I 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5829 

To direct the Secretary of Defense to accept additional documentation when 

considering the application for veterans status of an individual who 

performed service in the merchant marines during World War II, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 22, 2010 

Mr. BUTTERFIELD (for himself, Mr. MCINTYRE, Mr. JONES, Mr. BRADY of 

Pennsylvania, Mr. COBLE, Ms. BORDALLO, Mr. KISSELL, Mrs. 

CHRISTENSEN, Mr. SPRATT, Ms. SHEA-PORTER, Ms. FOXX, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mrs. MYRICK, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Mr. ETHERIDGE, Mr. 

MCHENRY, Mr. DELAHUNT, and Mr. TAYLOR) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, and in 

addition to the Committee on Armed Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 

provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Defense to accept additional documentation when considering the application for veterans 

status of an individual who performed service in the 

merchant marines during World War II, and for other 

purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘World War II Mer3 chant Mariner Service Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress makes the following findings: 

6 (1) The Merchant Marine Act, 1936 established 

7 the United States Maritime Commission, and stated 

8 as a matter of policy that the United States should 

9 have a merchant marine that is ‘‘capable of serving 

10 as a naval and military auxiliary in time of war or 

11 national emergency’’. 

12 (2) The Social Security Act Amendments of 

13 1939 (Public Law 76–379) expanded the definition 

14 of employment to include service ‘‘on or in connec15 tion with an American vessel under contract of serv16 ice which is entered into within the United States or 

17 during the performance of which the vessel touches 

18 at a port in the United States, if the employee is 

19 employed on and in connection with such vessel’’. 

20 (3) The Joint Resolution to repeal sections 2, 

21 3, and 6 of the Neutrality Act of 1939, and for 

22 other purposes (Public Law 77–294; 55 Stat. 764) 

23 repealed section 6 of the Neutrality Act of 1939 (re24 lated to the arming of United States vessels) and 

25 authorized the President during the national emerVerDate Mar 15 2010 01:47 Jul 24, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5829.IH H5829

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1 gency to arm or permit to arm any United States 

2 vessel. 

3 (4) On February 7, 1942, President Franklin 

4 D. Roosevelt, through Executive Order Number 

5 9054, established the War Shipping Administration 

6 that was charged with building or purchasing, and 

7 operating the civilian shipping vessels needed for the 

8 war effort. 

9 (5) During World War II, United States mer10 chant mariners transported goods and materials 

11 through ‘‘contested waters’’ to the various combat 

12 theaters. 

13 (6) At the conclusion of World War II, United 

14 States merchant mariners were responsible for 

15 transporting several million members of the United 

16 States Armed Forces back to the United States. 

17 (7) The GI Bill Improvement Act of 1977 

18 (Public Law 95–202) provided that the Secretary of 

19 Defense could determine that service for the Armed 

20 Forces by organized groups of civilians, or contrac21 tors, be considered ‘‘active service’’ for benefits ad22 ministered by the Veterans Administration. 

23 (8) Department of Defense Directive 1000.20 

24 directed that the determination be made by the SecVerDate Mar 15 2010 01:47 Jul 24, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5829.IH H5829

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1 retary of the Air Force, and established the Civilian/ 

2 Military Service Review Board and Advisory Panel. 

3 (9) In 1987, three merchant mariners along 

4 with the AFL-CIO sued Edward C. Aldridge, Sec5 retary of the Air Force, challenging the denial of 

6 their application for veterans status. In Schumacher 

7 v. Aldridge (665 F. Supp. 41 (D.D.C. 1987)), the 

8 Court determined that Secretary Aldridge had failed 

9 to ‘‘articulate clear and intelligible criteria for the 

10 administration’’ of the application approval process. 

11 (10) During World War II, women were repeat12 edly denied issuance of official documentation af13 firming their merchant marine seamen status by the 

14 War Shipping Administration. 

15 (11) Coast Guard Information Sheet #77 

16 (April 1992) identifies the following acceptable 

17 forms of documentation for eligibility meeting the 

18 requirements set forth in GI Bill Improvement Act 

19 of 1977 (Public Law 95–202) and Veterans Pro20 grams Enhancement Act of 1998 (Public Law 105– 

21 368): 

22 (A) Certificate of shipping and discharge 

23 forms. 

