Don Horton of North Carolina started his career on barges during World War II at the age of 10. His father, mother, sister and brothers all worked on U.S. merchant marine coastwise tugs and barges during the war. In 1942 his eldest brother, William Lee Horton, Jr., was killed when a German U-boat attacked his tug, nine miles of the coast of Virginia. The Merchant Mariners Act of 1988 granted veterans status to merchant mariners who served during WWII. However, the small group of merchant mariners who served on tugs and barges…