven. These are rarely known stories due to the lack of narratives covering the Merchant Marine in WWII.

I recommend the book as a supplement to your understanding of the overall WWII battlefield. The Merchant Marine made the Allied superiority in supply and material possible.

I do caution that the author tends to push the cause for federal recognition of the Merchant Marine quite a bit, at times making it a tedious read - tiresome, almost. I found myself saying "I get the picture - now, tell me more about Dean Beaumont... what happened next?"

In the Introduction, the author, Brian Herbert, writes "Under precarious conditions these merchant seamen performed extraordinary acts of bravery, they were the lifeline of the Allied forces, making victory not only possible, but inevitable." In a strict sense they were not members of the armed forces. However, in World War II, the Merchant Marine suffered 8,380 battle deaths or 3.899 % per-capita; that was greater than the Marine Corps that suffered 2.949% battle deaths per-capita.

A brief account of the buildup of the American Merchant Marine is given. Starting in 1936 with a vigorous ship building program, of which the liberty ship designed for rapid construction, was a key design. The U.S. Merchant Marine grew rapidly. In 1942 the U.S. Navy attempted to take control of the Merchant Marine, which the ship owners and maritime unions successfully defeated only to pay a high post war price for winning.

A somewhat disjointed text narrates the World War II perils and accomplishments of the U.S. Merchant Marine which suffered horrendous losses of men and materials. Several examples of wartime merchant marine engagements are given; many will be familiar to readers of WW-II maritime history. Merchant Marine officer, Dean Beaumont, purser on the liberty ship SS Brander Matthews is one of the WW-II narrative vehicles as the text follows his ship in the Pacific until Dean suffered a nervous break-down and was returned home.

Upon returning home, Dean Beaumont found that he, along with all merchant seamen, was not eligible for any medical benefits nor for the educational and/or financial benefits of the GI Bill. Had they been under the control of the U.S. Navy as proposed in 1942, they would have been eligible. Regardless of their heavy losses and merchant marine participation in all the major invasions including Normandy, the merchant marines in the post war period were treated as noncombatants, not allowed to participate in parades with armed force members, provided no benefits and were often treated as second-class citizens. Consequently, some ex-merchant seamen became homeless and many could not participate in the postwar prosperity. This book is a plea for justice for these men who gave the county their full loyalty, often giving their life.

The text also includes a brief outline of the Merchant Marine history dating back to the Revolutionary War when the Merchant Marine was also the Navy in the form of privateers.

If the reader has access to the DVDs now available of the 1952 TV series titled "Victory at Sea", they will find that viewing the episodes "Sealing the Breach" and "Guadalcanal" while reading the book will make the text more meaningful. Regardless of its somewhat jumbled text, this book is worth reading.