For a couple of decades, on the second Monday of the month, a group of U.S. Merchant Marine veterans from World War II has met in the back room of the American Legion Club Post 435 in Richfield...Merchant Marine -- which was formed in 1936 to carry cargo and serve as a military auxiliary in time of war -- weren't recognized as military veterans by Congress after World War II ended...

The sailors didn't get G.I. benefits in education, housing, health care or job preference available to other veterans after the war. A federal court ruling in 1988 belatedly awarded veteran status to most World War II mariners and allowed them access to G.I. programs or federally administered medical care and prescriptions by the Department of Veterans Affairs...