In 1938 President Roosevelt established the U.S. Maritime Service (USMS) for the purpose of training merchant marines (officers and crews of U.S. vessels that engaged in commerce). Before World War II began, the United States had roughly fifty-five thousand experienced mariners, but just 1,375 ships by October 1940. After the United States officially entered the war in December 1941, U.S. production of cargo ships accelerated. By the end of the war, the U.S. and its Allies had 6,236 merchant ships. The USMS went all out to recruit men who could be trained to operate these ships, which carried essential supplies and U.S. troops to the battle zones overseas. USMS ads appeared in newspapers and were broadcast on the radio. Recruits as young as sixteen years of age poured in. Those who had been turned down by the army, navy, and Coast Guard...