Mark Gleeson Oakmont

Mark S. Gleeson of Oakmont not only served in World War II as a Merchant Marine, but he has fought for justice in recognizing Merchant Mariners as veterans. Unfortunately, many today are unaware of the extensive Merchant Marine war service to the United States.

The United States Merchant Marine fleet of ships is used to transport imports and exports in peacetime and during times of war delivering troops and supplies as an auxiliary to the United States Navy. The merchant marine is a civilian except in times of war, when they are considered military personnel. Their rich history began in the Revolutionary War and has continued through every war our country has been in.

Mark’s story begins with his joining the Merchant Marine. Born in Indiana where his dad worked for PPG, his family moved to Ford City after his birth in 1927 to continue work with PPG. Mark graduated from Ford City High School in 1945 and joined the Merchant Marine. He explained that the Merchant Marine heavily recruited inland areas such as the Alle-Kiski Valley and in West Virginia. After joining he was sent to the Merchant Marine Sheepshead Bay Boot Camp in Brooklyn, New York. Following that he was headed to Radio School, but the war was winding down and he was shipped to Boston.

From Boston he went to sea and ended up sailing around the Pacific. Because he hadn’t received further training, he was assigned to being a Steward. The Pacific Merchant Marine ships were primarily involved in bringing supplies to stationed troops and taking war time supplies that were no longer needed back to the United States. Later in 1946 they began transporting their ships to Japan to be outfitted as Japanese Merchant Marine ships replacing ships lost during the war. This permitted the Japanese to transport their troops back to Japan after losing the war.

Mark Gleeson in 1945

Mark’s service ended after delivering ships to Japan in 1946. He then entered Westminster College earning a Bachelor of Science in 1949 and went onto Master of Arts in Anthropology. From there he entered the U. S. State Department service as an Intelligence Researcher. He then joined PPG working in manufacturing, pubic relations and finally in government marketing. He took an early retirement in 1981 and became President of The Refractories Institute.

When Mark applied for his discharge papers eighteen years ago (1989) he discovered that he was not considered a veteran, and because he served at the end of the war and not during combat, he was a “denied veteran”. This started a journey for Mark to find justice for Merchant Mariners. He increasingly has become more involved as his efforts led to helping others. He not only has waged this battle with our government, he has kept an ongoing record and documentation of everything that has taken place. “Don’t Give Up” is his motto and that is exactly what he has done for himself and others he has helped. Mark is determined to have the Merchant Marine story known, especially to Congress and the Senate. His stint in Washington D.C. in the 50’s certainly prepared him for today’s battle.

…The battle for Merchant Mariners, particularly WW II ones, is focused on their military role. A startling statistic of war time casualties reveals that one of 26 Merchant Mariners were killed in the war putting them at the highest casualty rate of all service branches (Marines 1 in 34; Army 1 in 48; Navy 1 in 114; and Coast Guard 1 in 421). The Merchant Marine was the first to go and last to return from the war. For all of this, they never received any benefits.

Congress created an application process for Veteran Status in 1977, but Mariners have been continually denied. A lawsuit was filed by some Mariners in 1987 that did result in a ruling for veteran status in 1988, but a very narrow interpretation by the government still led to “denied seaman” status for most. In 1998 another bill was passed by Congress but when it got to the Senate it ended up offering on a flag and tombstone to Mariners. A recent bill, H.R. 23, offered more hope including cash benefits, but Congress went home without ever passing it.

Merchant Marine Flag

“We have a generation of legislators now who have no knowledge of the Merchant Marine history,” he said. Because of this he believes it will be more difficult to have Mariners designated as full veterans. “It really comes down to money,” he said. As time goes on, there are less WW II Mariners left alive. Mark believes out of the 250,000 that served there are 10,000 still alive. He did point out that there is a web site that brings all the history, facts, and case for justice together on the Merchant Marine. The web site is at www.usmm.org.

Another project that Mark did was about his dad’s service in World War I. His dad had kept a diary of his war years and Mark has written a 100-page book that is now in its fifth printing.

As a personal aside note, this writer’s father served in the Merchant Marine both in WW I and WW II. Having become aware of his service over the years and the many near death experiences during both wars, this story had a particular interest. Read another story on a Merchant Mariner, James C. Pallone of Apollo, at:

http://www.alle-kiskitoday.com/articles/2685.