Friday, May 18, 1945 . . . . . . . . . .Office of War Information

Maritime Day tributes from the leaders of American armed forces to the men of the Merchant Marine for delivering the goods to the battlefronts have beer received, the War Shipping Administration announced today.

These include statements from General George C. Marshall, U.S. Army Chief of Staff; Admiral E. J. King, Commander in Chief, United States Fleet, and Chief of Naval Operations; General Dwight D Eisenhower, Supreme Allied Commander; Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, Commander in Chief, Pacific Fleet and Commander in Chief, Pacific Ocean Areas; and Lieutenant General Alexander A. Vandegrift, United States Marine Corps Commandant.

General Marshall commented on the Merchant Marines participation in war:

"America's Merchant Marine has carried out its war mission with great distinction, and has demonstrated its ability to meet the challenge of redeploying our full power to the Pacific."

The Job being done by the Merchant Marine was praised by Admiral King who said:

The Armed Forces, with the help of the Merchant Marine, have pushed the fighting 5,000 miles west. Together, they'll go the rest of the way."

Devotion to duty by the men at sea was praised by General Eisenhower:

"The officers and men of the Merchant Marine, by their devotion to duty in the face of enemy action, as well as natural dangers of the sea, have brought us the tools to finish the job. Their contribution to final victory will be long remembered."

The role played by merchant mariners over the globe was described by Admiral Nimitz as follows:

"The United States Merchant Marine played an important part in the achievement of victory in Europe, and it is destined to play an even more important role in helping to finish off the Japanese. To move great quantities of war materials from principal sources of supply across 6,000 miles of ocean to battlefronts in the Far East is the formidable task now confronting our merchant fleet. We are confident it will be done quickly and efficiently in keeping with the high standards of accomplishment set by the Merchant Marine in every war in our history."

General Vandegrift pointed out how the Marine Corps has been aided in its invasions by the Merchant Marine in saying:

"The men and ships of the Merchant Marine have participated in every landing operation by the United States Marine Corps from Guadalcanal to Iwo Jima -- and we know they will be at hand with supplies and equipment when American amphibious forces hit the beaches of Japan itself. On Maritime Day, we of the Marine corps salute the men of the merchant fleet."

Saturday May 19, 1945 . . . . . . . . . . . . . Office of War Information

Following the last official proclamation signed by the late President Franklin Roosevelt, governors of many states have issued National Maritime Day, May 22, proclamations or statements. Mayors of many cities'have also joined in the observance throughout the land.

Through these proclamations and statements, citizens of the United States have been asked to join civic organizations, the shipping industry, and other groups in paying tribute to the 225,000 men of the American Merchant Marine, more than 6,000 of whom are missing, dead, or prisoners of war, and the men and women in the nation's shipayrds who are toiling to construct the vessels needed to carry the war to other shores.

Churches of all denominations have been asked to devote part of their services on Sunday, May 20, to a proper memorial observance.

Raymond E. Baldwin, Governor of Connecticut, said: "In war and peace our Merchant Marine has performed a distinguished service to our country. In the days that will follow peace we will need a well-developed Merchant Marine."

Maurice J. Tobin, Governor of Massachusetts, stated: "As we recall with satisfaction the accomplishments of the past and of the present, let us look forward with hope to the days of lasting peace, when our maritime strength will again be devoted to the development of seaborne commerce, upon which will be based in great measure the future prosperity of our people."

The Governor of Nevada, E. P. Carville, proclaimed: "Since the advent of the first voyage our ships, manned by courageous officers and seamen, have been sailing every ocean. In the present conflict thousands of our men and women are using their best efforts in the construction of great fleets of vessels that will carry supplies necessary for victory to every battlefront of the Allied Nations and are contributing to the cause of a lasting peace."

Morris F. de Castro, Acting Governor of the Virgin Islands of the United States in the absence of Rexford Gull Tugwell, stated: "Normally, our Merchant Marine carries on our peaceful intercourse with other nations. In times of war, it becomes a fearful weapon for taking our conflict to the homeland of our enemies, and far removed from our own sacred shores. Day in and day out these sea-going 'delivery wagons,' as they have been called, carry to the bettlefronts the mighty potential we have for waging war and, in wake of its desolation, the hundreds of thousands of tons of provisions to the Earth's destitute, without which they the must ievitably perish."

