Chapter Officers

CEO:
Jim Waters
VP:
Aaron Varn
Chaplain:
Vernon Bass
Treasurer:
Bill Hepburn
Asst Treasurer:
Vivian Hepburn
Secretary:
Peggy Van Gemert
:

Links Section

	VETERANS COUNCIL
	AMERICAN MM AT WAR

Help for merchant seaman

Support restoration of the S.S. American Victory

Legislation for American flag ships.

Support the Manatee County Veterans Council.

Support Sarasota County Veterans Commission.

Support Passage of the Just Compensation Bill in Congress

As of June 1, 2009, there were 27 co-sponsors to S.663. This is far short of the number needed to ensure passage on the floor of the Senate. Senator Akaka still refuses to allow this bill out of committee for a vote on the floor. Most likely, he will never allow it out as his loyalty seems to be to the VFW who is absolutely against this bill becoming law. The VFW with about 2.4M members has more electoral punch than the AMMV with about 3,500 members and Just Compensation with about 11,400 members. It does appear the only way to get this bill to the full Senate for a vote will be to attach it to another bill similar to the action taken by Senator Akaka to get the Filipino Compensation bill passed. This wily old Hawaiian attached it to the stimulus bill which was never read by any member of Congress voting for the bill. And it passed easily as very few knew of its existence. So much for fairness in government. So now it appears that our best shot at getting the bill to the floor of the Senate will be for Senators Ben Nelson and Sam Brownback to look for the first instance in which they can amend another bill by adding on Just Compensation. To most of us, this seems like a crooked way to get something done but in Washington it is business as usual. So redouble your efforts in contacting members of the Senate because we do need many more co-sponsors to ensure even a amendment to pass. Here in Florida, we still do not have Senators Bill Nelson and Mel Martinez as co-sponsors. They were late comers in the 110th Congress. They should not be late comers in the 111th Congress As evidenced by Senator Akaka’s affiliation, the Veterans Affairs Committee meeting in April was not announced to the Merchant Marine Just Compensation Committee but it was announced to the VFW. The committee meeting on May 21st, where Senator Akaka mentioned he might bring up S.663, was completely devoid of any reference to that bill. Others may say that he will still come around but to my notion, he will never give due consideration to a bill to compensate WWII Mariners for their lack of benefits at the end of the war. The lack of benefits after the war would not have been so hard on wartime mariners but they also found that they were second rate for employment ashore. All preferences were given to members of the Armed Services while some of the larger companies admitted they would not hire a wartime mariner. First you offer to give your life for your country as a mariner and then after all is said and done, you are asked what have you done for me lately. If I sound bitter, it is because I am bitter that we cannot get justice even 64 years after the war ended. It is not the country who is at fault, it is scalawags that get elected and become little tin gods in their respective offices, Enough of this diatribe, We never gave up before and we won’t give up now. Keep after those Senators until we get the results that might possibly get S.663 passed in the Senate without the aid of the Senator from Hawaii.

On June 3,2009, Senator Mel Martinez signed on as a co-sponsor. Our thanks to the Senator. Now where in the heck is Bill? Is he going to wait and see whether it is politically expediuent, or not, before he decides to again become a co-sponsor.

You may be interested to know that on May 6, 2009, Congressman Steve Buyer (R-IN) introduced a bill to the House of Representatives (HR.2270) which would give a $1000 per month tax free benefit to qualified WWII veterans who did not receive benefits from the GI Bill of Rights of 1944 and served during WWII. Mr. Buyer is the ranking member of the House Veterans Affairs Committee and has consistently been against Just Compensation for WWII Mariners. The bill currently has 6 co-sponsors. Eligible would be the 18 living veterans of the Flying Tigers and the U S Cadets Nursing Corps among others not listed. We congratulate Mr. Buyer for being so civic minded and do not accept this as a measured farce against Just Compensation. From our POV, the veterans of the Flying Tigers certainly deserve compensation for their service prior to the entry of the USA in WWII. We do hope HR.2270 is enacted into law, right after Just Compensation receives President Barack Obama's signature making Just Compensation the law of the land.

