Our Blog

We know it’s important for our members to stay in the loop, so we endeavor to update our American Merchant Marine Veterans blog frequently. Give our current articles and journal entries a read!

Our Inspiration

Every single one of our members has a story to tell. We’re never hard pressed for an idea when faced with the stories, memories, trials, and tribulations our seamen share. Tales of triumph, tales of sorrow, funny anecdotes—we want to hear them all. We want to tell your story!

But our writing won’t stop there. We would feel lost and disconnected today without coverage of our many events. Our hope is to chronicle every memorial, every overdue honor, and every spirited gathering our members participate in. Relevant current events won’t stay to the wayside either—we’ll keep you up to date on legislation efforts and other news pertinent to our organization in general.

In short, we’re quite lucky to have such a plethora of muses. Our inspiration for maintaining this blog will always be you: our beloved family of Veterans. Our history drives our service, and our members drive our memories.

Our Articles

AMMV members support Rep. Garamendi

AMMV members support Rep. Garamendi

A handful of western-region AMMV members attended a maritime stakeholders meeting with Rep. John Garamendi, held on September 17th at California State University Maritime Academy. (Rep. Garamendi introduced H.R. 5879: The WWII Merchant Mariner Congressional Gold Medal Act and also met with our ‘Storm the Hill’ gang back in May.) During the morning introductions, Garamendi surprised all attending WWII Merchant Mariners with Congressional Commendation certificates.

Storm the Hill Report

Storm the Hill Report

This was the arrival date at our “home port” of MITAGS (Maritime Institute of Technology & Graduate Studies) in Linthicum Heights, MD. Our group held a dinner meeting to discuss the upcoming days and events. Our 2018 “Storm the Hill” participants included team leader Charles A. Mills of Texas (Lone Star Chapter); Eugene Barner of Kansas (Member-at-Large); Robert Weagant of Illinois (Midwest Chapter); Laura Johnson Riddle of Arizona (Member-at-Large); and myself – team coordinator Shelia Sova of Illinois (Member-at-Large).