Without the structure of an official branch of the military, the US Merchant Marine would have to rely on the strength of their numbers leveraged through labor unions to protect themselves.

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By the time Edward Carter had turned 24, he had fought alongside the Chinese against the Japanese, served in the Merchant Marine, and, finding that uneventful, joined the Abraham Lincoln Brigade in the fight against the Fascists in the Spanish Civil War.

The US Merchant Marine provided crucial, yet often overlooked, logistical support for the Allied war effort.

Edward Woods describes shipping out of New York Harbor aboard the oil Tanker SS Brandy Station.

Merchant Marine, Louis Taix of New Orleans, Louisiana, was lost at sea when the SS Nicarao was sunk by a German submarine U-751 on the night of May 15, 1942, in the Bahama Islands.

Situated at the end of the Horatio Alger Association American Spirit Bridge, this gallery honors the civilian merchant mariners who risked their lives transporting weapons, men, and matériel to US troops overseas.