When he was 17, Don Knight quit high school to join the U.S. Merchant Marine, where he had the dangerous job of working on a cargo ship delivering ammunition to troops in the Pacific Theater during World War II.
Despite constant fear about enemy attacks by submarines and planes, he survived that harrowing duty. And today, Knight, at age 94, is one of a dwindling number of the seafaring group continuing a long campaign to honor and recognize the merchant mariners, who suffered high casualties in World War II — and are often referred to as America’s forgotten heroes.
The casualty percentage of the Merchant Marine during World War II was actually higher than any of the U.S. Armed Forces.
On Tuesday, Nov. 9, Knight stood in front of the SS Lane Victory, docked on the waterfront in San Pedro. That historic ship is one of the last remaining Victory-class cargo vessels built during World War II to bring crucial supplies to American fighting forces in Europe and the Pacific.
“The Lane Victory is a floating memorial to seamen lost in World War II,” said Knight, former president of the Merchant Marine Veterans of World War II and a resident of Playa del Rey. “It’s been a lifetime job to honor all the mariners lost during the war.”
Because of the pandemic and other work being done to restore the Lane Victory to its old glory, the ship has been temporarily closed to the public for tours. But in honor of Veterans Day, the public will be able to go aboard the ship from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday, said Scott Gray, president of the SS Lane Victory Maritime Center and museum director. The ship, designated as a national historic landmark, is located at 3011 Miner St. at the southern end of the Outer Harbor in San Pedro.
John Pitts, former president of the national American Merchant Marine Veterans, Inc., and David Seltzer, an engineer and member of the Lane Victory Maritime Center board of directors, recently gave a tour of the Lane Victory.
And the ship, with its impressive museum, is indeed worth a visit.
The Lane Victory was built by the California Shipbuilding Corp. in Wilmington and was launched on May 31, 1945. The ship is named after Isaac Lane, a slave who taught himself how to read and write. He became a bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church and built churches in several states. He purchased land in Jackson, Tennessee, for a high school that later became Lane College. He died in 1937 at 103.
The ship began its first World War II operation in June 1945 in the closing stages of the war, with sailings to Guam, Saipan and Hawaii. On the trip to Guam, the ship sailed through a typhoon and was thrown about for 14 days but managed to survive.
With the end of World War II, the ship started delivering goods to Europe under the Marshall Plan. When that aid plan ended in 1948, the Lane Victory was laid up at Suisun Bay, northeast of San Francisco.
But then came the Korean War.
The Lane Victory was taken out of storage and put back in service — to see perhaps its finest hour.
In December 1950, the ship evacuated more than 3,800 U.S. troops and 1,100 vehicles from Hungnam while under attack during the Battle of Chosin Reservoir.
The ship then evacuated 7,009 men, women and children to safety in South Korea. This remarkable achievement is documented in a Christopher H.K. Lee film, “Forgotten Victory: The Lane Victory Story,” which will be shown at 4 p.m. Saturday. Nov. 13, at CGV Cinema, 621 S. Western Ave., in Los Angeles.
After the Korean War, the Lane Victory was put in storage again but was restored to duty for the Vietnam War.
In 1970, the ship was laid up again at Suisun Bay for storage in the National Defense Reserve Fleet.
A campaign to honor the sacrifices of all Merchant Marine sailors by using the Lane Victory as a floating museum was eventually successful, and the ship sailed from Suisun Bay to Los Angeles in 1990, becoming a fixture on San Pedro’s waterfront.
While the effort to relocate Lane Victory was not the only one to recognize mariners for their sacrifices, the seafarers have been forgotten in other respects.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt, for example, gave speeches on how important the mariners were, but he died and Congress did nothing at the time to help mariners with benefits.
Mariners, who did not have veteran’s status then, were left out of the G. I. Bill and other government benefits.
Janice Hahn, Los Angeles County’s Fourth District Supervisor and a strong supporter of mariners, has noted many times how her uncle, Gordon Hahn was a mariner during World War II, but received no benefits. She has contrasted that with her father, Kenneth Hahn, who served in the Navy and did receive veteran benefits.
Allied forces “would not have won WWII if not for the extraordinary efforts of the U.S. Merchant Marine,” Pitts, who has been a mariner for more than 40 years, said. “The U.S. Merchant Marine was present at each and every landing, with supplies for each battle, all over the world in each theatre of operation.”
Recognizing these efforts began, finally, when World War II mariners received veteran status in 1989.
Then, 31 years later, then President Donald Trump signed the Congressional Gold Medal Act in 2020 for mariners who served in World War II.
San Pedro, an iconic and proud port town, also has the American Merchant Marine Veterans Memorial, a bronze statue depicting two merchant seamen climbing a Jacob’s ladder after making a rescue at sea.
The statue honors merchant marine veterans from all wars.
In 2003 five “Walls of Honor” were unveiled and dedicated to mariners who gave their lives in war. More than 9,400 mariners were killed at sea, killed as prisoners of war, or died from wounds ashore during World War II, Pitts said, citing official statistics.
But another attempt to give WWII mariners a lump sum payment of $25,000 for their service failed in Congress.
When Hahn was in Congress, she fought for this payment, but the effort failed. That same legislation has been reintroduced by Rep. Al Green, D-Houston.
As for the Lane Victory, Hahn said she wants to help restore the historic ship any way she can.
“I love the Lane Victory and what it stands for,” she said. “Mariners are unsung heroes who never blew their own horn. I am hopeful that we can put our heads together and figure out ways to help them.”
Scott Gray, whose day job is running San Pedro’s visitor center, is optimistic but said it will take hard work and major fundraising to restore the Lane Victory to what it used to be and make it ready to sail again.
“We just adopted a five-year strategic plan to restore the ship and expand on its activities,” Gray said in an interview. “We want to upgrade the museums and make the ship more accessible to the public.” He said he is working on an agreement with WestCal Academy so students can come aboard the ship for welding, culinary and other classes.
The ship needs a lot of work, Gray said, including repairing one of the boilers, plumbing, painting and general maintenance. He said the hull is in good condition, but the ship will have to go into drydock for some work before it can go to sea again.
Volunteers are also needed. “
“You don’t have to have experience,” gray said. “We teach everything that needs to be done.”
Gray said he knows there are challenges ahead to restore the Lane Victory to its prior working condition — but he and others are forging ahead.
“I’m not wearing rose-colored glasses, but I have confidence that we can get this job done,” he said. “The mariners deserve it, and the next generation deserves it. This ship is a part of our history and needs to be remembered.”
