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Y Free-use status checked by Haus on 2008-04-09 -
Paul Teutul Sr. is a Vietnam-war era merchant mariner.
Paul Teutul Sr. (
May 1,
1949 in
Yonkers, New York), is the founder of Orange County Ironworks and
Orange County Choppers. Teutul works along with his sons
Paul Teutul, Jr. and
Michael Teutul, who became celebrities when
Orange County Choppers became the focus of a reality television series called
American Chopper in
2002. He is a
Vietnam War veteran of the
United States Merchant Marine.
/2 - -
O’Brien was a merchant seaman from 1944 to 1946
George H. O’Brien, Jr. (
10 September 1926 –
11 March 2005) was a
United States Marine Corps officer who was awarded the
Medal of Honor, the
United States's highest military decoration, for conspicuous gallantry as a second lieutenant for spearheading the capture of an enemy-held hill while wounded by enemy fire during the
Korean War. He was decorated by
President Dwight D. Eisenhower during a
White House ceremony on
27 October 1953, exactly one year to the day after the heroic action for which he was cited. From December 1944 until May 1946, he was a seaman in the
United States Merchant Marine. He then entered
Texas Technological College where he received a
Bachelor of Science degree in
Geology in May 1950.
/3 - -
Woodrow Wilson "Woody" Guthrie (
July 14,
1912 –
October 3,
1967) was an
American songwriter and
folk musician. Guthrie's musical legacy consists of hundreds of songs,
ballads and improvised works covering topics from political themes to
traditional songs to children's songs. Guthrie performed continually throughout his life with his guitar frequently displaying the slogan "This Machine Kills
Fascists". Guthrie is perhaps best known for his song "
This Land Is Your Land" which is regularly sung in American schools. Many of his recorded songs are archived in the
Library of Congress. During World War II, Guthrie served as a mess man and dish washer in the Merchant Marine. He would frequently entertain the crew and troops to buoy the spirits on transatlantic voyages. Guthrie made attempts to write about his experience in the Merchant Marine but was never satisfied with the results. Longhi would later write about these experiences in his book
Woody, Cisco and Me. In 1945, Guthrie's association with Communism made him ineligible for further service in the Merchant Marine and he was drafted into the
U.S. Army.
/4 - -
Specialist/SFC Lawrence Joel (
February 22,
1928–
February 4,
1984) was an
American military
veteran. He served in the
United States Army in both the
Korean War and the
Vietnam War. While serving in
Viet Nam, as a
medic assigned to 1st
Battalion of the 503rd Infantry in the 173rd
Airborne Brigade, Joel received the
Silver Star and the
Medal of Honor for his heroism in a battle with the
Viet Cong that occurred on
November 8,
1965. He was the first living black American to receive this medal since the
Spanish-American War in 1898. Born in
Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Joel attended city public schools, including Atkins High School, and joined the
Merchant Marines for one year. In 1946, at age 18, Joel decided to join the
United States Army, making a career out of it. He enlisted in
New York City.
/5 - -
Perry Edward Smith (
October 27,
1928 –
April 14,
1965) was one of two ex-convicts who murdered four members of the Clutter family in
Holcomb, Kansas,
United States on
November 15,
1959. The crime was made famous by
Truman Capote in his 1966
non-fiction novel In Cold Blood.
Perry Smith was born in Huntington, Nevada. The family moved to Juneau, Alaska the following year, where the elder Smith brewed bootleg whisky for a living. Smith's father abused his wife and four children; in 1935, his wife left him, taking the children with her, and moved to San Francisco.[1] Smith initially lived with his alcoholic mother, who died before he reached adulthood. He afterward lived in a Catholic orphanage, where nuns allegedly abused him physically and emotionally for his life-long problem of chronic bed wetting. He then lived in a Salvation Army orphanage, where one of the caretakers allegedly tried to drown him. In his teens, Smith lived an itinerant existence with his father and briefly joined a street gang. He also spent time in a number of detention homes, until he was returned to his father.
At 16, Smith joined the
United States Merchant Marine. He joined the Army in 1948, where he served in the
Korean War.
