Im oliver north. Welcome aboard the ss jeremiah. Now in San Francisco harbor. The obrian is the only its the only unaltered operational survivor of the normandy invasion. They were up against the formidable enemy. Tonight youll meet one of those who stopped to send this ship and others like her to the bottom. This is the story of Unsung Heroes who served in every theater from the invasion on north africa to the landings on dday. Youll see tonight they paid a price in blood to be called veterans. Over 700 merchant ships were sunk and 1 of every 16 merchant mariners were killed. Thats a higher casualty ratio than any of our armed services. This is the story of the United States merchant marine. 1939 america was still recovering from the Great Depression and money was hard to come back. A gallon of milk cost 51 cent and the average income was 1,266. People were desperate for work. They came from small towns in port cities. They were old men and young boys. Some had been sailing their whole lives and others had been rejected by their draft boards. I had gone to try to sign up for the air corp. I was rejected because my eyes were bad. I had poor eyesight. I wanted to get in the marines. They turned me down because i got hurt pretty bad playing football. I was on my own. The mariers all had one thing in common. They were hungry for adventure and motivated by a strong sense of patriotism and duty. September 1th, 1939. There was a blitz on poland. World war ii had begun. Fortress england now stood alone against germany. He was the commander of the sea boat fleet and one of hitlers right hand men. He was a submarine skipper during world war i. Pete peterson was a machinist. He grew up near the danish border. He understood that the supply to Great Britain of either equipment, food was essential. If we could disrupt that supply and keep it from going to its destination, that would be a great war effort. He was absolutely right. From june to october 1940, german u boats sank 130 ships and onehalf million tons of britain shipping. Michael higgins is the author of action and a former merchant mariner. Its also referred to as fat yard, the fat years when many, many merchant ships were being sunk. On land the enemy was just as formidable. They staged an all out assault. The battle of britain raged for four months. In a desperate move british Prime MinisterWinston Churchill to a man he met only once, Franklin Roosevelt. F. D. R. Was reluctant to get involved in another european war. F. D. R. Did arrange for aide to be given to Great Britain. It was very much under the table and within the constraints of the neutrality act of 1937. They were carrying passengers or freight to countries wart. F. D. R. Found a way around it and introduced a new concept, lend lease. This is warships that figure in the historic trade that United States has made with britain. The ships will aid britain. It was a master stroke on the part of f. D. R. Without United States support england would have fallen. Its a slam dunk, no brainer. The merchant marines had been destroyed. They developed and modernized the merchant marine. It would promote u. S. Commerce and in times of war serve as a naval auxillary. Shipyards were the answer. Valued at only a million and a half dollars each liberty ships were 440 feet long and could carry 10,000 tons of cargo at 11 knots. Bernard was a native new yorker when he first set eyes on the liberty ship. There are thousands of these ships put together in very short order. 2,708. The fastest liberty wads built. Sleek lines. It wasnt sleek. They called it the ugly du duckling. They rowed and they pitched depending on the seas. Sometimes it would come down and you hope whoever was welding didnt do it on a monday morning as they did it some other day during the week. On september 27th, 1941, the first liberty ship was launched from the shipyard in baltimore. F. D. R. Declared it liberty day. This is a memorable day in the history of american shipbuilding. Today from dawn to dark, 14 ships are being laun ch launchen tennessee the atlantic and the pacific. Less than three months after the first ship sailed, pearl harbor was attacked by japan. Congress declared war the next day and germany declared war on the United States four days later. It would take seven to 15 tons of supplies to support one soldisold ier for a year. It was the responsibility of over 250,000 merchant mariners to man the fleet. Some called it the pearl harbor of the atlantic. Find out how the german u boats sank over 80 mer chants ships. Sank over 80 mer chants ships. Thats hi, im the internet you know whats difficult . Adulting. Tj get a job hi, guys. Im back. Time to slay heals, heals, heals yes youuuu no, i have a long time girlfriend. Mom i need my macaroni you know whats easy . Building your website with godaddy. Pick a domain name. Choose a design. You can build a website in under an hour. Yeah whoo yes get your domain today and get a free trial of gocentral. Build a better website in under an hour. At war sailors were needed to man the fleets. Near 250,000 seamen answered the call. Where did you go do school . I had to go to sheep head bay for five weeks. We had to learn radio code. We went up to boston harbor. He joined three months before pearl harbor. We rode and road. Halfway around the world. Stanley volunteered right after high school. I got appointed in 1938. I got my mates license and i was automatically in the naval reserve. This shoulder is lower than that shoulder. 17yearold George Duffey wanted to get out of his home. He tried to get into the Naval Academy but ended up in the merchant marine instead. We spent mornings in the classroom and the afternoon we worked in the sail life, splicing, doing seamanship. We were getting ready for training crews in the spring. A hodgepodge of volunteers. They converged on union halls for their next assignments. All the jobs would be posted. Youd look at the bulletin board. 