BY MARK CURNUTTE
The Cincinnati Enquirer
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Letters from people serving in the military to their loved ones are etched into a curved wall at the Ohio Veterans memorial in Columbus.
(Michael E. Keating photo)
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Tristate war veterans are among 450 merchant marines statewide who are unhappy about the Ohio Veterans Plaza.
The plaza, which will be dedicated Saturday in Columbus, doesn't recognize their service, merchant marines say, and lumps them into branches of the U.S. military to which they didn't belong.
The mariners' point of contention is the base of a flagpole at the center of the plaza. It bears the emblems of the five branches of the military -- Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marine Corps and Navy.
Merchant marines want their emblem on the base, too, but the request was refused by the director of the Governor's Office of Veterans' Affairs and the leaders of other veterans' groups statewide.
"We've been excluded," said C. Bert Hinds of Fairfield, a merchant marine in WWII and regional vice president of the American Merchant Marine Veterans. "It's a bitter pill to swallow."
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Workers are racing to finish the monument for Saturday's dedication.
(Michael E. Keating photo)
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As a result, merchant marines plan to officially boycott the dedication. A few said they will show up to protest, which Mr. Hinds and other group leaders do not endorse.
"We did our jobs, a tough job, and are entitled to the recognition," said Mr. Hinds, 72, who served in the U.S. Merchant Marine for three years with the Army Transportation Corps and was later drafted into the Army.
Mr. Hinds and Francis Corder of Madeira, a board member of the Ohio Valley Merchant Marine Veterans, made the marines' case to state officials but were refused. They met with David Aldstadt, director of the veterans' affairs office.
Merchant marines "want special recognition, not equal recognition," Mr. Aldstadt said. "Until Congress declares the merchant marine a branch of the service, which would require federalizing privately owned, independent commercial shipping operations, we cannot place the merchant marine emblem on the flag pole.
"There are no special mentions of specific wars, no special tribute to the state's 435 congressional Medal of Honor recipients, the Red Cross or to the Ohio National Guard. This is a tribute to all (Ohio) veterans, past and present."
The plaza is intended to pay tribute to the state's 1.3 million honorably discharged veterans.
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IF YOU GO
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What: Dedication celebration of the Ohio Veterans Plaza.
When: Ceremony 5:30-6:30 p.m. Saturday.
Where: Ohio Statehouse, Columbus.
Miscellaneous: The Ohio Veterans Plaza is located to the east of the Ohio Statehouse. It's a public recognition of the men and women of Ohio who served in the five branches of the military (Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marine Corps, Navy) in times of war and peace.
The plaza's major feature is a pair of curved walls made of Ohio limestone, 10 feet high by 40 feet long, inscribed with letters sent home to family from loved ones in the military. Benches, fountains, plaques depicting the five military branches and 88 flag poles (one for each Ohio county) complete the plaza.
Information: (614) 644-0898.
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In 1988, Congress gave veteranstatus (and benefits) to merchant marines who served during World War II.
The merchant marine has been around longer than the nation. The American colonies had a large merchant marine fleet before the Revolutionary War started in 1775.
In 1916, the U.S. Shipping Board was founded to assist the merchant marine by building and purchasing ships. Since 1950, the merchant marine has operated under the guidance of the Maritime Administration.
The U.S. Merchant Marine Academy was founded in 1943, and in 1956, it received equal status with the academies of the armed forces.
Not all merchant marines served during wartime, and not all who served during wartime were in combat zones, so not all merchant marines are veterans, Mr. Aldstadt said.
Still, he says, merchant marines the likes of Mr. Hinds and Mr. Corder are being recognized on the plaza. Those World War II merchant seaman who have veterans' status were honorably discharged from the Army (Mr. Hinds), Coast Guard (Mr. Corder) or Navy.
"I was never in the Coast Guard," said Mr. Corder, whose service aboard an oil tanker counts him as one of the estimated 215,000 who served during World War II.
More than 6,800 merchant marines died in WWII, many of them aboard the estimated 940 cargo ships that were sunk or damaged by the Germans and Japanese. More than 600 merchant marines were also taken prisoner. The merchant marine suffered the highest percentage of World War II-related deaths, 1 in 32. The U.S. Marine Corps' rate was 1 in 34.
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