{"product_id":"merchant-marine-survivors-of-world-war-ii-oral-histories-of-cargo-carrying-under-fire-paperback","title":"Merchant Marine Survivors of World War II: Oral Histories of Cargo Carrying Under Fire - Paperback","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eMichael Gillen\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e World War II could not have been won without the U.S. Merchant Marine. Crewed by civilian seamen in peacetime and carrying much of the nation's ocean-borne commerce, the Merchant Marine became the \"fourth arm of defense\" in wartime, providing vital support for beachheads in all theaters of operation.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e Twenty World War II Merchant Marine veterans are featured in this oral history. Most had at least one ship torpedoed, bombed, shelled or mined out from under them--some of them two. Some became prisoners of the Japanese for the duration of the war, working on the infamous River Kwai Bridge. Many spent time on lifeboats or flimsy rafts under harsh conditions; one--Donald Zubrod--endured 42 days in a lifeboat with several others before their eventual rescue, close to death.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e American merchant mariners suffered a casualty rate that was a close second to the Marine Corps during the war.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eA former merchant seaman, \u003cb\u003eMichael Gillen\u003c\/b\u003e (Ph.D., Public History, New York University) was later a maritime labor reporter, an historic site curator and a program director and professor of Asian history at Pace University in New York. He also served as director of the project that preserved the Liberty Ship \u003ci\u003eJohn W. Brown\u003c\/i\u003e as an operational World War II ship museum in Baltimore. He lives in Lafayette Hill, Pennsylvania.\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 216\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.6 x 8.9 x 6.1 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e January 02, 2015\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53118650581299,"sku":"9780786494675","price":60.91,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0300\/5595\/6612\/files\/UwlYl3AunQ9780786494675.webp?v=1773031202","url":"https:\/\/www.vysn.com\/products\/merchant-marine-survivors-of-world-war-ii-oral-histories-of-cargo-carrying-under-fire-paperback","provider":"VYSN","version":"1.0","type":"link"}