Souderton teenager Marvin Garis (aged 18) and Telford teenager Herbert Wenger (aged 19) signed on to the trip of a lifetime on December 12, 1945. Their destination: Greece and Crete, with a load of 150 mules, 150 horses, 55 heifers, plus supplies to feed and bed them all, and 3500 tons of fertilizer for the Greek farmers. Marvin and Herbert served as two of the nearly 7,000 “seagoing cowboys” who delivered livestock to help devastated countries in Europe and China recover from World War II.
The Brethren Service Committee – the outreach arm of the Church of the Brethren at the time – recruited these seagoing cowboys for the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration’s Agricultural Division. Marvin and Herbert learned of the need for livestock tenders for UNRRA’s ships independently through their Mennonite church channels and sent in their applications. On receiving the call to serve, they reported to Baltimore, Maryland. They obtained their seaman’s papers there through the U.S. Coast Guard, making them a part of the U.S. Merchant Marine. For their service, UNRRA paid them $150 for the trip. The Merchant Marine paid them one cent per month – simply a token to make them legal workers on a merchant ship.
After leaving Baltimore on the Liberty ship S.S. Samuel H. Walker on December 15, the ship ran into a fierce Atlantic sea. Marvin remembers this as a very anxious time in which the Captain could not stay on course. “He had to keep the ship headed directly into the waves,” he said, “so none would catch us from the side. One time one caught us too much from the side, and the ship leaned over so bad things flew out of shelves. Dishes and articles slid across the floor and just hung there for a little while but then came back again.”
Herbert said, “During the night in one of those storms I was thrown up in the air and hit the springs of the bunk above me! The ship rolled so far that water came over the sides of the ship. Waves also crashed over the on-deck stalls of the horses and mules. As a result of the cold, wet conditions we lost about nine horses to pneumonia.”
About their third day at sea, their ship responded to the distress call of a sinking vessel named the Valiant. Marvin said, “The Samuel H. Walker’s officers reported it to the Navy, and the Navy sent out a squadron of planes which got lost in the storm. Our ship stayed in the area for 24 hours trying to find survivors. We saw parts of the wreckage pieces but no survivors.” The Philadelphia Bulletin reported this event, and after he got home Marvin’s girlfriend showed him the newspaper article. “It had the family quite anxious for our safety,” he said.
The Samuel H. Walker arrived safely in Kavalla, Greece, on January 9, 1946. Being the seaport for the ancient city of Philippi, Marvin and Herbert took advantage of their time there to explore the ancient ruins. A more sobering experience for these two young men, however, was observing the dire straits of the Greeks. “The few clothes they have are patched dozens of times,” Marvin reported after coming home, “and the people are starving.” A young boy came on board looking through the garbage to find food. Others sought used coffee grounds.
After six days in Kavalla, the ship moved on to Heraklion on the Greek island of Crete, a city devastated by bombing during the war. Aspects of both cities left an indelible impression on Marvin and Herbert of the terrible effects of war. Nevertheless, Herbert found the island of Crete to be a beautiful place. “One
highlight was visiting the ruins of the ancient city of Knossos,” he said. “The city and palace of the King was being excavated and restored. I sat on King Minos throne, a carved stone seat. We also saw the oldest known bathtub, carved out of solid stone!”
After fueling in Gibraltar, the Samuel H. Walker made one last stop in Casablanca. There they took on iron ore for ballast, water for drinking, and 90 US Navy men on their way home. Herbert and Marvin had both registered with their draft boards as conscientious objectors. “We were not sure what their attitude would be toward us men who didn’t go to war,” Herbert said. “However, we soon learned that they respected our position. They were so tired of the war and experienced so much death and destruction, that our position seemed to make sense to them.”
Another severe storm on the way home drove the ship southward, sending it in the direction of Savannah, Georgia, where it docked on February 17, 1946. “This was the conclusion of a very interesting and educational trip,” Herbert said. “A trip that I hope made life a little better for some war-weary people. It gave this small-town farm boy a larger view of the world.”
Other Souderton and Telford men in UNRRA’s records who made similar trips to Greece or Poland are Paul Detweiler, Jr. (aged 21), Frank DiNunzio, (aged 20), Roy G. Harley (aged 17), and Henry K. Swartley (aged 19) from Souderton and Herbert Haberle, Jr. (aged 18), Lester R. Souder (aged 19), and David S. Yoder (aged 25) from Telford.
About the author: Peggy Reiff Miller is the recognized expert on the history of the seagoing cowboys. She is the author of the children’s picture book The Seagoing Cowboy (Brethren Press, 2016) and publishes a website at www.seagoingcowboys.com where she writes blog posts every second and
fourth Friday. She lives in Englewood, Ohio.
Herbert Wenger’s full report can be found here:
https://seagoingcowboyswebsite.files.wordpress.com/2015/11/stories_herbwenger.pdf
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