Mariners raising money to buy stone monument
Ed Kinter was a Merchant Marine serving on the SS George E. Badger during World War II.
One night, Kinter was steering the vessel through the dark North Atlantic Ocean hoping to avoid detection by enemy forces.
"There were no lights at all," he said.
Along with keeping the George E. Badger steady, Kinter had to stay clear of a Canadian whaler serving as another mariner ship running on the port side.
Suddenly, there was an explosion on another vessel.
"It was out of sight within two minutes," Kinter said. "It sunk. We saw one lifeboat get off."
He said the Badger's crew knew if that other ship wasn't running alongside, their boat would have been the one hit.
"It was a very big scare," Kinter said.
The 84-year-old Portersville man is one of a group of mariners from Butler and Lawrence counties whose efforts to receive separate recognition for their wartime efforts will be rewarded this year.
The mariners will erect a 4-foot-tall monument next to the World War II monument in Diamond Park across from the courthouse on Main Street.
The stone, which will be engraved with the mariners seal, will cost $5,738.Kinter said the goal is to have the monument ready for a Memorial Day ceremony at the park."If we don't get it done now, it won't get done," he said.The Butler/Lawrence Chapter of World War II American Merchant Marines is raising the money to pay for the monument.Walter Luikart, 84, of New Castle, the president of the Butler/Lawrence chapter, said any money raised beyond the cost of the stone would be used for other items such as lighting for the monument.Among the various boats Luikart served on was the SS Nicholas Herkimer during D-Day."It was the very onset of the invasion," he said. "We saw the planes going to the beachheads to give them hell."<br></br>
Dale Ferguson, 87, of Penn Township, another member of the Butler/Lawrence County mariners, first served on the SS Maltran.Anna Ferguson, Dale's wife who spoke on his behalf while he was undergoing physical therapy, said her future husband was glad to get off his first ship."He said it was a 'rough tub,'" she said.Dale Ferguson got off just in time. The boat sank during its second voyage.Bill Bender, Anna's cousin, was on that ship, but he survived."He was in a lifeboat for a few days," she said.Bender's survival led to Dale meeting Anna. Ferguson was the best man at Bender's wedding, and Anna attended the ceremony.The SS Cyrus H.K. Curtis, a ship on which Ferguson served, made trips into Normandy, France, in June 1944, sustaining fire from the Germans."It was damaged so badly they had to make repairs in Belgium because they couldn't steer the ship," Anna Ferguson said.Donations for the monument can be sent to: World War II Merchant Marine Memorial, c/o Anna Ferguson, treasurer, 326 Beacon Road, Renfrew, PA 16053-2005.A plaque listing roughly 30 military-related services, including the mariners, is on the back of the World War II memorial.
