{"id":56937,"date":"2016-05-30T12:45:26","date_gmt":"2016-05-30T17:45:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/?p=56937"},"modified":"2026-10-20T13:00:35","modified_gmt":"2026-10-20T18:00:35","slug":"podcast-205-seven-brothers-the-merchant-marine-the-war-against-hitlers-u-boats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/culture\/history\/podcast-205-seven-brothers-the-merchant-marine-the-war-against-hitlers-u-boats\/","title":{"rendered":"Podcast #205: Seven Brothers, the Merchant Marine, the War Against Hitler’s U-boats"},"content":{"rendered":"

You’ve probably heard of the great battles fought in Europe and the Pacific during WWII, but did you know that part of WWII was fought just miles off the coast of the United States? And that the men taking part in these battles were civilians?<\/p>\n

Well, my guest today has published a book about this oft-forgotten aspect of WWII history. His name is William Geroux and his book is The Mathews Men: Seven Brothers and the War Against Hitler’s U-boats<\/a>. <\/em><\/p>\n

Today on the show, William and I discuss the U.S. Merchant Marine, their important role during WWII, and why they were targets for German U-boats off the coast of the United States. We also discuss why Mathews County Virginia produced so many merchant mariners during WWII, and how one family alone sent 15 men to serve.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You’ve probably heard of the great battles fought in Europe and the Pacific during WWII, but did you know that part of WWII was fought just miles off the coast of the United States? And that the men taking part in these battles were civilians? Well, my guest today has published a book about this […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":195797,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[42376,42385,156],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-56937","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","category-history","category-podcast"],"featured_image_urls":{"large":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/205-538x280.png","medium_large":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/205-768x432.png","aom":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/205-372x230.png","reactor-320":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/205-320x180.png","reactor-640":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/205-640x360.png"},"yoast_head":"\nPodcast: The Merchant Marine in WWII 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