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Merchant mariner honored for WWII service
Jasmina Meyer, Highlands Today
Robert Knickerbocker speaks about his experience as a Merchant Marine in the 1940's at a Rotary Club meeting recently in Lake Placid.
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Published: November 11, 2009
SEBRING - It was sometime between 8 p.m. and midnight when Robert Knickerbocker heard a plane flying overhead while in his living quarters on a U.S. Merchant Marine ship. That was followed by a tremble that rattled steel compartments carrying supplies for armed forces. Then the sound of a blasting alarm set off by an officer faded out into the Mediterranean Sea.
That was 1944, Knickerbocker was about 17 years old, and it was World War II. A torpedo had hit the engine room of his ship and one man was killed.
After nearly 65 years from the date of the torpedo attack, Knickerbocker, now 82 years old, remembers it well.
Today, on Veterans Day, he is being awarded four combat medals for honorable service in the U.S. Merchant Marines, 1943 to 1946.
He joined the day after his 16th birthday in March 1943. Like most students in his school in Mamaroneck, N.Y., he dropped out in the 10th grade to fulfill his patriotic duty, he said.
In his application he wrote he was 17 so he could meet the minimum age requirement.
"No one bothered to check those things back then," Knickerbocker said.
The ship was one of about 80 "sitting ducks" that were waiting for their turn to enter the Mediterranean Sea. When they got hit Knickerbocker didn't panic and neither did the most of the ship's crew, he said. They just went to their stations by a lifeboat.
"At that age you don't have fear. You can't, otherwise you wouldn't be there," he said.
The sound of ships getting hit by torpedoes or bombed was as normal in a time of war as hearing the sound of chirping of birds in the morning back home.
His ship was one of hundreds that were hit during the war. He remembers that for every three Merchant Marine ships that went out two were hit and out of commission.
At the time they didn't have uniforms, a flag or benefits. Knickerbocker earned about $60 a month and was lucky enough to see the Vatican on his arrival to the port of Rome. He even got to see Greenland when his ship was docked off the coast.
"It always stuck with me, seeing those animals walk on ice. How many people can say they've been to Greenland," he said.
In 1938 Franklin D. Roosevelt established the U.S. Merchant Marines to supply armed forces overseas with supplies including food, fuel, weapons and tanks. They're referred to as seaman or mariners.
When the Merchant Marines returned home from their service many went unnoticed. Knickerbocker remembers that during those days and even today people don't know much about the merchant mariners.
According the National Maritime Center, it wasn't until 1988 that the Secretary of the Air Force, Edward C. Aldridge Jr., determined that the service of the Merchant Marine in oceangoing service during the period of armed conflict, Dec. 7, 1941 to Aug. 15, 1945 shall be considered active duty. If they qualify they can receive veteran benefits.
Veterans Day awards
Knickerbocker is a modest man. He repairs furniture at his shop off of Ranier Drive and Richfield Drive in Lake Placid.
He said if it were up to him he wouldn't have applied for the medals he's being awarded at the Military Sea Services Museum in Sebring.
But a friend and retired Lt. Col. Russell W. Ramsey, U.S. Army, decided to apply for him. His respect for Merchant Marines goes back to 1946, when Ramsey was 11 years old. He remembers his father, Maj. Gen. Russell A. Ramsey of the U.S. Army, came home from service with combat stories.
After asking his father for more, he told him, "Look, don't forget those guys in faded dungarees and gray shirts. Without Merchant Marines, we didn't have beans, bullets and a trip home. A lot of those guys got killed," he said.
That thought stuck with Ramsey and resurfaced when he met Knickerbocker earlier this year. Ramsey went into Bob's Furniture Repair shop in Lake Placid to have some antique furniture refinished. After some small talk, they got to talking about the military.
In June, Ramsey started making calls, some ended with a dial tone. But he persisted and sent letter after letter until August when they finally got answered. He received a package with four medals for Robert Knickerbocker's service.
He continued to reach the higher ups and was able to set up an awards ceremony for today.
Ramsey and U.S. Navy retired Vice Adm. James D. Sagerholm will present Knickerbocker the four combat medals, which include: Combat Bar Star, Mariners Honorable Service Button, Merchant Marine Atlantic War Zone Bar with Medal, and World War II Mariner's Victory Medal.
Knickerbocker is appreciative of all the efforts to recognize his service but, "This isn't about me but about remembering the people who served," he said.
Highlands Today reporter Aiyana Baida can be reached at 863-386-5855 or nbaids@highlandstoday.com
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