Henry George Joffray was born in March 1926. He grew up in Bellville, Illinois near St. Louis. He graduated from high school in 1944 then became a cadet midshipman at the Kings Point Merchant Marine Academy. He took his basic training at Pass Christian, Mississippi afterwhich he sailed on a merchant ship as a midshipman. The ship joined a convoy in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The vessel carried 300 tons of shredded wheat in palletized bulk cargo, mostly loaded by hand. She sailed to the Pacific to provide cereal for the troops. At anchorage, the ship joined about 100 other vessels which were providing support to the troops. There was no demand for the shredded wheat so the ship sat in the harbor for three months before being offloaded. Returning to the United States, Joffray entered Kings Point and graduated in 1947. He was named first officer on a merchant ship for United States Lines. The firm was a major shipping carrier at that time. He worked his way up the ranks to chief officer and finally skipper of a ship. He returned stateside and was offered a shore job with ALCOA in New York. He spent a year there. He then was transferred to Puerto Rico as operations manager. He met his future wife during that time. They were married in Puerto Rico. The couple had a son. After nine years in Puerto Rico, Joffray and his family were transferred to New Orleans. ALCOA made him their operations manager. When faced with a transfer back to New York, he accepted an opportunity with the Port of New Orleans as terminal superintendant. He managed nearly 12 miles of riverfront properties. He was responsible for having the multiple wharves painted in distinctive colors. Joffray progressed on to assistant port director and then port director. After retirement, he served as a consultant for the Board of Trade. During his career, cargo was carried by bulk and break bulk. Containers eventually were introduced and container terminals were built. New Orleans became a major initial importing destination for Japanese containers. Distribution could then be made further up the river [Annotator's Note: Mississippi River]. Eventually, railroads transported containers received in San Francisco, thus bypassing the need to transit the Panama Canal. The Port of New Orleans was driven to build the container terminals to compete with the railroads. Joffray finally retired when his health began to deteriorate.

Henry Joffray was a member of the Merchant Marine during World War 2. There were 4,000 ships and 260,000 sailors in that service. Today, only 4,000 seamen are left compared to the wartime figure. The service lost more men per capita than any other branch of the service. General Douglas MacArthur said the Merchant Marine was the biggest contributing factor to the success of the United States. There were constantly 30 to 40 convoys running all over the world to bring wartime supplies to troops and foreign countries. The Maritime Director at the time was John Carnes [Annotator's Note: unsure of spelling]. He played a key role in coordinating efforts by the Merchant Marine and in support of the service. Joffray is also familiar with Captain Bill Ayers [Annotator's Note: unsure of spelling] who sailed for the Merchant Marine during the war. A couple of thousand Liberty ships were built during World War 2. The next evolution was the C-1 ship. That was the type vessel that Joffray skippered. The C-1 was a modernized Liberty ship. The C-1 was updated to become the C-2. Next came the C-3 and so on through various development stages. While in Ulithi, Joffray was a seaman. He was painting the ship when something zoomed by his ship. It turned out to be a submarine about 200 feet from his location. He almost dropped his paint brush. Joffray chose the Merchant Marine because it was a civilian service that had been drafted into duty by the country. Joffray would eventually become a lieutenant in the Naval Reserve. Everything in his branch of the service had to be organized through MarAd, the Maritime Administration. Transport convoys and destinations were determined by MarAd. Joffray joined the Merchant Marine immediately because of the draft. He liked the uniforms. He went through basic training and then returned to Kings Point to get his commission in the Navy as an ensign in 1947. He then sailed on ships as a 3rd officer. While in basic training, he learned navigation and cargo handling. Discipline was tough at Kings Point. It was military life on campus. He learned to march with a rifle and respect orders given by officers. After basic training at Pass Christian [Annotator's Note: Pass Christian, Mississippi], Joffray sailed aboard the SS ALCOA Pioneer in a convoy that started at Guantanamo Bay and then voyaged to the Pacific. His ship was a C-1 vessel. All of the ships in that class had names which started with a P. The C-2 ships had names starting with an R. Joffray also sailed on cruise ships into the Caribbean. The cruise ship names began with the letter C.

Henry Joffray sailed his first Merchant Marine voyage delivering shredded wheat for the troops. [Annotator's Note: Joffray was aboard the SS ALCOA Pioneer which sailed in a convoy from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba to Ulithi carrying the shredded cereal.] He sailed through the Panama Canal to reach the Pacific. After reaching their destination, Ulithi in the Caroline Islands, the ship stayed anchored for a long duration before being offloaded. While waiting for its cargo to be removed, the crew was allowed ashore. They benefited from distractions that were not allowed on their ship, namely beer. Joffray served in an alumni association before time caught up with its membership. The Pioneer was finally offloaded and released to return to the United States. As a cadet midshipman, it seemed that Joffray took orders from everyone. He was a deck cadet using a hammer and paint brush under orders of a chief officer. He still had his studies and assignments that he had to complete while aboard the ship. At the Academy [Annotator's Note: the US Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, New York], he could go into New York City on occasion. The ship he served on was a merchantman but still was armed for self-defense. It had two artillery mounts plus machine guns manned by Coast Guard personnel. The ship's crew was focused on getting the cargo to the destination and unloaded. The vessel would then return for more supplies. It was a good life, if a sailor survived it. Joffray also voyaged to Eniwetok to transport supplies for the military. It was a crude area with little development. He had one unexpected encounter with a native. That was his experience on New Guinea.

Following his graduation from Kings Point [Annotator's Note: the US Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point, New York], Henry Joffray went on a European tour. After that, he would cover the rest of the world. There were offices across the globe for the Port of New Orleans. After the war, the Europeans were friendly and relieved to be rid of Nazi dominance. Some of the German influence was deeply ingrained, such that some inhabitants still were sympathetic to the enemy. Although the Merchant Marine was recognized in 1988 for its military service during World War 2, there was never any monetary or retirement benefits from that. The losses in the Merchant Marine were more per capita than other forces. Congress has attempted to recognize the service with benefits, but legislation has never passed. There are only 4,000 survivors left [Annotator's Note: of the 260,000 who served in the Merchant Marine during the war]. Joffray became more aware of the larger aspects of life as a result of his service. He appreciated being provided a disciplined approach to life. That guided his life and professional career. Prior to his service, he had no real aspirations for his future. After high school, he decided to challenge himself with the Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point. His service became a stepping stone to his success in life. He would do it again. Joffray enjoys going to The National WWII Museum but physically has hardships touring the campus. It is very satisfying to see the artifacts and meet the people associated with the Museum.