By Luke Lorenz
Manager of Government Affairs
Navy League of the United States

This is part of an ongoing series, where we look at the lives and legacies of U.S. sea service men and women.

There is good reason for Jim Greer to be a man of such strong faith as he is today. Throughout his years in the Merchant Marine, his life was repeatedly placed in the hands of a power other than his own. After numerous near-death experiences, Jim was able to return home to a loving family and stable career, and he has never stopped being grateful for both.

Greer dropped out of high school to join the Merchant Marine in 1942. Even this decision was not entirely his own as the military would likely have drafted him anyway. Training aboard ship, he was soon en route to Aruba to load up with fuel. Soon after, his ship was torpedoed. He ran to his assigned lifeboat and waited for others to arrive. When no one showed up, he went searching for them. Meanwhile, the lifeboat was swamped in the churning waters, and Greer was forced to make use of a makeshift raft until he was picked up by another U.S. vessel and returned to the mainland. There, he learned one of the first hard lessons of being a Merchant Marine: if your ship gets torpedoed, you stop getting paid.

In 1943 he was on another oiler headed to London. The Germans still had France and were continually bombing the British mainland. The journey was perilous, but they arrived at their destination. Greer still remembers how London lay in ruins all around him. But the most extraordinary encounter was yet to occur. As they left London in a 42-ship convoy, a German submarine surfaced right in front of Greer’s ship. A U.S. destroyer charged forward to ram it. Apparently, the German sub fired off a torpedo just as the destroyer was making contact. Both ships were destroyed and sank to the bottom of the sea.

He would see much horror throughout his subsequent trips. In Anzio, he saw the starving peasants of Italy. In Calcutta, he saw people dead in the streets. In Shanghai, he saw bodies floating down rivers. But despite these awful experiences, someone was clearly looking out for Jim Greer. As sickness crept through his ship, he was sent to the doctor who told him that he needed to have his tonsils removed. Agreeing to the procedure, Jim was taken off the ship just before it was sunk in the Atlantic. His life was saved by a minor and seemingly randomly timed medical procedure.

By Luke Lorenz
Manager of Government Affairs
Navy League of the United States

This is part of an ongoing series, where we look at the lives and legacies of U.S. sea service men and women.

It is important to remember that not every hero proved their courage by storming a beach or charging a bunker. For some, the ultimate test of bravery is providing faith and comfort as chaos and suffering is raging all around you. Such is the story of Father Vincent Capodanno, a U.S. Marine chaplain whose actions in the jungles of Vietnam would result in his posthumous award of the Medal of Honor.

Born in 1929 to Italian immigrant parents in New York City, Capodanno’s faith would prove instrumental in enduring the difficulties of the Great Depression. In 1958, he became an ordained Roman Catholic Priest and by 1965 he had joined the U.S. Marines as a chaplain. He would serve with several units before joining the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines in the Que Son Valley of Vietnam.

His battalion encountered a large North Vietnamese army unit and became pinned down. As casualties mounted, Father Capodanno traversed the battlefield, caring for the wounded and performing the last rites. He continued his important work even as he was wounded multiple times. Father Vincent Capodanno was killed by enemy machine gun fire while attending to his fellow Marines. He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.

By Luke Lorenz
Manager of Government Affairs
Navy League of the United States

This is part of an ongoing series, where we look at the lives and legacies of U.S. sea service men and women.

The sense of duty, courage and sacrifice instilled in young Americans through the JROTC program cannot be overstated. In fact, there is perhaps no better example of the selfless hero produced by such institutions than Baldomero Lopez. A native of Tampa, Florida, this Marine would not only receive a posthumous Medal of Honor, but his name would grace ships and school dorms far from his home.

As a teenager, Lopez served as Regional Commander of Hillsborough High School’s Junior Reserve Training Officer’s Training Corps program in Tampa. He was also an accomplished basketball player. In the midst of World War II, he was selected to attend the U.S. Naval Academy and graduated as a second lieutenant. After a tour in China (after the Japanese surrender but before the Communist takeover) he returned to the United States only to be called upon for the American war effort on the Korean Peninsula.

Serving as a platoon commander in the 1st Marine Division, Lopez led his men in the amphibious landing at Inchon. His heroism would be captured in an iconic photo taken as he guided his men over a seawall and into enemy territory. Shortly after the photo was taken, Lopez would be badly wounded by enemy machine gun fire taken to his chest and shoulder. Despite these injuries, he managed to crawl on top of an activated grenade, shielding his fellow Marines from the blast. For his courage and heroism, Lopez was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.

By Luke Lorenz
Manager of Government Affairs
Navy League of the United States

This is part of an ongoing series, where we look at the lives and legacies of U.S. sea service men and women.

When we consider the ceaseless effort to bring about a just and equal society for all Americans, it is important to remember that it has often been the military that led the way on so many important social issues. For example, the military became the first government institution to desegregate its ranks. Similarly, as women fought for equality in the workplace, it would be the military that would recognize the importance of providing such opportunities to one of the fastest growing segments of the workforce. And they would not be disappointed, as evidenced by Barbara Dulinsky the first female Marine to serve in an active combat zone.

Arriving in Saigon in March of 1967, Master Sgt. Barbara J. Dulinsky was assigned to the J3 at Military Assistance Command Vietnam. In her role she acted as the Top Secret Control Officer/Custodian of Classified Documents. Dulinsky had requested to be sent to Vietnam but doubted that she would receive the assignment. No woman had been deployed in such a manner previously.

Prior to making history, Dulinsky had been the Senior Drill Instructor for Female Marines at Parris Island. A native of San Francisco, she had enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1951 and risen steadily through the ranks. By the time she landed at Bien Hoa Air Force Base outside of Saigon, she was as competent and capable a Marine as any that had come before her.