/6 - -
Francis "Frank" Sinkwich (
October 10,
1920 –
October 22,
1990) won the 1942
Heisman Trophy as a player for the
University of Georgia, making him the first recipient from the
Southeastern Conference. Sinkwich was born in the
Pittsburgh suburb of
McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania, to immigrant parents who were ethnic
Croatians from
Russia. When he was still a child, his family relocated to
Youngstown, Ohio, a steel-manufacturing center near the
Pennsylvania border.
After his collegiate career, Sinkwich joined the United States Marine Corps; however, he received a medical discharge in order to play with the Detroit Lions as their number one pick in the NFL Draft in 1943. In Detroit, he earned All-Pro honors in 1943-1944, as well as being named as NFL MVP in 1944.[2]
After his two years in Detroit, Sinkwich served in both the
United States Merchant Marines and the
United States Army Air Forces, but a knee injury received while playing for the 2nd Air Force service team in 1945 ended his playing career.
/7 - -
Jacobus Franciscus "Jim" Thorpe (
Sac and Fox (Sauk) from Oklahoma:
Wa-Tho-Huk) (
May 28,
1888 –
March 28,
1953[3]) was an
American athlete. Considered one of the most versatile athletes in modern
sports, he won
Olympic gold medals in the
pentathlon and
decathlon, played
American football collegiately and professionally, and also played professional
baseball and
basketball. He subsequently lost his Olympic titles when it was found he was paid for playing two seasons of minor league baseball before competing in the games (thus violating the
amateur status rules). He found it difficult to work outside sports and never kept a job for an extended period of time. During the
Great Depression in particular, Thorpe held various jobs, among others as an
extra in several movies, usually playing an Indian chief in
Westerns. But he also worked as a construction worker, a
bouncer, a
security guard, and a ditch digger, and he briefly joined the
United States Merchant Marine in 1945.
/8 - -
Ralph Waldo Ellison (
March 1,
1913[4] –
April 16,
1994) was a
scholar and
writer. He was born in
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, named by his father after
Ralph Waldo Emerson. Ellison was best known for his novel
Invisible Man (
ISBN 0-679-60139-2), which won the
National Book Award in
1953. He also wrote
Shadow and Act (
1964), a collection of political, social and critical essays, and
Going to the Territory (
1986). During
WWII Ellison joined the
Merchant Marine, and in 1946 he married his second wife, Fanny McConnell. She supported her husband financially while he wrote
Invisible Man, and typed Ellison's longhand text. She also assisted her husband in editing the typescript as it progressed.
/9 - -
Herman Melville (
August 1,
1819 –
September 28,
1891) was an
American novelist,
short story writer,
essayist, and
poet. His first two books gained much attention, though they were not bestsellers, and his popularity declined precipitously only a few years later. By the time of his death he had been almost completely forgotten, but his longest novel,
Moby-Dick — largely considered a failure during his lifetime, and most responsible for Melville's fall from favor with the reading public — was rediscovered in the 20th century as one of the chief literary masterpieces of both American and world literature. In 1836, his brother helped him get a job as a
cabin boy on a New York ship bound for
Liverpool. He made the voyage, and returned on the same ship.
Redburn: His First Voyage (1849) is partly based on his experiences of this journey. He continued to work largely aboard ships, from whalers to a frigate, from 1841 until 1844.
/10 - -
James Garner joined the Merchant Marine at age 16.
James Garner (born
April 7,
1928) is an
American film and
Emmy-award winning
television actor.
He has starred in several television series spanning a career of more than five decades. These included his roles as Bret Maverick, in the popular 1950s western-comedy series, Maverick; Jim Rockford, in the popular 1970s detective drama, The Rockford Files; and the father of Katey Sagal's character on 8 Simple Rules following the death of John Ritter. He has starred in dozens of movies, including The Great Escape (1963) with Steve McQueen; Paddy Chayefsky's The Americanization of Emily (1964) and Blake Edwards' Victor/Victoria (1982), both with Julie Andrews; and Murphy's Romance (1985) with Sally Field, for which he received an Academy Award nomination.
Garner joined the
United States Merchant Marine at sixteen. He was a good worker and got along with all his shipmates, but he suffered from chronic
seasickness and could not shake it no matter how hard he tried. At seventeen, he joined his father in Los Angeles and enrolled at
Hollywood High School, where he was voted the most popular student.
