Always looking to stir the pot. Though seriously, just want to point out that Merchant Mariners have historically had a rougher time at sea than the Navy. We could run through the records of which ships have better funding, the most up to date technology, or best access to resources, and these records would trend in favor of the Navy throughout history, though the reader may miss the point. Merchant Mariners have simply been the easy target during wars, and they are the ones who deserve the benefit of any doubt, rewards, and parades (I actually don’t think anyone deserves any of this shit).
Take a peek at the data from World War 2, out last large Naval War: The Merchant Marines had the largest causalities, more so than any armed force. Coast Guard was next. And the Navy was under that somewhere. A quick reference for these numbers are here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Merchant_Marine
31,442 lost in the British Merchant Navy in WW2.
Not all Brits of course, lots of Commonwealth, Indians and Chinese crews too.
We are just getting to the last of the commemorations of the First World War and we have officially remembered the soldiers, the navy, the nurses, Maori and the horses.
No mention of the Merchant Marine.
The United States entered World War I largely as a result of Germany’s unrestricted submarine warfare (targeting our merchant marine). The war claimed 116,000 American dead. The MM lost 629 sailors (http://www.usmm.org/ww1.html). The Quasi War with France, The Barbary Wars, the War of 1812, all largely fought by naval and military forces defending the rights of American ships and seamen.
The Merchant Marine did its part in WWI, and it was also a direct beneficiary of the war. That is something that a doughboy from Iowa fighting in the French trenches would find much more difficult to relate to.
It looks like some of the naval officers of the time could relate to it, even if more contemporary ones can not. Also from USMM.Org
“The Great naval leader, Admiral William Snowden Sims [Commander, U. S. Naval Forces in European Waters, WWI] , praised the officers and crews of the American merchant ships who transported supplies across the Atlantic for the American Expeditionary Force:
"The skill and seamanship of these sailors was something that amazed naval officers, and they proved themselves to be seamen in a sense that naval officers never have the opportunity to become. The courage, initiative, and sense of responsibility, skill in handling ships of all types, and noteworthy seamanship characterized the merchantmen.
“Without the merchantmen’s skill, courage and loyalty the war could not have been won.””
The Navy figures out it needs real throttles instead of touch screens. Yes, more respect needed.