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“Vividly drawn and emotionally gripping."
—Daniel James Brown, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Boys in the Boat

One of the last unheralded heroic stories of World War II: the U-boat assault off the American coast against the men of the U.S. Merchant Marine who were supplying the European war, and one community’s monumental contribution to that effort

Mathews County, Virginia, is a remote outpost on the Chesapeake Bay with little to offer except unspoiled scenery—but it sent an unusually large concentration of sea captains to fight in World War II. The Mathews Men tells that heroic story through the experiences of one extraordinary family whose seven sons (and their neighbors), U.S. merchant mariners all, suddenly found themselves squarely in the cross-hairs of the U-boats bearing down on the coastal United States in 1942.
            From the late 1930s to 1945, virtually all the fuel, food and munitions that sustained the Allies in Europe traveled not via the Navy but in merchant ships. After Pearl Harbor, those unprotected ships instantly became the U-boats’ prime targets. And they were easy targets—the Navy lacked the inclination or resources to defend them until the beginning of 1943. Hitler was determined that his U-boats should sink every American ship they could find, sometimes within sight of tourist beaches, and to kill as many mariners as possible, in order to frighten their shipmates into staying ashore.
            As the war progressed, men from Mathews sailed the North and South Atlantic, the Caribbean, the Gulf of Mexico, the Mediterranean, the Indian Ocean, and even the icy Barents Sea in the Arctic Circle, where they braved the dreaded Murmansk Run. Through their experiences we have eyewitnesses to every danger zone, in every kind of ship. Some died horrific deaths. Others fought to survive torpedo explosions, flaming oil slicks, storms, shark attacks, mine blasts, and harrowing lifeboat odysseys—only to ship out again on the next boat as soon as they'd returned to safety.
            The Mathews Men shows us the war far beyond traditional battlefields—often the U.S. merchant mariners’ life-and-death struggles took place just off the U.S. coast—but also takes us to the landing beaches at D-Day and to the Pacific. “When final victory is ours,” General Dwight D. Eisenhower had predicted, “there is no organization that will share its credit more deservedly than the Merchant Marine.” Here, finally, is the heroic story of those merchant seamen, recast as the human story of the men from Mathews.

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Viking; First Edition (April 19, 2016)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 400 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0525428151
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0525428152
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.5 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.44 x 1.38 x 9.38 inches
Reviewer: Anthony(Tony) Riggio
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: The flow of the authors writing made reading this book like great novel that I found difficult to put down
Review: December 12, 2016A Review by Anthony T. Riggio of the book “The Mathews Men” by William GerouxI ordered this book in hardbound, form Amazon, because it was a history book and one I wanted in my library. It told the valiant yet unheralded story of the men of the US Merchant Marine Service story during time of World War II. I thought it was a significant story and a worthy read because of where most of the players were from, namely Mathews County Virginia.Mathews County Virginia, especially during the War years was unknown to any but the people who lived within proximity and the major US shippers of cargo, sent to far off places in the world. The Mathews County men were renowned for their seaman skills and development of Captain’s for the Merchant service. Many predecessors were known and heralded during and after World War I.As World War II began the world and the United States were mostly unprepared for war time commerce especially given the isolationist feelings of most Americans who wanted nothing to do with Europe’s wars. Despite this attitude a hue and cry for help from both England and Russia fell on the ears of some in power in the US, including President Franklin D. Roosevelt resulting in new policies titled Lend Lease.The Materials and food products had to be shipped by boat and it fell on the major shippers of the day to begin the dangerous transporting across the Atlantic and the men of Matthews and elsewhere stepped up to the plate to endure these risks.During the early years of World War II the German Navy quickly fell into a state of non-importance primarily, because of the strength of the British Navy. However, the Germans concentrated their naval strength by use of the submarine of U-Boat fleet. Realizing that the US was taking a non-committed position of supplying both Britain and Russia, the Germans soon began to attack American Shipping to Europe and Russia as their assaults and invasions moved forward.The book pointed out some significant statistics on the amount of material tonnage and human life that was lost and destroyed and weaved into this recapture of events told the story of the commitment made by ordinary “heroes” from Mathews County VA.The flow of the authors writing made reading this book like great novel that I found difficult to put down.I was impressed and somewhat astounded by the proximity of the U-boat operations near and within US Waters and the number of ships and lives lost. There were many heart wrenching stories of men who experienced their ships torpedoed under them and yet men continued to ship out. The stories of the carnage in the waters around Russia were both frightening and hair raising.The men of the US merchant service were never rewarded after the war nor recognized for their herculean efforts and great sufferings. They were never included in the Veterans benefits program and were largely forgotten for many years. As a point of personal interest, I had an uncle who at 16 joined the US merchant service, because he was too young to enlist in the armed services and delivered material and food during these dangerous times. In 1950 he was drafted into the Army and fought in Korea because his prior service was not recognized.If you love action oriented history, and the great story telling of the author and his extensive research he did to tell his story. Reading it, I was pulled back in time and felt both the experience and feelings of the Mathews Men.I gave this book FIVE Stars out of five and highly recommend its reading to lovers of history. The cited statistics will blow you away.

Reviewer: krehztim
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Reveals mostly untold sacrifices of men, families and communities in small-town Virginia
Review: I've read dozens of books on World War 2, but never anything on the Merchant Marines. I really had no idea how many men, their families, and entire communities were affected by manning the convoys through German U-Boat patrols. The book got a little repetitious towards the end, but the author brings to light so many stories that deserve to be told. The pacing of the narrative is good. I started to feel connected to entire families from that area of Virginia, which is not too far from where I live. The trials and tribulations they bore to ensure the safe delivery of supplies to Europe, Africa, and the USSR were enormous. I had known about the frequent sinking of ships off the east coast, but I really didn't know the sheer volume of encounters. I thoroughly enjoyed the book, but I'm not sure it goes into the stack of those I'll read more than once. For anyone interested in American involvement in WW2, or naval history, this is a great read.

Reviewer: Brandon A. Nordin
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Fascinating read - an epitaph for the sailors as well as the industry
Review: An excellent book that distills the valiant service of the U S Merchant Marine in WW2, by focusing on the men from Mathews County, Virginia, an area with a long seagoing tradition.While the larger battle of the Atlantic typically focuses on large scale convoy crossing from US to Europe, this book exposes how underprepared the US was to face the submarine threat, how negligent the US Navy brass was in the first 2 years of the war in adopting the convoy system, and how active the submarine threat was on the American coastline and the Caribbean. It also shows the unselfish resilience of the sailors and the families that both supported and depended on them. Of all the US services, just surviving was a victory.The contribution of the USMerchant Marine was essential to the survival of both Britain and Russia as well as the fate of US forces overseas. ( It take 2 tons of materiel per month to support each soldier in the field). And the small collection of men (Mathews County had a total population of under 10,000 at the start of the war) kept going out, despite repeated sinking and loss of friends and family.Equally plangent is the epilogue, that overviews the rapid decline of the USMerchant Marine postwar, as the industry globalized and shifted to foreign flagged bottom and cheaper, less regulated markets. Today less than 5000 US based Merchant Marine job opening exist.One real disgrace is how the men who served and survived in WW2 era Merchant Marine were excluded from any of the post war benefit programs such as the GI Bill. Even service oriented vets groups such as the VFW fought to exclude them from membership. For shame!

Reviewer: ARNOLD JOSEPH PETER TAYLOR
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: I CANNOT PUT THIS ONE DOWN. REALLY EXCELLENT !