24 (B) Continuous discharge books (ship’s 

25 deck or engine logbooks). 


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1 (C) Company letters showing vessel names 

2 and dates of voyages. 

3 (12) Coast Guard Commandant Order of 20 

4 March, 1944, relieved masters of tugs, towboats, 

5 and seagoing barges of the responsibility of submit6 ting reports of seamen shipped or discharged on 

7 forms, meaning certificates of shipping and dis8 charge forms are not available to all eligible individ9 uals seeking to document their eligibility. 

10 (13) Coast Guard Information Sheet #77 

11 (April, 1992) states that ‘‘deck logs were tradition12 ally considered to be the property of the owners of 

13 the ships. After World War II, however, the deck 

14 and engine logbooks of vessels operated by the War 

15 Shipping Administration were turned over to that 

16 agency by the ship owners, and were destroyed dur17 ing the 1970s’’, meaning that continuous discharge 

18 books are not available to all eligible individuals 

19 seeking to document their eligibility. 

20 (14) Coast Guard Information Sheet #77 

21 (April, 1992) states ‘‘some World War II period log 

22 books do not name ports visited during the voyage 

23 due to wartime security restrictions’’, meaning that 

24 company letters showing vessel names and dates of 


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1 voyages are not available to all eligible individuals 

2 seeking to document their eligibility. 

3 SEC. 3. METHODS FOR VALIDATING CERTAIN SERVICE 

4 CONSIDERED TO BE ACTIVE SERVICE BY THE 

5 SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—For the purposes of verifying that 

7 an individual performed service under honorable condi8 tions that satisfies the requirements of as a member of 

9 the merchant marine who is recognized pursuant to sec10 tion 401 of GI Bill Improvement Act of 1977 (Public Law 

11 95–202; 38 U.S.C. 106 note) as having performed active 

12 duty service for the purposes of all laws administered by 

13 the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, the Secretary of De14 fense shall consider the following: 

15 (1) In the case of an individual seeking such 

16 recognition for whom no applicable Coast Guard 

17 shipping or discharge form, ship logbook, or other 

18 official employment record is available, the Secretary 

19 may provide such recognition on the basis of applica20 ble Social Security Administration records submitted 

21 by the individual, together with validated testimony 

22 given by the individual or the primary next of kin 

23 of the individual that the individual performed such 

24 service during the period beginning on December 7, 

25 1941, and ending on December 31, 1946. 


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1 (2) In the case of an individual seeking such 

2 recognition for whom the applicable Coast Guard 

3 shipping or discharge form, ship logbook, or other 

4 official employment record has been destroyed or 

5 otherwise become unavailable by reason of any ac6 tion committed by a person responsible for the con7 trol and maintenance of such form, logbook, or 

8 record, the Secretary shall accept other official docu9 mentation demonstrating that the individual per10 formed such service during period beginning on De11 cember 7, 1941, and ending on December 31, 1946. 

12 (3) For the purpose of determining whether to 

13 recognize service allegedly performed during the pe14 riod beginning on December 7, 1941, and ending on 

15 December 31, 1946, the Secretary shall recognize 

16 masters of seagoing vessels or other officers in com17 mand of similarly organized groups as agents of the 

18 United States who were authorized to document any 

19 individual for purposes of hiring the individual to 

20 perform service in the merchant marine or dis21 charging an individual from such service. 

22 (b) TREATMENT OF OTHER DOCUMENTATION.— 

23 Other documentation accepted by the Secretary pursuant 

24 to subsection (a)(2) shall satisfy all requirements for eligiVerDate Mar 15 2010 01:47 Jul 24, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5829.IH H5829

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1 bility of service during the period beginning on December 

2 7, 1941, and ending on December 31, 1946. 

3 (c) DEFINITION OF PRIMARY NEXT OF KIN.—In this 

4 section, the term ‘‘primary next of kin’’ with respect to 

5 an individual seeking recognition for service under this 

6 section means the closest living relative of the individual 

7 who was alive during the period of such service. 

8 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This Act shall take effect 90 

9 days after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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