America's Hometown Celebration: Mariners on board

Source: Wickedlocal
By Kathryn Koch
GateHouse News Service

PLYMOUTH — A new float in this year’s Thanksgiving parade will honor the Merchant Marine, civilian merchant ships that carry imports and exports during peacetime and become a naval auxiliary in times of war.

America’s Hometown Thanksgiving Celebration Operations Manager Dave Lybarger said the Merchant Marine is in effect a branch of service that receives little attention.

“The Merchant Marine is often overlooked,” he said. “They’ve sacrificed quite a bit, and they’re still out there in service to our country.”

The Merchant Marine is not a branch of the armed forces like the Navy or the Army. According to the Merchant Marine Act of 1936: “It is necessary for the national defense... that the United States shall have a merchant marine of the best equipped and most suitable types of vessels sufficient to carry the greater portion of its commerce and serve as a naval or military auxiliary in time of war or national emergency...”

Lybarger said World War II was a defining time in the history of the Merchant Marine as an auxiliary. Thousands of mariners died in enemy waters transporting supplies to war-torn Europe.

The Thanksgiving parade float will carry the likeness of the USTS Kennedy, the training ship in use at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy. Mariners can receive training at institutions like the Maritime Academy.

Parade floats have represented the Navy, Army, Marines, Air Force and Coast Guard. This year it’s the Merchant Marine’s turn to be represented, Lybarger said.