Censored! A World War II "V . . . – Mail"

 

This past Sunday the Rhode Island Genealogical Society (RIGS) held a virtual meeting using Crowdcast online in order to have a continuation of operations during this ongoing Corona virus pandemic.  The meeting included two excellent presentations-- one by Thomas and McEntee and the other by Kathleen Kaldis.  During her presentation, Kathleen mentioned almost parenthetically that her father had served in the Merchant Marine during World War II.  She added that while the losses suffered by those serving in the Merchant Marine during the war accounted for the highest per capita loss of any uniformed service, those in the Merchant Marine were not considered "veterans."  This is partially true.

As previously covered in other posts on this blog, recognition of the service of those who served in the Merchant Marine during WWII was slow in coming and in some ways incomplete (see the earlier posts here, and here).  President Franklin Roosevelt had promised mariners of the U.S. Merchant Marine and the Army Transport Service that they would be granted veteran status and a Seamans Bill of Rights for their WWII service .  .  . but the promise died with the President.  It was not until many years later that mariners of the U.S. Merchant Marine who served in WWII were granted some limited benefits and official recognition.  For example, they were granted the honor of WWII service medals and the qualification to be buried in a national cemetery (other than Arlington), but they were not allowed health or other benefits.

The Battle of the Atlantic during WWII has been called the longest continuous military campaign of World War II and as Winston Churchill later stated, "The Battle of the Atlantic was the dominating factor all through the war. Never for one moment could we forget that everything happening elsewhere, on land, at sea or in the air depended ultimately on its outcome."  During this period, the Allied naval forces attempted a blockade of Germany while at the same time the merchant ships were doing their utmost to move cargo across the Atlantic to keep military forces supplied with weapons and other materials needed to sustain Allied efforts.  Germany responded to the blockade and to the supply efforts with a concerted and continuous attack against Allied naval and merchant ships.  They used U-boats (submarines), surface vessels and Luftwaffe aircraft.  From 1942 onward, German forces were especially directed at preventing a build-up of equipment and supplies that would support any Allied attempt to invade mainland Europe.  While ultimately the blockade of Germany failed, the Allies were able to win the "war of tonnage" by keeping Allied forces supplied with what was needed to bring the war to Germany and the Axis powers.

Few people realize the terrible cost of winning the tonnage supply battle that raged in the Atlantic.  There were 3,500 merchant ships and 175 warships lost during the Battle of the Atlantic, while Germany suffered a loss of 783 U-boats.  Some 3.1 million tons of merchant ships were lost during World War II and 1 in 24 merchant mariners died -- making the fatality rate of the Merchant Marines the highest casualty rate of any uniformed service during the war! 

Just days ago I came across a "V-Mail" letter written by my late father (Arnold G. Tew, Jr.) during his WWII service in the U.S. Merchant Marine.  V-Mail was the process developed during WWII as the primary and secure method for correspondence with those serving abroad.  It was intended to reduce the cost of transmitting an original letter through the military postal system.  An original letter was first reviewed by a censor and copied to film after which it was printed back onto paper when it arrived at its destination and before delivery.

The V-Mail letter shown above was sent by my father to his Aunt Edna in Wallingford, Connecticut.  It bears the censor's stamp in the upper left corner and the obvious marks where material was blacked out as too sensitive to allow (the date and locations and arrvials of my father's ship no doubt).  Edna was the older sister of my father's father and like a second mother to my father and his siblings.  I myself have very fond memories of my [grand] Aunt Edna.

P.S.  The dot-dot-dot dash in "V . . . – Mail" is the Morse Code for the letter V and as we all know, V is for Victory; hence, V Mail was short for "Victory Mail."

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Copyright 2020, John D. Tew

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Images are of the original paper V-Mail letter in the personal collection of the author.

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Wordless Wednesday (January 7, 2015) -- A Shore Pass For Yokohama, Japan (Sept. 1952)

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Images scanned from original Shore Pass in the collection of the author.

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Copyright 2015, John D. Tew

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Military Monday (January 5, 2015) -- U.S. Naval Reserve and U.S. Maritime Service IDs from 1951

In September 1951, as a graduate of the United States Merchant Marine Academy - Kings Point, and as an officer in the Merchant Marine, my father also had a U.S. Naval Reserve appointment as a LTJG (USNR) following his service during World War II. His USNR identification card is shown above.

In December 1951, my father was still actively employed as an officer in the Merchant Marine. His identification card from the U.S. Department of Commerce, Maritime Administration, UNITED STATES MARITIME SERVICE is shown immediately above.

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Images scanned from original identification cards in the collection of the author.

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Copyright 2015, John D. Tew

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Military Monday (December 29, 2014) -- WWII War Zone Bar Awards to Arnold G. Tew, Jr.

