Name: George Francis Amiro Rank: Armed Guard Service: USS George M. Cohan (Liberty Ship), US Navy Date of Birth: January 16, 1923 Place of Birth: Maine Date of Enlistment: April 17, 1943 Place of Enlistment: Unknown Age at Enlistment: 20 Marital Status: Single (at enlistment) Date of Discharge: November 11, 1945 Age at Discharge: 22 Date of Death: September 3, 1986 Age: 63 Cemetery: Unknown George Francis Amiro was the son of Felix Maximond Amiro (1891-1950) and Marie Chantale Gaudet (1895-1978). He had two siblings, Mary Emily and Priscilla (1924-2022). His mother Chantale also helped raise Rita Gaudet, the child of her sister Marie Aimee. Chantale and Aimee’s parents were George Gaudet and Marie (Deveau) Gaudet from Clare, in Digby County, NS. George’s sister Mary married Herbert Nelson Langill on October 1, 1945, in Portsmouth, Rockingham Co., New Hampshire. Both in 1930 and 1940, George and his family were living at 38 Came Ave in Haverhill, Massachusetts. George enlisted in the US Navy on April 17, 1943. He joined the American Liberty Ship the USS George M. Cohan, on March 17, 1944, in Cardiff, Wales. The USS Cohan made at least one convoy voyage on the Murmansk Run. There is record of The Cohan returned to New York, travelling from Murmansk, on May 17, 1944. “A total of 2,710 Liberty ships were completed (with one more being burnt out on the slipway and never completed). This huge total almost defies the imagination when considering the resources that must be employed to produce this number. During the peak building period (March 1943 to December 1943) over 100 were completed per month. Despite being initially labelled an 'ugly duckling' by the newspapers, and intended to be expendable, if necessary, the ships eventually caught the imagination of the public. They proved to be easy to build, reliable and versatile; exceeding even the most optimistic expectations for their overall contribution to the war effort. Liberty ships saw service all over the world: they were present in the Atlantic and Russian convoys; they anchored off the beachheads in North Africa, Europe and in the Pacific islands; they carried food to civilians as well as supplies and equipment to the armed forces; as hospital ships they treated the wounded; they transported prisoners away from the fighting; they evacuated rescued Allied prisoners from Asia; in perhaps their most welcome role, they brought the troops home again after the fighting was over.” George served as a USNAG (United States Navy Armed Guard) aboard the USS George M. Cohan. The purpose of the guard was to man the deck guns of merchant ships to provide a nominal defense against attack. This was to counter the constant danger presented by enemy submarines, surface raiders, fighter aircraft and bombers. The USS George M. Cohan was named for the composer of the same name - an entertainer, playwright, composer, lyricist, actor, singer, dancer and theatrical producer. Cohan wrote more than 50 shows and published more than 300 songs during his lifetime, including the standards "Over There", "Give My Regards to Broadway", "The Yankee Doodle Boy" and "You're a Grand Old Flag". Known in the decade before World War I as "the man who owned Broadway", he is considered the father of American musical comedy. Each Liberty ship carried a crew of between 38 and 62 civilian merchant sailors (Merchant Navy), and 21 to 40 US Navy personnel to operate defensive guns and communications equipment. The assignment as an Armed Guardsman was often dreaded because of the constant danger. Merchant ships were slow, unwieldy, and priority targets of submarines and planes. Furthermore, merchant ships were among the last to receive updated equipment. Early on in the war, some ships only had a few machine guns, so the crews painted telephone poles to imitate the barrels of larger guns. The most common armament mounted on merchant ships were the MK II 20mm Oerlikon autocannon and the 3"/50, 4"/50, and 5"/38 deck guns. When practicable, the Navy Armed Guard aboard a merchant ship would provide cross-training to merchant crew members in the use of the guns in the event the Navy personnel were killed or injured. The Navy Armed Guardsmen would typically sail round trip on the same ship, occasionally they would get a different assignment upon reaching their destination depending on convoy schedules. George likely would have served on at least 3 of the Cohan’s convoy, the 50-ship Convoy JW-58 which departed Loch Ewe on March 27, 1944, arrived Kola Inlet on April 4th, the 43-ship Convoy RA-59 which Left Kola April 28, 1944, later dispersed and arrived at Loch Ewe and the Clyde on May 6th and 7th, and the 71- ship Convoy HX-342, which departed New York March 4, 1945 and arrived in Liverpool, England on March 19th. George Amiro was discharged on November 11, 1945. He married Laurette ‘Lorettta’ Jacques and they had a son, Gary M. Amiro (b. 1954) and a daughter Doreen. George Francis Amiro died in Portland, Cumberland Co., Maine, on September 3, 1986. The location of his burial is unknown. Sometime after George’s death in 1986, Loretta remarried Edward Pike. Loretta died in Seabrook, New Hampshire in 2014. In 2020, the US Congress passed the Merchant Mariners of World War II Congressional Gold Medal Act to recognize the merchant mariners for their courage and contributions during the war.