[Hallicrafters] SX-28 competitors in the 1940's

[edben]

Hey, Gary, I see I missed answering one of your questions!  Luckily, I never
lost a ship during my three years at sea, so I don't actually know the real
answer.  It may well be true that a Merchant Seamans's pay stopped when the
ship was sunk under him by the enemy, since we worked, not for the
government, but for the private company that operated the ship.  My first
"employer" was the Alaska Transportation Company -- but I never did get to
Alaska on her.  (Instead, we went around the world, from the west coast,
Southeast across the Pacific (I never saw the first speck of dry land during
the whole month of June in 1943!), south around New Zealand and Australia to
unload in Alexandria, Egypt.  We were part of the first convoy to go through
the Mediteranean from East to West, while the fighting was moving north in
Italy, then Gibralter to the Atlantic and finally (6 months later) home via
New York Harbor!

One assistant, not as lucky as I, had lost his previous ship by torpedo.
And he was only 16 years old when he was my assistant, and  was actually
only 15 years old when his first ship was torpedoed from under him.  He was
well over 6 foot tall and he lied about his age to get in.  Nobody would
question a guy at 6 foot plus about his age!  (I really doubt that he could
have gotten away with it today!).  He was a great fellow to work with.  Few
16 year olds are that grown up today!

                            Ed Benjamin ("Sparks", as he was known at sea)




----- Original Message -----
From: "Gary Pewitt" <gpewitt at execpc.com>

  You guys took more casualties than the
> navy and never got the recognition or benefits.  Is it really true that
> when your ship was sunk your pay was stopped until you signed on another
> ship?
>
>