Dulinsky’s choice to volunteer for an assignment in an active combat zone (in fact, her insistence upon receiving such an assignment) would open doors for all of the female Marines that would follow her. In the ensuing decades, women would enter combat roles and achieve other distinctions that would have been unthinkable before Barbara Dulinsky.

By Luke Lorenz
Manager of Government Affairs
Navy League of the United States

This is part of an ongoing series, where we look at the lives and legacies of U.S. sea service men and women.

“As one reads through the list of combat medals … one wonders how a single Marine could have seen so much action and managed to survive,” said retired Marine Corps Lt. Col. James Zumwalt of the intrepid and legendary Louis Roundtree. Roundtree would earn the Silver Star and other distinguished honors in two separate wars: the Korean War and the Vietnam War. In both conflicts, he proved to be a truly formidable force when outnumbered by enemy troops.

Joining the Corps in 1948, Louis Roundtree would become one of the first African Americans to serve in an integrated U.S. military unit as President Truman gave the order for integration that very year. Many of his compatriots would prove their caliber in the coming years, putting to rest any questions of the merit of integrated forces, but Roundtree would truly stand as a testament to the bravery and sacrifice of all Marines through his courage and gallantry.

Landing at Incheon in 1950, Roundtree and his fellow Marines made short work of a dug-in North Korean battalion and moved north to the Chosin Reservoir. It was here that he would first distinguish himself. With his weapon disabled by enemy fire and his hand badly wounded, Roundtree picked up the rifle of a wounded Marine and charged the enemy position. Halted in his advance by a satchel charge, he refused medical attention and instead focused on bringing assistance to his fellow wounded comrades.

Fifteen years and numerous assignments later, Roundtree was in Vietnam serving as an adviser to the South Vietnamese Army. When his position was overrun by Viet Cong forces, he was initially listed as Killed In Action. He was found later with his uniform torn and his body showing the signs of the battle. He was flown to Da Nang where he would be interviewed for the “Today” show on NBC.

Louis Roundtree’s story is truly captivating, but the real story was his concern for his fellow Marines. In each instance of combat, Roundtree can be remembered tending to the wounded and risking his life for the lives of his compatriots. This is truly what Marines are made of.

By Luke Lorenz
Manager of Government Affairs
Navy League of the United States

This is part of an ongoing series, where we look at the lives and legacies of U.S. sea service men and women.

As the Navy League celebrates National Hispanic Heritage Month, we would like to take a moment to highlight the career and accomplishments of a truly distinguished Hispanic-American Marine veteran of World War 2. Guy Gabaldon would earn the nickname of “Pied Piper of Saipan” for his remarkable ability to convince Japanese soldiers to surrender on the islands of Saipan and Tinian, and he would be immortalized in the Hollywood classic “Hell to Eternity.”

Guy grew up in East Los Angeles during the Depression. He became close with a Japanese-American family named Nakano and at age 12 he went to live with them. There, he learned Japanese and apparently learned how to speak it very persuasively. When the war broke out, the Nakano family was sent to an internment camp in Wyoming and Guy joined the Marines.

After completing boot camp at Camp Pendleton, he was assigned to be a scout. His Japanese language skills undoubtedly factored into this decision as he would be able to understand anything he overheard while in proximity to enemy positions. He set sail with the 2nd Marine Regiment of the 2nd Marine Division en route to Saipan, an island of critical strategic value to the anticipated invasion of the Japanese mainland.

The U.S. Marines tore into Japanese defenses on Saipan with ferocity. Despite their losing position, Japanese soldiers were not known for surrendering. It was possible that Gabaldon’s comrades would have to fight them down to the last man as Marines had done on previous island assaults. But Gabaldon decided to try a different approach.

Sneaking up to a cave filled with Japanese soldiers, Gabaldon shot and killed the guards before telling the others that they were surrounded and had no choice but to surrender. Surprisingly, they agreed and Gabaldon returned to camp with 50 Japanese prisoners. On July 8, 1944, Gabaldon convinced Japanese officers to accept surrender and over 800 Japanese soldiers laid down their weapons.

He would work this same magic on the island of Tinian before being wounded by enemy machine gun fire. In 1960 he was awarded the Silver Star for his actions during the war. A few years later his story would be shared with the world on the big screen.

By Luke Lorenz
Manager of Government Affairs
Navy League of the United States

This is part of an ongoing series, where we look at the lives and legacies of U.S. sea service men and women.

While our weekly mariner stories have primarily focused on men who served during World War II, it is wrong and inaccurate to assume that women were not also out on the water defending the homeland. Indeed, women have served in every war since the American Revolution, and World War II was no exception. One such brave and seafaring woman was Sadie Horton, who was not recognized as a veteran until 2017 when her family received her official military DD 214 certificate of discharge as a veteran of the U.S. Merchant Marine.

Like most women at the time, Sadie had initially answered the call to serve her nation by working in the factories as the men went off to war. She was working as a riveter at the Consolidated Aircraft Facility in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, when she learned that her son William had been killed in action. His ship had been sunk by a German U-Boat. Sadie left her job and went to work alongside her husband as a barge seaman.

In those days women were not issued Merchant Mariner credentials, but that didn’t stop Sadie. Throughout the war she and her husband would make over 90 trips along the East Coast, moving supplies through waters teeming with danger from German U-Boats. The peril of the coastwise barge seaman is often overlooked, but their actions (often without any Navy escort) kept the factories running and the war effort on track.

Thanks to the tireless efforts of her son Don, Sadie would eventually become the first recognized female veteran of the Merchant Marine during World War II. Her story reminds us that America’s victories often require the sacrifice and bravery of heroes who go unsung. It is an honor to tell the story of Sadie Horton, another example of the proud history of the U.S. Merchant Marine!