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MERCHANT MARINE ORGANIZATION SEEKS JUST
COMPENSATION --
he Just Compensation Committee says it's time
to treat MMers like veterans and blames
Rep. Steve Buyer for holding up
compensation bill.
Story here...
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/
stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/11-01-2006/0004464451&EDATE=
Story below:
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Remaining WWII Merchant Marine Veterans and Their Families Still Not
Compensated by Republican Controlled U.S. Congress for Their Service and
Sacrifice During Last World War
Congressman Buyer, Chair of House Committee on Veterans Affairs,
Intentionally Blocking Full Committee Vote on Proposed Bill to
Compensate
Thousands of WWII Merchant Marine Veterans That Never Received G.I. Bill
of
Rights
WASHINGTON, /PRNewswire/ -- The Just Compensation Committee, a
non- profit unincorporated committee of Veterans representing the
interests
of World War II Merchant Marine veterans, announced today that
Congressman
Buyer (R-IN) is withholding a full committee vote on H.R. 23
(
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d109:HR00023: ), a proposed
bill
that would compensate remaining World War II Merchant Marine veterans
that
were denied the G.I. Bill of Rights that the other military services
received following the conclusion of World War II. H.R. 23 has been
awaiting a full- committee vote for the past several months, but has
been
road blocked by Congressman Buyer for political purposes. Currently,
H.R.
23 has 267 co- sponsors and is allocating $1,000 a month for remaining
Merchant Marine veterans and their widows.
"The Merchant Mariners of World War II
sacrificed their lives in order
for troops, ammunition, gasoline, military equipment and supplies to
reach
the war front overseas, and to still prevent these remaining veterans
from
being compensated for their service in the name of politics by Chairman
Buyers is devastating," said Ian Allison, co-chair of the Just
Compensation
Committee.
"It's not only wrong but also unethical to
spend billions of dollars on
the Iraq War and still refuse a committee vote for thousands of World
War
II veterans from an entire auxiliary service that have been trying for
over
60 years to gain some compensation for the G.I. Bill of Rights they were
denied. How you treat your veterans from yesteryears is a good
indication
on how you plan to treat veterans from today's wars."
As of October 2006, H.R. 23 has collected 267
co-signers while the
Senate companion bill S. 1272
(
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d109:s.01272: ) has
collected 41
co-signers.
Merchant Mariners' Participation During World
War II
WWII Merchant Marine veterans were responsible
for piloting slow moving
cargo vessels, known as Liberty Ships, which transported the supplies
necessary to win the War. Their acts of heroism delivering oil,
gasoline,
ammunitions, food, water, troops and military equipment across the seven
seas, resulted in the highest casualty rate compared to the U.S.
Military
branches during WWII. One of out every twenty-six (26) Merchant Mariner
was
killed during the War. They were also the only auxiliary service under
the
U.S. War Department to accept volunteer civilians with handicaps and
missing limbs, and had the highest concentration of minorities.
Moreover,
Merchant Marine officers, which, trained at their own federal service
academy known as the Merchant Marine Academy, were the only federal
academy cadets to train off base unlike other federal service academies
that
prohibited their cadets from training off base during World War II.
Why World War II Merchant Mariners Were Denied
G.I. Bill of Rights
Unlike the traditional military services whose servicemen received the
G.I. Bill of Rights, Merchant Mariners were volunteer civilians who were
paid by Maritime companies to operate U.S. Government "Liberty Ships" on
behalf of the U.S. War Department. As a result of the Merchant Mariners
civilian status, they were denied the G.I. Bill of Rights and veteran
status by Congress following the conclusion of World War II. However,
Merchant Mariners' were still ordered to boot camp just like their
counterparts in the military, and their officers trained at a federal
service academy. As a result of being denied veteran status, World War
II
Merchant Marine veterans were treated like second class citizens when
returning home from the war. Their non-veteran status meant they had to
wait to return home until veterans were sent home first, and were passed
over for post-War jobs that were preferentially given to veterans. Since
Merchant Mariners were classified as non-veterans, they were denied the
G.I. Bill of Rights, which meant further hardships for Merchant Mariners
when they returned home from World War II. The G.I. Bill of Rights
provided
among other things, college tuition assistance, competitive loans and
rates, insurance, etc.
About Just Compensation Committee
The committee is a non-profit unincorporated
committee of Veterans
registered with the Internal Revenue Service as the Just Compensation
Committee. The committee has been fighting for World War II Merchant
Mariners rights for the past several years and is co-chaired by Ian
Allison.
---------------
Larry Scott
