John Oyler: Merchant Marine casualties in World War II

This week’s column is based on my brother Joe’s latest project, a commemoration of local men who served in the Merchant Marine in World War II. The loss of men from our neighborhood who perished while serving in the military during World War II and the Korean War left a lasting impression on both of us, and especially on him.

Since 2005, he has been involved in five projects that honor men and women who served our country in the military, culminating in 2011 with the publication of the book “Almost Forgotten,” which honors 116 men from the Bridgeville and South Fayette area who died while serving.

In recent years, it has become common practice during concerts for bands to honor the Army, Navy, Marine, Air Force and Coast Guard veterans in attendance by playing the “Armed Forces Medley.” When their particular military hymn is played, they are asked to stand and be recognized. This is appropriate and heartwarming, but invariably, Merchant Marine veterans aren’t included. Ignoring the merchant mariners who perished during WWII is especially unfortunate.

Homer Hickam’s book “Torpedo Junction” discusses Germany’s brutal attack on merchant marine ships during the first six months of 1942. As they traveled up and down the East Coast of the U.S., German submarines used the light of the cities as a backdrop as, uncontested, they sank one ship after the other, tankers in particular. It was a contest to see which German submarine could return to port having sunk the most tonnage. At the time, the Navy was shorthanded and was more interested in supporting the war effort in North Africa and supplying our European allies.

William Geroux’s book “The Mathews Men” tells the story of the merchant mariners from Mathews County, Virginia, who served in WWII. After reading it, Joe decided to commemorate the local merchant mariners who lost their lives in the war. More than 200,000 men served during WWII, with 9,521 perishing in the process. Their casualty rate was higher than any of the other branches of the military with percentages as follows: Merchant Marine, 3.9%; Marines, 2.9%; Army, 2.1%; Navy, 0.9%; and Coast Guard, 0.2%. This was a huge surprise. More eye opening was the fact that 67 men from Western Pennsylvania lost their lives.

Fortunately, only one man from the southwest suburbs of Pittsburgh made this list, Frank Tinnion Wilson of Oakdale. Sadly, but not surprisingly, his name is not included on the WWII Veterans Memorial in Oakdale. Seventeen of the 67 men from Western Pennsylvania perished during the deadly first six months of 1942.

This is a feeble attempt to honor the merchant mariners, particularly those who lost their lives, but it is a beginning. The merchant mariners contributed mightily to the WWII victory; they need to be given more credit than they ever received.

My thanks to Joe for this information and for his continuing commitment to memorializing our local members of the “Greatest Generation.” The original, longer version of this column, including a tabulation of Western Pennsylvania mariners who died in World War II, will be archived on bridgevillehistory.org under the menu heading “Water Under the Bridge” and on my blog site, mywutb.blogspot.com.