Veteran's Column: Newark's 'forgotten man' Imlay finally gets recognition
The role that the men who served with the Merchant Marines in World War II is often ignored. Their part in the war was to transport needed materials to troops around the world and any other tasks the Navy asked of them. General Dwight Eisenhower stated in 1945, “Their contribution to final victory will be long remembered.”
When the war ended they were forgotten and weren’t even considered veterans by the United States government. Hugh “Bud” Imlay was one of these forgotten men.
Imlay was born September 23, 1926, in Youngstown, Ohio. His family later moved to Zanesville where he graduated from high school. He was 18 years old when he enlisted in the Merchant Marines on Sept. 1, 1944. He attended the Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point, N.Y., and then served on seven different ships all around the world. When the war ended he was serving on a hospital ship in the Pacific. He didn’t speak of the war much but he left one account he had written for a history course he attended.
His ship had docked on an island to unload supplies. The island was secure but there were some enemy troops still present in the jungle. Blackout orders had been issued but someone at the Marine Corps base decided to show a movie outside that night. Imlay and his friend Bill were invited to join them. Imlay wrote, “Behind us, two Marines stood watching, leaning against palm trees with their rifles. As they say, all hell broke loose with rifle fire coming from the jungle hitting the two Marines and they dropped to the ground. At once Bill and I crawled over to them, grabbed their M-1’s and fired into the jungle where the shots came from until the clips were empty. 'We need more clips,' said Bill and got two from one of the Marines who had not moved. It took a bit but we managed to get them in, but it was too late all the firing had stopped. We spent the night in the jungle and at dawn walked back to the pier. We were about to go up the gangway when a Marine Chaplain called to us. 'I need your names and serial numbers.' 'What for?' I asked. 'I saw what you guys did last night and think you should get recognition.'
They gave him their information. Fifty years later Imlay tracked Bill down and called him. They both shared how scared they had been that night. Bill asked Imlay if he had ever heard anything from the information the chaplain had taken down. “I answered no and he said well you won’t. I checked into it and he was killed shortly after and didn’t have a chance to turn it in. We both agreed we didn’t deserve anything anyway.”
Imlay returned from the war and continued his schooling. He wasn’t considered a veteran so he didn’t have the benefit of the G.I. Bill to pay for his college. He graduated from Ohio Northern University in 1951 as a pharmacist and moved to Newark. He worked at Evan’s Drug Store from 1951-1954 and then moved to Larry’s Drugs where he worked until his retirement in 1988. During that time, he and his wife Arlene raised their family, but he could never claim status as a veteran.
Finally, in 1988, the government decided to recognize Mariners who served in WWII as veterans. Imlay wrote a letter to the editor of the Advocate in November of 1988 and spoke of finally being accepted as a veteran. “For this recognition, I too am thankful and grateful. This comes too late for many of my shipmates now deceased but for others like me at least in time for flags for our coffins and markers for our graves. The wheels of justice do turn slowly.” World War II veteran, Hugh “Bud” Imlay passed away on Feb. 6, 2006, and was buried with full military honors at St. Joseph Cemetery.
Doug Stout is the Veterans Project Coordinator for the Licking County Library. You may contact him at 740-349-5571 or dstout@lickingcountylibrary.org. His book "Never Forgotten: The Stories of Licking County Veterans" is available for purchase at the library or online at bookbaby.com & Amazon.com.
This article originally appeared on Newark Advocate: Vets Column: Newark's 'forgotten man' Imlay finally gets recognition