19yearold ken pride left oklahoma to become a seaman. It was everything to be seaman. While europe raged at war merchant ships supplied vital supplies. The germans were looking for way to strike back against america. They wanted to be prepared with a plan of action. What he came up with was a plan called operation drum beat. He launched operation drum beat in december. It was to be a swift coordinated strike that would bloody americas nose on its front door. As soon as the u boats left france, british intelligent sent the chief of Naval Operations alerting him that you boats were heading to america. Admiral king chose to ignore the warning. There was a lot america could have learn eed from the early ds of world war ii. He was once described by a junior officer as being meaner than hell. He was a man who inspired respect, if not love. Even those general eisenhower would write one thing that might help us to win this war is to get someone to shoot king, end quote. Our mission was simply sink ships. Sailors like peterson was part of the elite submarine fleet. Not part of operation drum beat. He would go on three missions to the american east coast. He said his experience was similar to that depicted in the 1982 german movie, das boot. I was incredibly seasick the first day at sea. It would carry up to 22 torpedos. The carnage would begin on january 12th. The five u boats in operation drum beat were highly successfully. In three weeks they sent 26 vessel, 162,000 of gross registered allied ships and americans to a watery grave. It was a shooting gallery. They had no idea how to handle it. Everything was brightly lit up. The navy did nothing. They were sitting ducks. Not only were they sinking ships, they were putting german spies ashore. Who landed secretly in florida and on long island put ashore by u boats. It wasnt until the summer of 42 that blackouts were ordered. He was the first drum beater. He was known to be a tougher commander, but a very, very, very successful one. He kept meticulous logs of the ships he sank. On april 7th, cap pain hardegen said were marching again tight along the land from lighthouse to lighthouse that burn as if during peacetime. On april 8th, 1942, u1 was waiting for its next kill. After 12 15 he spied one tanker proceeding north ward and it was the ss oklahoma. Fired a torpedo at the unarmed okunarm ed oklahoma but missed. An hour and a half he tried again, this time he hit his target insignificatantly killin sailors. Sent her to the bottom in 40 feet of water. She was hauling 89,000 barrels of heating oil from texas to new jersey. At that point youre right off the island. Was your shipped armed . Yeah. Two two by fours we stuck sthem tolgt and wrapped them around. Sent about the task of taking out the so baton rouge. I figured i grab my life preserver. I laid out and fell asleep. Woke up. Boom. Hitting the bunkers in the engine room. Did you know where you were at that point . No. I didnt know anything. Must have thrown me up in the air. Here i am with water coming down all over me and everything. Theres nothing worse than to see a big ball of fire go up. 22 mariners were killed in the attack. 44 ships were sunk during the war and become the sixth most successful boat. Winston churchill said who controls the atlantic will win the war. Learn how the 1942 over 400 allied ships were sunk by german uboats killing nearly 5,000 seaman. Casualties among be ubeat were also staggering. Serving on the submarine was a very dangerous job. 80 of the people did not come back. They tdied. After spending 333 days at sea Pete Peterson made it back to port. It came back to norway. We couldnt land in france anymore. The first day we could barely walk because we hadnt walked for four months. Usually theres a band playing most of the time. We had our own words to the song. Now were back home and we die of foaming beer because 518 got on a pier. When i came to the United States i didnt know it was an american song. I had no idea. By may of 42, they realized we were losing the commerce war because of the uboat menace. The supply line to britain was still in peril. British learned a valuable lesson in world war i that the best way to protect shipping was to run if groups. Arranged with most valuable cargo in the middle. Convoys could span up to nine miles. By the end of summer the number of merchant marine losses dropped significantly. Admiral carl had another plan. What he envisioned to have a fleet of uboats 15 to 20 strong. The wolf back would assemble and attack at night on the surface and effectively take out convoy. Some of the most heroic submarine captains were known to drive right into the middle of a convoy, surface and start picking off their targets. They soon found out that uboats werent the only menace. We were attacked by german planes. They were on their Maiden Voyage to deliver supplies for the russians. I heard a loud explosion. I thought we were hit. It wasnt us. It was the ship next to us. I was really scared. You have to marvel at the uncommon valor exhibited by these merchants. It was a true gauntlet for them to run. It was crucial for the u. S. And Great Britain to keep russia in the war. We helped those russian people over there. They couldnt have survived. Bernard found himself in a 25ship convoy on what became known as the mermans run. A 5,000mile trip from the United States. Youre now going into what many people say is the second worst ocean in the world. The north atlantic is a horrible place to be in any kind of a storm. How long can a person live many that water . I give them five minutes. The spray, weatherer hits t hit guns. The ice was sometimes five inches thick on the front of the ship. They had to use hammers to break the ice off. It was the longest and the costliest. Costliest. Hear how three americans are the most generous people on the planet. Its part of americas spirit. Its what makes our country so great. Right now there are millions of people in africa who are going without food Young Children are the worst off. The un is calling it the largest humanitarian crisis since 1945. For the first time a group of american aid organizations are joining together to raise money, awareness and