Sale, Richard "Last Trip"
A ship’s electrician saves the lives of his crew by firing off a desperate SOS after their ship had been torpedoed and the ship’s wireless officer killed. Though viewed by many as a hero, the man, 50-year old Matt Raleigh, knows that his heroism was prompted more by his desire to get home safely to his family than out of feelings for fellow crew. Yet, though a “safe” stateside job awaits him, Raleigh decides to re-up in the merchant marine after taking part in a radio interview in which he hears a mariner from another torpedoed ship reply to the question “How do you feel about the war?” The mariner’s unvarnished reply echoes the sentiments of many Allied participants in the Second World War:
“Well, sir, we just got to win it. I been to countries that have met Hitler, and what I seen told me that we got to win it, and the merchant marine will do its part.”