Lawrence Joseph “Whitey” Heisserer served in the US Navy Armed Guard Service
and one of his ships was the M/S Rosemont. Lawrence now lives at the Veterans
Home in Cape Girardeau, MO. He can be contacted through his son at
Heiss60@comcast.net, or at the Veterans home via e-mail
(Gary.Helle@mvc.dps.mo.gov) or telephone, 573-335-1879.

M/S Rosemont (“MS” stands for Motor Ship.) The M/S Rosemont was a German
freighter. It was in a U.S. port when the war was declared and was taken over
by the War Shipping Administration and registered to Panama. It had Danish
officers and the crew was from all over. The bell in the wheel house was
stamped “Aurora” which is assumed to be the orginal name. The Rosemont made
four roundtrips to England-Bristol, Swansea, Wales, and two to Liverpool.
Gene Huston relates the following story: He was a radioman making $78 per
month. His counterpart in the radio shack was Carl Oksane/Oaksane/Osanan
(?) who made +/- $800 per month. He was a Canadian from -originally- South
Porcupine, Ontario. Some crew members would like to locate him also.

Note: The Merchant Marine drew more pay but their pay stopped when the ship
returned to the USA and did not start again until they went back to sea. They
were not eligible for military health and hospital benefits and were not
eligible for military insurance policies. Even those captured and put in
Japanese and German prisoner of war camps had to get back home on their
own when they were released at the end of the war. Considering this, the
pay differential was very slight.

This page is dedicated not only to Lawrence but to all his shipmates, living
and deceased, on the M/S Rosemont.

Here is what we know about the crew of the Rosemont:

The crew of M.S. Rosemont (a ship of World War II)
Revised November 7, 2007

Found Members:

Roeder, Richard Clayton, Ensign
Marcozzi ,Rudolph Fierella, S1/c
Heisserer, Lawrence Joseph “Whitey”, Cox
Konopka, William Joseph, S1/c
Ray, Manuel, S1/c
Sparks, Leonard Alexander, GM3/c
Truax, John James “J.J.”, S1/c
Massey, John L. “Flag”, SM3/c
Huston, Gene Herbert, RM3/c
Wonderly, Leo Eugene, S1/c

Members Known to be Deceased :

Christenson, Lee Roy Walter, S1/c (10 Feb 1921 – 27 Sep 1997)
Dewald, Darwin Franklin, S1/c (April 14, 1923 – August 2, 1991)
Elles, David Emanuel, S1/c (Died 1992)
Kaminski, Leo Steve, S1/c ( Deceased date unknown-per Trede 8/28/99 note)
Lent, John Patrick “Shorty”, S1/c Brooklyn, NY (Deceased April 16, 1989)
Mallard, Herbert J, Lt (JG) (Deceased – Virginia – 1997)
Moore, Gerald Chapman, SM3/c (10 Aug 1925 – June 1983)
Morey, Franklin Willard, GM3/c (Deceased January 18, 1992)
Smith, Paul Lee, S1/c (Deceased March 2, 2006)
Trede, Vincent Donald, S1/c (Deceased November 11, 1999)
Wandersee, Clarence Irwin, S1/c
Zima, Henry Stanley, S1/c (October 2, 1919 – January 26, 1987)

The following seven crew members have not been located at this time:

Coleman, Lawrence Henry Jr., S1/c NYC
Jenkins, Hobert Windsor, GM2/c NY
Jones, Samuel, S1/c W VA
Markovits, Edward Lewis, S1/c PA
Meker, Clifford Woodrow, S1/c OH
Spiker, Joseph Henry, S1/c
Wardaugh,William Douglas, S1/c