Statue Honoring Merchant Seamen of World War II Is Installed in San Pedro

Like many young men in the late 1930s, Pete Goodman joined the merchant marine to see the world.

When the United States entered World War II, Goodman became a crucial part of the war effort. As a machinist on a merchant ship, he and his fellow seamen created “a supply bridge to carry cargo to the four corners of the Earth,” he recalled Monday in San Pedro as a monument to their wartime efforts was mounted in front of the Los Angeles Maritime Museum.

The 20-foot-tall statue, which depicts two merchant seamen climbing a Jacob’s ladder after making a rescue at sea, is believed to be the first national memorial to commemorate the sacrifices made by American merchant seamen.

It will be dedicated May 22, National Maritime Day, during a ceremony that is expected to attract local and national leaders as well as seamen from around the country. Still to be completed are a circular pool with a cascading fountain, and a sloping marble wall on which will be carved--if the records exist--the names of the 5,600 merchant seamen who died during World War II.

2,100-Pound Statue

About 50 veteran seamen and their families attended a brief ceremony as the 2,100-pound bronze statue was mounted in an 8,400-square-foot setting in front of the museum. They talked about friends and exploits, and what made the moment sweeter, according to some, was the federal government’s recognition this year of their status as veterans.

Until January, the Defense Department had refused to grant veteran status--including benefits--to merchant seamen who served in wartime. Officials had said that the merchant sailors did not meet the government’s strict criteria on training, discipline and organization for veterans groups.

The department reversed its position after losing a case in U.S. District Court in Washington. In that ruling, District Judge Louis F. Oberdorfer noted that service in the merchant marine was “not without cost.” Almost 3 in every 100 merchant seamen in the U.S. Maritime Service during World War II were killed; the casualty rate was virtually the same as that of the U.S. Marine Corps, the highest among all U.S services.

Veterans’ status gives merchant seamen discharge papers, makes them eligible for disability compensation, medical treatment, home loan guarantees, military burial and other Veterans Administration benefits.

Like several of the veteran seamen present, Goodman pointed out that though the sailors were civilians, they were not shielded from the war.

‘We Were Shot At’

Goodman, who spent 10 years in the merchant marine, recalled working on a ship that carried troops to Casablanca, Morocco, in 1942.

“We were certainly shot at” by the enemy, said Goodman, now a 68-year-old machinist living in Los Angeles. “It was just good fortune that I didn’t get hit.”

Former merchant seaman Manuel Louis agreed, and pointed to the statue. “Like they say, it is long overdue,” he said.

In August, 1986, the American Merchant Marine Veterans Memorial Committee--a group of seamen based in Wilmington--commissioned Jasper D’Ambrosi, an Arizona artist who was born and raised in Wilmington, to design the memorial. He died last year before finishing the statue, but his sons Michael and Marc, both sculptors, completed the work.

A plaque and bust of Jasper D’Ambrosi will be added to the memorial, said Michael D’Ambrosi, who noted that he and his brother dedicated their work on the statue to their father.

Raised $600,000

Ted Kedzierski, president of the committee, decribed the statue as “a beautiful piece of work.” He said his group has raised all but $100,000 of the $700,000 needed for the memorial, and expects to have the balance by the unveiling in May. The Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks donated the land at John S. Gibson Jr. Park, while the city’s Board of Harbor Commissioners contributed $100,000.

In a short ceremony a saxophonist played “Amazing Grace” while four life jackets were laid at the foot of the statue.

According to the Rev. Arthur Bartlett, a former chaplain of the Seamen’s Church Institute in San Pedro, the jackets recall four U.S. Navy chaplains who gave their life preservers to soldiers during a German U-boat attack on a merchant ship off Greenland in March, 1944. The ship was sunk and 675 people were killed, including Father George Fox, Rabbi Alex Goode, and Protestant ministers John Washington and Clark Poling, he said.