MORE ON WHY WE OBJECT TO CONTINUED LEGISLATIVE SERVICE BY JOHN McCAIN. MORE FACTS ABOUT THE NATIONAL SECURITY CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE JONES ACT FLEETS AND THE SEAMEN HE CALLED "LAUGHABLE":
Editor's note 3/10/2015: McCaine continues to sponsor legislation to eliminate cabotage protection for our domestic (U.S. Port to U.S.Port & service vessels) merchant fleet, generating new bills in 2014/15.
AMERICAN TUGS AT DOCK PHOTO BY EDDIE FOUSE
Among the many contributions that the Jones Act Fleet makes to the security of the United States and to our Merchant Marine in particular is simply the production of trained merchant seamen. Today many graduates of America's one federal and four state Merchant Marine Academies do not make their careers at sea as traditional Merchant Marine Officers but more generally serve as officers in the Armed Forces, or pursue graduate degrees in related fields like admiralty law and naval architecture. Both the domestic fleet (Jones Act protected) and the international fleet (now shrunken down to about 200 ships) must have competent deck and engineering officers and experienced and skilled able seamen. The Jones Act fleet with its junior colleges, technical schools, union schools, and apprenticeship programs keep both the international and domestic fleet supplied with skilled labor.
When the U.S. International fleet descends to near oblivion due to foreign competition, professional civilian mariners take refuge in the Jones Act protected domestic fleet. There they find employment and a continuation of professional experience and continuing training experience. The U.S. Merchant Marine labor force is made up of officers and seamen certified or licensed by the U.S. Coast Guard and dedicated by statute as a "Naval Auxiliary" . The U.S. Merchant Marine has answered the call to transport bullets, beans, equipment, and troops into harm's way in every war including the one that senator McCain is most familiar with personally. In the Vietnam war American Merchant Mariners were killed in action, some gained their initial experience in the Jones Act fleet and some were actually Jones Act tugboat men pressed into Vietnam riverine and coast wise service along with their vessels.
| USNS CARD MANNED BY 74 U.S. MERCHANT MARINERS FOR AIRCRAFT TRANSPORT AND SUNK IN SAIGON HARBOR ABOUT THREE MONTHS BEFORE THE "GULF OF TONKIN INCIDENT |
Their names do not appear on the Vietnam memorial wall but U.S. Merchant Mariners were among the first to die in Vietnam military action. The USNS CARD was a former WWII era air craft carrier that had been decommissioned and entered into Military Sealift Command service as an aircraft transporter. The CARD was manned at the pertinent time by "Civilian Mariners" in the employ of the MSTS, in short the crew consisted of U.S. Merchant Mariners. The original crew of 900 Navy sailors had been replaced by 74 Merchant Mariners. On the morning of May 2, 1964 in the Port of Saigon the CARD was sent to the bottom by Viet Cong sappers and became the first U.S. Merchant Marine casualty of the Vietnam war, three months before the famed USS MADDOX incident which drew front page ink and network media time.
Very little of the incident was described in the news media of the day. It is believed that casualties were "light" with some of the crew ashore. We do know that the seriously injured included Merchant Mariner Raymond Arbon on the quarter deck at the time of the explosion, and Merchant Mariner (engine department) John McDonald who was at the boiler control panel at the time of the explosion. The Vietnam sea lift effort would eventually engage over 557 U.S .flag merchant vessels many had to be chartered from private sources or brought out of mothballs. Only serious movement of seamen from the Jones Act fleet could account for our ability to man so many transports on short order. Many of the 74 crewmen and officers of the converted USN/MSTS CARD came over directly from domestic tug and barge work and protected coast wise shipping. Some normally Jones act vessels like the tug MICHAEL were pressed directly into military support service. Mate James Almony of the Tug MICHAEL was killed in service to the Navy in Vietnam. His name is no where on the wall of the Vietnam memorial.
Neither are the names of Engineering Officer Raymond Barrett of the tanker SS BATON ROUGE, and no one is looking for Ordinary Seaman Ruben Bailon missing off the EXPRESS BALTIMORE since 1965, the U.S Merchant Marine's last MIA from Vietnam. The name of Merchant Mariner Earnie Goo killed on board the SS TRANSCLOBE on the last day of August 1968 is also no where memorialized. No where is there a memorial to the 26 crewmen who died aboard the SS BADGER STATE when the ship foundered on December 26, 1969 after a cargo of bombs broke lose and detonated on board. The records are incomplete but at least 44 American Merchant Mariners died supporting the logistic efforts of the Vietnam war and , many had been trained in the Jones Act fleet, one was actually on a tug, and none have been officially remembered by their nation.
Now we have to endure a U.S. Senator, a POW in that same war insulting and demeaning the service of our Merchant Marine brothers, endangering our jobs, endangering the future possibility of utilizing the Merchant Marine as a naval auxiliary, and insulting the the memory of our sacred dead.
OK, Senator McCain you would not see the National Mariners Association when it came to you, how about responding with a comment now?
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