hope for those who are suffering. This is a country of compassion its a place where we help because its the right thing to do. Its in that spirit that were asking you to step up and support the global Emergency Response coalitions efforts. Support the global Emergency Response coalition by going to global Emergency Response dot org today. Group Conversation wooooo oo waa ahhh its a beautiful mornin thank you ahhh, ah ahhh each bird news. By the end of 1943 the pendulum swung in favor of the allies. The air gap that existed in the midatlantic was closed. Liberators were able to strike uboats in the midatlantic. The convoy system had finally been honed and detailed. Now they have radar. They have recruit sonar. They are breaking the codes of german submarine messages that are being sent. The shipbuilding effort were able to crank out more ships than being sunk. It was a combination of all these factors. We were well on our way to winning the war in the atlantic. Many merchant ships had to brave the seas alone. We were traveling alone. On our ship we had ten navy boys and one 14inch gun and two. 50 caliber machine guns and thats all we had. The american leader was a c 1 class vessel. It was a little over 400feet long. We left new york on the 26th of april in 1942. We had a full cargo of war supplies consigned to the russians and british. Bob wire, army boots and nine twin engine bombers on deck. We red in the paper that the german navy had two radars operating in the atlantic ocean. Everybody knew they were out there but nobody told us what to look for or how to avoid them. Consider to be grand admiral secret weapons, they appeared to be neutral merchant ships but were armed vessels. Ten of them were in operation during world war ii. They operated in the indian ocean and they operated in the atlantic. These guys were pirates. They flew anybodys flag they felt like. One of them diagnosed as a japanese ship. She approached ships and boom. It just looked like an ordinary merchant ship until it went into action. September 7th, 1942, the american leader and her crew of 58 left cape town, south africa bound for new york. For this radar hit us at about 10 00 at night. We were headed due west, 270 degrees. Up out of the dark came another vessel and bang, bang, bang. They expended about 150 four inch and nineinch shells into the ship. They hit storage fuel tank and when they hit that tank and set it afire when that oil just run all over us. Fire in the sea and fire along our decks. First thing i heard after we got hit was abandon ship. The american leader was on fire and sinking. We had nothing but a few life rafts. We were in an enviable position. I had 22 people on this life raft. I can see it right now. I can see that ship going down. Its like setting out in your yard and watching your house burn. They were picked up by the nickels crew. They joined 500 other prisoners of the germans whos ships were targeted and sent to the bottom. For the next three months the nickel continued to lure unsuspecting merchant ships. On november 29th, 1942 third mate stanley willner and the crew were next. Tell me about coming back out of india headed home. About 400 miles off of madgascar. It was real cloudy and dark. It was overcast. It was about 9 30. I noticed something in the distance. In the water hanging on the a piece of wreckage. I dont know hold w i got in th water. They said our ship sunk in 10 or 15 minutes. The ship that sunk you was a german raider. Right. Called a nickel. They shelled us until it went down. No warning given whatsoever . None. No signal stop . No. They said they spotted us in the afternoon and tailed us and doubled in front of us and waited for us and let us have it. Stanley and his best friend were among the 19 survivors. The germans kept us on there for three months. Gave us wonderful medical treatment or i wouldnt be here. You had been badly wounded . I had a big hunk out of my leg. Your ship disappeared without a trace. Disappeared without trace. No one heard from the crew until 1945. Find out how these brave Young Americans ended up as prisoners of japanese. Thats next on war stories. Right arm; right leg. Left leg; left arm. Both legs above the knee. Both legs; part of my left hand. I lost both of my legs in iraq. These 9 11 veterans are just a few of the heroes we serve at homes for our troops. For nearly 2,000 severely injured veterans, everyday life has become filled with barriers. So we build specially adapted homes with features like wheelchair access, rollin showers, and pull down cabinets that allow them to function independently. And focus on their recovery and family. This lifechanging gift of freedom is provided mortgagefree to these veterans, thanks to our donors and supporters. But we need you to join us too in completing this important mission. Please visit hfotusa. Org and help build homes and rebuild lives. Disguised as Nuclear Vessels they were highly effective. I think if we knew how bad it was, we might have something to say about whether we went to sea or not. We didnt know how desperate the situation was out there. On october 17th, 1943, she finally met her demise when she was sunk by a submarine. One thing none of these marine mariners never imagined was becoming japanese prisoners of war. Stanley and his friend dennis were handed over to the japanese in occupied singapore. They put us off in changy first. Its like time square in new york. It was a big scaffold there. There was about six or eight naked women decomposed there. In the treatment you get by the japanese is entirely different than the germans. They just beat you unmercifully for nothing. They had been there for a years when they transferred. Tell me about building a bridge. The japanese given you the same treatment youd give a cockroach in your house, step on it. That wasnt the worse of it. After months of building the Death Railway, stanley witnessed a most horrifying scene. This little one arm, one leg englishman used to heat the water in tank for the japanese officer. We were coming in from work. There was all kin