I posted on March 18, 2013 about my father's WWII service in the U.S. Merchant Marine. That post can be seen here. I mentioned in the previous post that my father served in all the recognized theaters of war during World War II and included a photograph of his service award medals and bars. Recently the original War Zone Bar award cards were discovered amongst some family records.  Those original cards are now shown above.

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Scan of the original award cards in the collection of the author.

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Copyright 2014, John D. Tew

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Military Monday (July 28, 2014) -- Two Scituate, Rhode Island WWII Honor Roll Memorials?

Arnold G. Tew, Jr. circa 1945 in Navy Reserve uniform as LTJG.

As I have mentioned elsewhere on The Prism, my father was a 1944 graduate of Kings Point, the United States Merchant Marine Academy (USMMA) in Great Neck, New York. The site of the Academy is the former 12-acre estate of Walter Chrysler named "Forker House." 

Kings Point was dedicated on September 30, 1943 by FDR, who stated, "the Academy serves the Merchant Marine as West Point serves the Army and Annapolis the Navy."  From 1942 - 1945, Kings Point graduated 6,895 officers.  During World War II, 1 in 26 merchant mariners were killed while implementing the greatest sealift in history.  This made the percentage of war-related deaths for merchant mariners higher than the percentage in all the other U.S. services -- but the mariner death rate was kept secret during the war so that the enemy would not know what success they were having in targeting supply ships AND so that the nation could continue to attract mariners into service.  

Merchant Marine midshipmen have served in every major conflict in which the U.S. has been involved since WWII and as a result the Kings Point regiment is entitled and privileged to display a regimental battle standard; the USMMA is the only Federal Service Academy granted the right to do so. 

This past weekend while visiting my parents, I obtained some wartime photographs I had never seen before -- including the one of my father shown above in his uniform. Among the other photos was the following snap shot of a World War II Honor Roll memorial erected in Scituate, Rhode Island.

The Scituate Honor Roll for World War II shown immediately above has a somewhat temporary look dominated as it is by white picket fencing. I do not know the date of the photograph or the precise location in Scituate where it was (and perhaps still is?) located, so I would welcome further information from anyone who might know more about the picket fenced Honor Roll. 

Some web research did disclose that the Rhode Island Reading Room page at http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~rigenweb/article248.html shows photographs of the war memorial and honor rolls for the Civil War, WWI and WWII erected by Scituate, Rhode Island.  A photograph of the bronze WWII Honor Roll with an enlarged section showing many names on the Honor Roll follows.

Unless someone can shed more light on the white picket fence WWII Honor Roll erected by Scituate, it appears that the picket fenced Honor Roll might very well have have been temporary and that it was replaced by the more common stone and bronze plaque design shown at the Rhode Island Reading Room.  In the close-up of the plaque depicted immediately above, my father's name -- Arnold G. Tew, Jr. -- can be seen listed among those being honored. "John A. Tew" listed two lines below my father is his younger brother, who served in the U.S. Navy toward the end of WWII. 

Edward Tew listed between my father and his brother is Edward N. Tew, the 3rd cousin of my father and his brother.  Edward was the son of Frederick Browning Tew, Jr. (1890 - 1983), a long-time reporter for the Providence Journal, and his wife, Jessie E. Brewster (1894 -    ). Edward enlisted in the Army in Providence on September 9, 1943.  He died in Vermont on February 15, 1985.

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Photographs of Arnold G. Tew, Jr. and the picket fenced Scituate, R.I. WWII Honor Roll in the personal collection of the author.

Photograph of the Scituate, R.I. WWII Honor Roll plaque by Beth Hurd (2004) as posted at http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~rigenweb/article248.html . Close-up of the plaque cropped from Beth Hurd's photography by the author.

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Copyright 2014, John D. Tew

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Friday Fotos (August 30, 2013) -- A Presidential Testimonial Letter

My father is a graduate of the United States Merchant Marine Academy, Kings Point.  I have previously posted about his WWII service here on The Prism.

Most people are not aware that during World War II the Merchant Marine suffered higher casualty rates per capita than any other uniformed service.  The Germans targeted merchant ships because they were transporting critical war materiel and fresh troops.  The awful loss of merchant ships and their crews was actually kept quiet by the media at the time because the government did not want the Germans to have any success by their targeting campaign confirmed and because the government still needed more men to sign up for service.