Don't give up hope. The following should be a lesson for all of us regarding the passage of Just Compensation.
On my way home one day, I stopped to watch a Little League baseball game that was being played in a park near my home. As I sat down behind the bench on the first-base line, I asked one of the boys what the score was 'We ' re behind 14 to nothing, ' he answered with a smile. 'Really, ' I said. 'I have to say you don't look very discouraged.' 'Discouraged? ', the boy asked with a puzzled look on his face... 'Why should we be discouraged? We haven't been up to bat yet. '

Perhaps it is unknown by most but the Tampa Council of the Navy League sponsors a Naval Sea Cadet program headquartered aboard the American Victory. The Cadets played a major part in our most recent cruise on May 16th. Not only did they handle the lines on the dock but did many jobs onboard during the cruise. Both on leaving dock and on the return to dock, Cadets handled the chore of shifting the ensign from the fantail to the mizzen mast and back to the fantail. They also demonstrated the required life vest demonstration, policed the ship making sure the trash cans were emptied and participated in the Memorial service.
They also train aboard the ship and help in maintaining equipment such as reconditioning several lifeboats. They are a great asset to the AMVIC.
The American Victory will be open the evening of July 4th to tour and is the best seat in the city to view the fireworks at Channelside. Hamburgers, hot dogs and drinks will be available to make the evening extra special. Standard prices will apply for admission. Reserved tours are still available during regular hours Tuesday through Saturday from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM and Sunday from 12:00 noon to 4:00 PM.

On Saturday, June 6, 2009, most television sets showed clips of the Normandy invasion as well as what dignitaries of today had to say about those who participated in the largest invasion of WWII. As far as I know, none mentioned the role played by mariners in that invasion. Merchant ships of all the Allied Nations participated but there was one outstanding group who made the invasion both safer and efficient. It was those mariners who volunteered to bring the 89 derelict ships to Normandy to extend the Mulberry that was about a mile in length and was comprised of 75 Phoenixes which formed the Mulberry. Each Mulberry could handle about 7 Liberty ships at a time to offload their cargo to landing craft. The derelict vessels were crewed by mariners who had volunteered for this job that was rife with fire from the beach and from airplanes. The extension of the Mulberry with Blockships created a Gooseberry which calmed the sea thus allowing those landing ashore to avoid having their landing craft overturned by the rough sea. Our Treasurer, Bill Hepburn, was one of the volunteers to sail a derelict Blockship to Normandy. Bill’s ship had been torpedoed off the coast of Scotland . He ended up being available to volunteer for a job in the engine room aboard a Blockship. One thing most people do not know, and may surprise them no end, is that these volunteers did this as a patriotic duty without pay. The reason for no pay was very simple. They signed Articles the same day the ship was scuttled thereby bringing the law of the sea into the equation. Your pay stops when your ship goes down. A British vessel brought him back to England.. Was Bill upset by no pay. Absolutely not. In talking to Bill, I think he was more upset about trying to get back to the states which is a story in itself. If you are interested in hearing that episode, I suggest you sit down and talk to Bill about that experience. Anyhow, regardless of whether the news people report items such as this, the fact remains the Merchant Marine was an integral part in the success of the Normandy invasion. But then, we WWII Mariners knew that, didn’t we?

Final results are coming in and it looks as though the convention was a success. Many thanks must go to the convention committee which was ably chaired by Morris Harver, our SE Regional VP and his wife Irene. This couple spent the better part of a year working feverishly to make the convention a success. Added to that are the following committee members who also worked tirelessly to have a good convention’
Jim Waters, Committee Vice Chairman
John Reger, Finance Chairman
Carole Gutierrez, Memory Book
Barbara Reher
Lois Taylor
Felix DeRosa
Bob & Dotty Bukovac
Doyle and Mae Abbot
Richard and Mary McCamy
We also want to give credit to Phyllis Black who worked the Registration Desk.
There was mountains of work to be done to make the convention a success and the above deserve a special thanks for all of their efforts. Memory books are still for sale and cost $10.00 which includes S&H. A discount of 10% is offered to the purchase of three (3) or more Memory Books. Please contact Jim Waters for a purchase order form.