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Paul Teutul Sr. is a Vietnam-war era merchant mariner.
Paul Teutul Sr. (
May 1,
1949 in
Yonkers, New York), is the founder of Orange County Ironworks and
Orange County Choppers. Teutul works along with his sons
Paul Teutul, Jr. and
Michael Teutul, who became celebrities when
Orange County Choppers became the focus of a reality television series called
American Chopper in
2002. He is a
Vietnam War veteran of the
United States Merchant Marine.
O’Brien was a merchant seaman from 1944 to 1946
George H. O’Brien, Jr. (
10 September 1926 –
11 March 2005) was a
United States Marine Corps officer who was awarded the
Medal of Honor, the
United States's highest military decoration, for conspicuous gallantry as a second lieutenant for spearheading the capture of an enemy-held hill while wounded by enemy fire during the
Korean War. He was decorated by
President Dwight D. Eisenhower during a
White House ceremony on
27 October 1953, exactly one year to the day after the heroic action for which he was cited. From December 1944 until May 1946, he was a seaman in the
United States Merchant Marine. He then entered
Texas Technological College where he received a
Bachelor of Science degree in
Geology in May 1950.
Woodrow Wilson "Woody" Guthrie (
July 14,
1912 –
October 3,
1967) was an
American songwriter and
folk musician. Guthrie's musical legacy consists of hundreds of songs,
ballads and improvised works covering topics from political themes to
traditional songs to children's songs. Guthrie performed continually throughout his life with his guitar frequently displaying the slogan "This Machine Kills
Fascists". Guthrie is perhaps best known for his song "
This Land Is Your Land" which is regularly sung in American schools. Many of his recorded songs are archived in the
Library of Congress. During World War II, Guthrie served as a mess man and dish washer in the Merchant Marine. He would frequently entertain the crew and troops to buoy the spirits on transatlantic voyages. Guthrie made attempts to write about his experience in the Merchant Marine but was never satisfied with the results. Longhi would later write about these experiences in his book
Woody, Cisco and Me. In 1945, Guthrie's association with Communism made him ineligible for further service in the Merchant Marine and he was drafted into the
U.S. Army.
Specialist/SFC Lawrence Joel (
February 22,
1928–
February 4,
1984) was an
American military
veteran. He served in the
United States Army in both the
Korean War and the
Vietnam War. While serving in
Viet Nam, as a
medic assigned to 1st
Battalion of the 503rd Infantry in the 173rd
Airborne Brigade, Joel received the
Silver Star and the
Medal of Honor for his heroism in a battle with the
Viet Cong that occurred on
November 8,
1965. He was the first living black American to receive this medal since the
Spanish-American War in 1898. Born in
Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Joel attended city public schools, including Atkins High School, and joined the
Merchant Marines for one year. In 1946, at age 18, Joel decided to join the
United States Army, making a career out of it. He enlisted in
New York City.
Perry Edward Smith (
October 27,
1928 –
April 14,
1965) was one of two ex-convicts who murdered four members of the Clutter family in
Holcomb, Kansas,
United States on
November 15,
1959. The crime was made famous by
Truman Capote in his 1966
non-fiction novel In Cold Blood.
Perry Smith was born in Huntington, Nevada. The family moved to Juneau, Alaska the following year, where the elder Smith brewed bootleg whisky for a living. Smith's father abused his wife and four children; in 1935, his wife left him, taking the children with her, and moved to San Francisco.[1] Smith initially lived with his alcoholic mother, who died before he reached adulthood. He afterward lived in a Catholic orphanage, where nuns allegedly abused him physically and emotionally for his life-long problem of chronic bed wetting. He then lived in a Salvation Army orphanage, where one of the caretakers allegedly tried to drown him. In his teens, Smith lived an itinerant existence with his father and briefly joined a street gang. He also spent time in a number of detention homes, until he was returned to his father.
At 16, Smith joined the
United States Merchant Marine. He joined the Army in 1948, where he served in the
Korean War.
