Thank you for your inquiry. The list to which you refer is, I presume, the list in this message to which you were responding, at http://members.boardhost.com/armedguard/msg/1298918834.html.
The reason your father was not included in that list is because the list is of U.S. Navy Armed Guard sailors. Your father, as 2nd cook on FORT LARAMIE, was not a member of the Armed Guard. Rather he was part of the merchant marine crew that operated the ship or, in your father's case, prepared meals for the crew. That is to say, on World War II merchant vessels there were effectively two crews: a civilian merchant marine crew that operated the ship (consisting typically of about 45 men), and a U.S. Navy crew of about 27 men that operated the defensive weapons on the ship.
I can confirm that your father sailed in SS FORT LARAMIE for at least two consecutive voyages.
Voyage #1: departed New York on or about November 13, 1943; arrived Curacao, West Indies on unspecified date; departed Curacao unspecified date, arrived New York November 27, 1943.
Voyage #2: departed New York on or about December 1, 1944; arrived Liverpool December 13, 1944; departed Liverpool December 22, 1944; arrived New York January 1, 1944.
It is possible that your father sailed in FORT LARAMIE or in other ships before or after these two voyages but I found no other records. It was very typical for the merchant marine crew of a ship to change completely from one voyage to the next. While one or more senior officers might remain with a ship for multiple voyages, the rank-and-file merchant mariners tended to move as soon as possible from a returning ship to a departing ship so as to keep earning pay. As soon as a returning ship reached its final destination, the crew drew their pay and at that point were unemployed. Since the same ship might not sail again for weeks, most crew members would immediately try to find another ship that required their services. In the case of FORT LARAMIE, the ship arrived from Curacao and then departed for Liverpool in a matter of a few days. So the voyage to Liverpool might have been considered a continuation of the Curacao voyage, so your father (and other crew members) remained for two consecutive voyages.
As it happens, FORT LARAMIE was a tanker, which carried petroleum products. The voyage to Curacao was doubtlessly to obtain a cargo from the South American oil fields, and then to transport that cargo immediately to Britain for the war effort, with the following voyage to Liverpool.
Since your father was in the merchant marine, which is a civilian organization, he was not in the military during the period of these voyages. That said, as of 1988, World War II merchant mariners were officially considered to be World War II veterans even though they had never been in the military. Of course by 1988 many World War II merchant mariners had passed and the recognition of veteran status as of 1988 provided very few benefits even for the living. The primary benefits were the right to be buried in a military cemetery, have a government-issued grave marker, have a military funeral, and the survivors received the U.S. flag from the coffin. Treatment in Veterans Administration facilities might also be a benefit for their veteran status. That is precious little for men who risked their lives in World War II alongside U.S. Navy sailors with whom they were literally in the same boat.
Please let me know if you have additional questions.
Ron Carlson, Webmaster
Armed Guard / Merchant Marine website
www.armed-guard.com
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