Despite the promise of President Franklin D. Roosevelt that the mariners of the U.S. Merchant Marine and the Army Transport Service would be granted veteran status and a Seaman's Bill of Rights for their WWII service, the promise died with the President.  In the immediate aftermath of WWII, Merchant Marines received little recognition and no veteran benefits for their service.  In fact, it took the Department of Defense more than four decades after the war to allow honors such as service medals and the right to be buried in military cemeteries to be granted to veteran Merchant Marines!  Among the special medals, awards and other recognitions of service finally authorized and allowed pursuant to the Merchant Marine Decorations and Medals Act of 1988, 46 App. USC 2001, et seq., was the tenth listed "Other original recognition of service" for service in the U.S. Merchant Marine during WWII.  That recognition was as follows:

          (10) Presidential Testimonial Letter, signed by President Harry S Truman, to all active

          merchant seaman who sailed during World War II; 

The letter shown above is the document that was finally issued to my father more than 60 years after his WWII service in the U.S. Merchant Marine. 

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Presidential testimonial letter from the collection of the author.

For more information and at least one view on the treatment of WWII Merchant Marines go here. 

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Copyright 2013, John D. Tew

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Military Monday -- Arnold G. Tew, Jr.

Arnold G. Tew, Jr. at Kings Point 

Arnold G. Tew, Jr. with his parents, Arnold G. Tew, Sr. and Huldah Tew, at his graduation

from Kings Point, the United States Merchant Marine Academy at Great Neck, New York.

Arnold G. Tew, Jr.

My father grew up in Cranston and Woonsocket, Rhode Island and later lived for a time in Wallingford, Connecticut with his Aunt Edna (Tew) Tarr and his Uncle Clifford Tarr.

Just nine days before the attack on Pearl Harbor and the subsequent entry of the United States into World War II, my father turned nineteen years old.  In March 1944 he graduated from Kings Point, the United States Merchant Marine Academy in Great Neck, New York.  Almost immediately he was at sea supporting the war effort by moving tons of cargo in supply convoys to Europe and other locations.  He served with the Merchant Marine until October 1952.

While my father was at Kings Point, cadets also spent about six months at sea before graduation.  In 1942, his class was split alphabetically for their cadet sea service and training either in the Atlantic or the Pacific. Those whose last names were toward the end of the alphabet, like my father's, drew cadet service in the Pacific.  My father has said many times that he thinks he is alive only because he drew service in the Pacific. 

In the Atlantic, the so-called "Battle of the Atlantic" raged from 1939 until Germany was defeated in 1945 -- and the battle reached its greatest intensity during the period from mid-1940 through the end of 1943.  It included the period of my father's cadet service in the Pacific.

The Battle of the Atlantic has been called the longest continuous military campaign of World War II and as Winston Churchill later stated, "The Battle of the Atlantic was the dominating factor all through the war. Never for one moment could we forget that everything happening elsewhere, on land, at sea or in the air depended ultimately on its outcome."  During this period, the Allied naval forces attempted a blockade of Germany while at the same time the merchant ships were doing their utmost to move cargo across the Atlantic to keep military forces supplied with weapons and other materials needed to sustain Allied efforts.  Germany responded to the blockade and to the supply efforts with a concerted and continuous attack against Allied naval and merchant ships.  They used U-boats (submarines), surface vessels and Luftwaffe aircraft.  From 1942 onward, German forces were especially directed at preventing a build-up of equipment and supplies that would support any Allied attempt to invade mainland Europe.  While ultimately the blockade of Germany failed, the Allies were able to win the "war of tonnage" by keeping Allied forces supplied with what was needed to bring the war to Germany and the Axis powers.

Few people realize the terrible cost of winning the tonnage supply battle that raged in the Atlantic.  There were 3,500 merchant ships and 175 warships lost during the Battle of the Atlantic, while Germany suffered a loss of 783 U-boats.  Some 3.1 million tons of merchant ships were lost during World War II and 1 in 24 merchant mariners died -- making the fatality rate of the Merchant Marines the highest casualty rate of any service during the war!  My father served on merchant ships in all the recognized theaters of war during WWII beginning with his cadet service in November 1942 (when he was 20 years old) through VJ Day in August 1945.  Most of his service was as either 2nd or 3rd Mate on the merchant ships Mishmaha, Vernon L. Parrington, Samuel Ashe and Sea Phoenix.

My father survived the war and continued service with the Merchant Marine until Fall 1952.  He ultimately gained his Master Mariner papers, which allowed him to take any size ship anywhere in the world.  My father is 90 years old now and a proud member of what has been called, "The Greatest Generation!" 

My father holding his WWII Merchant Marine Service medals.
[The ring on his hand is his Kings Point Class ring.]

WWII Honor Roll in Wallingford, Connecticut outside the former Lyman Hall school

Close-up of the Wallingford, Connecticut WWII Honor Roll

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All photos from the collection of the author.

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Copyright 2013, John D. Tew

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