Seven ships used at the War Shipping Administration's training stations for practical instruction are on exhibit to the public, in connection with sale of bonds for the Seventh War Loan Drive. The are the AMERICAN NAVIGATOR in Boston, AMERICAN SEAMAN in Wahsington, D.C., AMERICAN MARINER in New York City, CAPE FRIO in Brooklyn Heights, AMERICAN ENGINEER in Baltimore, AMERICAN SAILIR in New Orleans, and the AMERICAN SEAFARER IN San Francisco.

Churches of all denominations were asked to devote part of their services ont he Sunday preceding Maritime Day to prayers for the shipbuilders and merchant seamen, more than 6,000 of whom have given their lives, are missing, or are prisoners of war.

The observance of Maritime Day will close as the sun recrosses the 180th Meridan in mid-Pacific where our merchant ships will be moving westward the tools of war for the attack on Japan.

Sunday, May 20, 1945

World-wide ceremonies will mark the tenth observance of Maritime Day on May 22, the United States Maritime Commission announced today.

Commemorating the first ocean crossing by steam power 126 years ago, the late President Roosevelt proclaimed the date of this year's observance. State and local government followed his lead. Civic organizations, the shipping industry and maritime unions will pay tribute on Tuesday to America's merchant seapower, including the men who build and man the 4,000 vessel fleet.

The observance of the day will start when the sun crosses the international date line someplace in the Pacific, where merchant ships, war conditions permitting, will "dress ship" with the rising sun. Other merchant ships round the world will follow sit, if possible, as the morning such reaches them.

Along America's East Coast, the Maritime Service Training Stations will observe Maritime Day with morning ceremonies. Later in the morning, ship launching ceremonies will be held in a number of Maritime Commission shipyards. Other launchings on the great Lakes, Gulf and Pacific Coasts will follow. by noontime, civic and organizational ceremonies will start, continuing over a 15-hour period.

Guests at luncheons, dinners and afternoon ceremonies sponsored by Propeller Clubs and civic organizations will hear speeches by Representatives of the United States Maritime commission and the War Shipping Administration, Congressmen and Senators, and administrative officials from the U.S. Merchant Marine Cadet Corps and Maritime Service Training Organizations will speak to these gatherings.

Vice Admiral E. S. Land, USN, (Ret'd.), Chairman of the Maritime Commission and War Shipping Administrator, will speak in Mobile, Ala. Other commissioners to appear are Vice Admiral H. L. Vickery, USN, Vice Chairman, Seattle; Captain Edward Macauley, USN (Ret'd.), San Francisco; Thomas M. Woodward, New York City; and John Carmody, New Orleans.

Among the other cities holding celebrations on or near Maritime Day are Kansas City, Tampa, Tallahassee, Panama City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Denver, Pittsburgh, Savannah, Philadelphia, Portland, Me., Minneapolis, Detroit, Atlanta Jacksonville, Fla., Memphis, Boston, Washington, D.C., Charleston, S.C., Attleboro, Houston, Salt Lake City, Wilmington, N.C., Buffalo, St. Louis, Cleveland, Akron, Cincinnati, York, Nashville, Toledo, Pottsville, Norfolk, and Panama City, c.Z. A number of these cities are inland, reflecting the growth of interest in the Merchant marine in localities other than on the seaboard.

Other Governors who have issued proclamations or statements are: Chauncey M. Sparks, Alabama; Earl Warren, California; Ellis Arnall, Georgia; Dwight H. Green, Illinois; Ralph F. Gates, Indiana; Simeon S. Willis, Kentucky; J. H. Davis, Louisiana; Herbert R. O'Conor, Maryland; Thomas L. Bailey, Mississippi; Dwight Griswold, Nebraska; John J. Dempsey, New Mexico; thomas e. Dewey, New York; Frank J. Lausche, Ohio; earl Snell, Oregon; Edward Martin, Pennsylvania; J. Nance McCord, Tennessee; coke r. Stevenson, Texas; Colgate W. Darden, Jr., Virginia; C.W. Meadows, West Virginia.