OFF TO FIDDLER'S GREEN Captain Harry W. Marshall (12 March 1924-18 December 2012) Harry Marshall was not only a former trustee of the National Maritime Historical Society but on the boards of the Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point, the American Merchant Marine Museum, the Propeller Club, and the Marine Society of the City of New York-an organization composed of shipmasters. Born in 1924 in Jackson, KY, he was raised in Irvine, KY, and Atlanta, GA. As a high schooler during World War II, Harry hoped to join the Coast Guard but was rejected because they felt he didn't have the math skills. By chance, he noticed a placard on a streetcar on his way to school advertising "A Wartime Job with a Peacetime Future" and joined the US Merchant Marine Cadet Corps ten days after graduation. He was immediately sent to Bayou St. John, LA, and after eight weeks graduated as Deck Cadet and just two weeks later he was assigned a berth aboard the new Liberty ship 1homas Hartley. In January 1943 his ship was carrying sulfur and military supplies to Great Britain and to Russia in a six-ship convoy escorted transAtlantic by US Navy warships and, after a stop in Ireland, by British warships for the final run to Murmansk. The convoy was attacked by German planes; two ships sank and the British escort pulled away Captain Harry W Marshall to hunt submarines. The Hartley got her cargo to Murmansk but spent the next eight months in Murmansk and Molotov in Convoy JW53, known as the "Forgotten Convoy" in WWII history. In 1944, Harry began forty years of service with American Foreign Steamship Corporation, rising from third mate in the Wildwood to master of the William P McArthur in 1947 before coming ashore to serve as assistant port captain, port captain, and ultimately vice president ofoperations until mid-1984. From 1984 to 1996, he was president and owner ofAmerican Foreign Shipping Co., Inc. (AFS), and in that capacity he served as general agent and ship manager for the Maritime Administration, managing freighters and rankers in the Ready Reserve Force (RRF). AFS was engaged in vessel conversions, no-notice activations, maintenance, upgrades and outportings as well as activating and operating RRF vessels in Desert Shield/Desert Storm. AFS also operated tankers in the US Navy Afloat Prepositioning Fleet during peacekeeping missions in Somalia. H e was invited and testified, as ship manager, before the House Merchant Marine Subcommittee in the Persian Gulf Sealift hearings. Harry's eye catching that recruiting poster on a streetcar in 1942 gave him a way to pursue an interest that his talents m ade the most of, and he would always say, "If an opportunity presents itself, take it." SEA HISTORY 142, SPRING 2013
After he retired from AFS, he was continuously active supporting the US maritime industry and particularly the US Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point, where he was recognized with the 1979 Alumni Association's Outstanding Professional Achievement Award, the 1999 Kings Pointer of the Year Award, and the 2004 Lifetime Achievement Award. In 1993, Room #105 in the Academy's Fulton Hall was dedicated in honor of Captain Harry W. Marshall, Class of 1944. A paragraph on the plaque reads, "The Academy "If an opportunity presents itself, is proud to name this laboratory take it. "Harry Marshall as ayoung for Harry Marshall, whose dismerchant mariner. tinguished lifelong career in the maritime profession truly epitomizes theAcademy's motto, Acta Non Verba. We are honored to salute his many notable achievements, his philanthropy and his dedication and loyalty to Kings Point." His wife, Mary, passed away just six weeks after his death. They are survived by their six children and six grandchildren. Captain Marshall was both respected and beloved by those he worked with; when I informed the trustees of his death, Stephanie Begley Smith, wife of trustee Bradford Smith, sent me this remembrance: My father's brother, Patrick Joseph Begley, the youngest of six children, was killed in the Solomon Islands. When his body was returned home, a large 48-star Bag was draped on the coffin. Our fami ly wanted to donate the Bag. Harry Marshall arranged for Joe Begley's Bag to be Bown on the Liberty ship john W Brown, and placed in their ship museum under their care. My husband Brad Smith and I attended the celebration of the completion of the john W Brown in Cleveland, Ohio, and proudly saw my uncle's Bag raised on the ship. A very proud moment, all orchestrated by Harry Marshall, NMHS trustee at that time. Harry Marshall was one of the dearest people I have known. I met him and Mary on the Queen Elizabeth on the Society's first cruise to Bermuda years ago. He became an active member, leader, trustee, and a regular at the Charles Point Council seminars. Although Kings Point recognized his outstanding deeds, he wasn't strictly "deeds, not words," but also a great storyteller. He was always interesting, helpful , and kind. As I took on more responsibility with NMHS, I would often turn to him for advice. One day we were walking along the path at Kings Point, and he was encouraging me to take on a project that I thought would require more maritime knowledge than I had. When I demurred, stating I didn't know enough, he, who had counseled me for years, calmly replied, with the smile and twinkle that we all remember him with, "Oh, you know more than yo u think you do."
- Burchenal Green, President, NMHS 51