Merchant Marines: An Often Overlooked Branch of Military Service

The following is a guest post by Antoinette O’Bryant, Senior Cataloging Specialist, Prints & Photographs Division. For as far back as I can remember I have stared at a portrait of a young sailor hanging on a wall at home. “Who’s that?” I asked. “That’s your Uncle Melvin. He was in the Merchant Marines,” was the response. Hoffman Island, merchant marine training center off Staten Island, New York. Living quarters for trainees. Photo by John Vachon, 1942. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/fsa.8d07023 He enlisted when he was eighteen years old but he was probably twenty years old at the time his portrait was painted. He stood proudly, wearing his Merchant Marine’s uniform, a hint of a smile and his arms folded across his chest.…