Merchant Marines

Today’s #VeteranOfTheDay is Navy Veteran Ming Chang, who was the first naturalized Asian American to reach flag rank in the Navy.

Marine Corps Veteran Marco Polo Smigliani received a Purple Heart for his service during the Vietnam War. He was a crew member of SS Columbia Eagle, the first American ship to be hijacked in 150 years.

Today’s #VeteranOfTheDay is Army Veteran James O. Schmidt. Schmidt served as a paratrooper and merchant mariner during World War II and a special forces operator during the Vietnam War.

Chief Master Sgt. Melvin Bockelman served in the Merchant Marines during World War II before joining the Air Force. He worked to computerize the Air Defense Command in Colorado before joining the Kansas City Police Department.

On the Merchant Marine birthday, today’s #VeteranOfTheDay is Merchant Marine Veteran William Scott Chambers, who served the war effort from 1941 to 1945.

Radio operator and Merchant Marine James Alvin Jolly served for six years in the maritime theater of World War II where he frequently encountered German submarines.

“I ain’t no hero, but I did my time,” says former U.S. Merchant Marine, Coast Guardsmen and Army Soldier John Rust.