MANATEE — James J. McGrath was left home in Westfield, Mass., with his folks during the early years of World War II while his four older siblings were all serving in the military in various theaters around the world.
“All my brothers and sisters were gone, and my parents kept me busy mowing the lawn,” remembered McGrath, now 81, of Bradenton.
Never one to hesitate, he volunteered at age 14 for service with the U.S. Merchant Marine, fudging by one year his true age in order to meet its requirements. The year was 1943.
“I sailed to the end of the war in the Merchant Marine, and spent one year after the war there, too,” said McGrath, a retired residential appraiser and real estate broker.
His wife, Aline, who is looking forward to their 52nd wedding anniversary July 9, said, “I think he was only 17 when he got out, and he’d been around the world twice.”
The Merchant Marine has been in the news recently with legislation proposed in Congress titled, “A Belated Thank You to the Merchant Mariners of World War II Act of 2009,” according to the Library of Congress’ bill tracking Web site, www.thomas.loc.gov. The measure would provide $1,000 per month to WWII mariners, average age 84, in lieu of benefits not received after World War II, it said.
McGrath might qualify, but he said he did not know such legislation had been proposed.
On each Fourth of July, he remembers the fight for freedom that he joined as a teenager.
“I think it was just something we just did that was required, and we did what we had to do,” he said modestly during an interview at his home in Bradenton. “I never worried about getting shot; once in awhile, I worried about getting sunk.”
“I think of my country and what we’ve done to protect it, and keep it safe. That’s all you can think about on the Fourth of July, when you’re celebrating your freedom,” he said.
The United States Merchant Marine provided the greatest sealift in history, carrying food and ammunition to support the Allied forces scattered around the globe during World War II, according to its Web site, www.usmm.org/ww2.html. McGrath was among those recruited for the war effort, which upped its numbers for the war from 55,000 pre-war experienced mariners to more than 215,000, the Web site said.
Merchant ships faced danger from submarines, mines, armed raiders and destroyers, aircraft, and the elements, it said.
“About 8,300 mariners were killed at sea, 12,000 wounded of whom at least 1,100 died from their wounds, and 663 men and women were taken prisoner. (Total killed, estimated 9,300.),” it said. “Some were blown to death, some incinerated, some drowned, some froze, and some starved. Sixty-six died in prison camps or aboard Japanese ships while being transported to other camps. Thirty-one ships vanished without a trace to a watery grave.”
McGrath remembers being on a ship off the coast of Italy when German planes bombed the area.
“They didn’t hit our ship,” McGrath said, adding he was “too young to worry.”
Once, in the Philippines, he was on a ship hauling ammunition and supplies for an upcoming invasion when a hospital ship pulled up nearby, and he learned his sister, Josephine, was working there as a U.S. Army nurse.
“So they came aboard our ship and had a big lunch,” he remembered.
During the war years, McGrath sailed to South America, Europe, North Africa, and the Philippines, among other places.
All four of his siblings returned from the war, but have since passed away, said McGrath.
After the war, he joined the U.S. Air Force and was assigned to its intelligence unit, which took him to various places in Europe. He mustered out in 1954 and took the train to Bradenton, where his parents had retired.
“I liked it here,” McGrath said.
During his working life, he was active in many civic activities, chairing the county commission and the Manatee Port Authority, presiding over the Sunrise Kiwanis Club and serving as a committeeman of the Florida State Republican Committee.
Today, he and Aline plan to volunteer at the Knights of Columbus Council 5604, for which McGrath once served as grand knight, district deputy and state officer.
“I feel like I participated,” he said of his war service. “I did something worthwhile.”
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