Francis "Frank" Sinkwich (
October 10,
1920 –
October 22,
1990) won the 1942
Heisman Trophy as a player for the
University of Georgia, making him the first recipient from the
Southeastern Conference. Sinkwich was born in the
Pittsburgh suburb of
McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania, to immigrant parents who were ethnic
Croatians from
Russia. When he was still a child, his family relocated to
Youngstown, Ohio, a steel-manufacturing center near the
Pennsylvania border.
After his collegiate career, Sinkwich joined the United States Marine Corps; however, he received a medical discharge in order to play with the Detroit Lions as their number one pick in the NFL Draft in 1943. In Detroit, he earned All-Pro honors in 1943-1944, as well as being named as NFL MVP in 1944.[2]
After his two years in Detroit, Sinkwich served in both the
United States Merchant Marines and the
United States Army Air Forces, but a knee injury received while playing for the 2nd Air Force service team in 1945 ended his playing career.
Jacobus Franciscus "Jim" Thorpe (
Sac and Fox (Sauk) from Oklahoma:
Wa-Tho-Huk) (
May 28,
1888 –
March 28,
1953[3]) was an
American athlete. Considered one of the most versatile athletes in modern
sports, he won
Olympic gold medals in the
pentathlon and
decathlon, played
American football collegiately and professionally, and also played professional
baseball and
basketball. He subsequently lost his Olympic titles when it was found he was paid for playing two seasons of minor league baseball before competing in the games (thus violating the
amateur status rules). He found it difficult to work outside sports and never kept a job for an extended period of time. During the
Great Depression in particular, Thorpe held various jobs, among others as an
extra in several movies, usually playing an Indian chief in
Westerns. But he also worked as a construction worker, a
bouncer, a
security guard, and a ditch digger, and he briefly joined the
United States Merchant Marine in 1945.
Ralph Waldo Ellison (
March 1,
1913[4] –
April 16,
1994) was a
scholar and
writer. He was born in
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, named by his father after
Ralph Waldo Emerson. Ellison was best known for his novel
Invisible Man (
ISBN 0-679-60139-2), which won the
National Book Award in
1953. He also wrote
Shadow and Act (
1964), a collection of political, social and critical essays, and
Going to the Territory (
1986). During
WWII Ellison joined the
Merchant Marine, and in 1946 he married his second wife, Fanny McConnell. She supported her husband financially while he wrote
Invisible Man, and typed Ellison's longhand text. She also assisted her husband in editing the typescript as it progressed.
Herman Melville (
August 1,
1819 –
September 28,
1891) was an
American novelist,
short story writer,
essayist, and
poet. His first two books gained much attention, though they were not bestsellers, and his popularity declined precipitously only a few years later. By the time of his death he had been almost completely forgotten, but his longest novel,
Moby-Dick — largely considered a failure during his lifetime, and most responsible for Melville's fall from favor with the reading public — was rediscovered in the 20th century as one of the chief literary masterpieces of both American and world literature. In 1836, his brother helped him get a job as a
cabin boy on a New York ship bound for
Liverpool. He made the voyage, and returned on the same ship.
Redburn: His First Voyage (1849) is partly based on his experiences of this journey. He continued to work largely aboard ships, from whalers to a frigate, from 1841 until 1844.
James Garner joined the Merchant Marine at age 16.
James Garner (born
April 7,
1928) is an
American film and
Emmy-award winning
television actor.
He has starred in several television series spanning a career of more than five decades. These included his roles as Bret Maverick, in the popular 1950s western-comedy series, Maverick; Jim Rockford, in the popular 1970s detective drama, The Rockford Files; and the father of Katey Sagal's character on 8 Simple Rules following the death of John Ritter. He has starred in dozens of movies, including The Great Escape (1963) with Steve McQueen; Paddy Chayefsky's The Americanization of Emily (1964) and Blake Edwards' Victor/Victoria (1982), both with Julie Andrews; and Murphy's Romance (1985) with Sally Field, for which he received an Academy Award nomination.
Garner joined the
United States Merchant Marine at sixteen. He was a good worker and got along with all his shipmates, but he suffered from chronic
seasickness and could not shake it no matter how hard he tried. At seventeen, he joined his father in Los Angeles and enrolled at
Hollywood High School, where he was voted the most popular student.
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