Customer Reviews

War Stories: Merchant Marine [VHS]

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This short (50 minutes) documentary is narrated by WWll veterans of the US Merchant Marine, US Naval Armed Guard, and steelworkers of the Kaiser shipbuilding yards. The video, with its rare black-and-white footage, spotlight on veterans, and music soundtrack, is of the same general quality as televised episodes presented on "The History Channel". Its focus is on the importance of the convoy system in delivery to our Allies of desperately-needed supplies. Unbeknownst to the American public, losses were staggeringly high. Archival action footage of torpedoed ships and sailors foundering in the sea remind us of the thousands of men who died in their perilous duty -- and explain why my own father recurrently awoke from nightmares for some thirty years afterward. Those interested in the subject of this video will also appreciate Humphrey Bogart's classic adventure film "Action in the North Atlantic" and Jan de Hartog's fictionalized novel about Convoy PQ-17, "The Captain".