Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire U.S.N. Seabees

Grieving the loss of a Pacific veteran this evening, I thought this might be appropriate.

Pretty fantastic branch of the service, I'd venture.

Having grown up in a "Stick Ship" environment, I can tell you that this one's pretty near bang on. Nonetheless, see if you can Catch the rigging nomenclature FUBAR....



"Seabees are a different breed of guy",....yup, eye test cheatin' cat skinners. Heartwarming,...



Cadence,...."gotta' love it"



God Bless and keep em' all !

GTC

Mom's Uncle John was a Seabee. When I was a kid, we had a couch pillow with the Seabee insignia on it. Don't know what ever became of it.

Here's some trivia.

Originally Seebees were civilian construction workers and contractors hired for construction work by the Navy. Later with the war they became military personal and the Navy Seebees was born.

Seebees stands CB which stands for construction battalion.

My dad was a Seebee.

Mine too. He often said that the Seabees got along better with the Marines on the ship rather than the regular sailors.

My dad was a Seabee as well, but that didn't stop him from fighting with the marines^^^^^^ ...

My Dad landed a slew of em', right along with the grunts.

Commanded the AKA 14,....Betio, Okinawa, Kwajalein, The Solomons, etc.

Busy ship, that.

GTC

Sorry for your loss crossfire.

Appreciate your thoughts,....

This was for E.T.'s Father in Law, who's not long for this mortal coil.

Link: https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbth...8/Another_Hero_is_leaving_us#Post9196688

Didn't seem right to clutter that thread up, and yet,.....

I dunno, seemed right to put up something Seabee related.

My Dad's WW2 shipmates and buddies included a fair number of serving and retired Seabees, and I was fortunate enough to meet and sit on the sidelines listening, a time or two. Great guys, that spoke little about the recently terminated unpleasantness, ....moreso about current "Projects", recent travels, families, fishing and hunting.

GTC

I have to confess, my first time even hearing about Seebee's was when I was deployed. I quickly made it a priority to get to know the local (FOB) guys personally. They sure made life much more bearable when you're so far away from home.

Cross, dad was a WWII Navy SeaBee who entered the service in March of 1942 and served for the duration.

He was a quiet man when it came to his service, he made little mention of it throughout his life - once identifying a waterfall in a New Guinea documentary we were watching,long before an announcer. Other times grousing about going shopping -he'd once been sent to places in this world where no man should have to go, back when he had no choice, now he did, so he wasn't going...

I learned much about his Sea Bee life at his funeral from members of his battalion that were there. I'd love to share them around a fire if we ever meet.

Here's something I grabbed of the internet some time ago and posted on a family group on FaceBook:

Dad was a Sea Bee in WWII. Doing a bit of a search I found these comments from two distinguished leaders from that war - H.M. (Howlin Mad) Smith and Roy Geiger. Fine tributes to those of our greatest generation:

'NEVER LET US DOWN' As the former Commanding General of the Fifth Amphibious
Corps and Commanding General Fleet Marine Force, Pacific, it gives me great pleasure to
send a brief message to the bi-weekly magazine SEABEE for their final and souvenir
edition. In my humble opinion the formation of the Seabees was one of the finest
developments of this last war. The outstanding work of the Seabees and their magnificent
courage in battle played a most Important part in the successful prosecution of the war.
It was not an unusual sight to witness the Seabees performing their duties under heavy
fire. It was an inspiring sight, for instance, to see them working on one end of the airfield
while the Marines were fighting on the other end. They were equally at home with the
tools of their profession or with the weapons with which they were armed. The spirit of
brotherhood existing between the Marines and the Seabees was forged in the holocaust
of battle. Perhaps I can sum up this brief message in these few words, "THE SEABEES
NEVER LET US DOWN." With sincere personal regards, H. M. SMITH Lieutenant General
U. S. Marine Corps
'UNBELIEVABLE CONTRIBUTION'
We of the Marine Corps know firsthand, perhaps better than anyone else, the almost
unbelievable contribution that the Seabees have made to victory.
Many times we have fought side by side in the early stages of battle, before there was
room for you to proceed with your assigned construction projects. While we pressed
farther Inland, you laid aside your arms-but not too far away-to pick up your working
tools and build highways, airports, supply depots and innumerable other projects,
It was a comforting thought to know as we pushed the enemy back that you were right
behind us with your bulldozers and your tractors, your graders and your power shovels guaranteeing us roads to bring up our supplies and ammunition and to return our
wounded, and airports for our planes to use in supporting our troops and in pushing the
attack.
During the interludes between operations, fortunate Indeed was the unit that was located
near a Construction Battalion. Then, the more peaceful pursuits of erecting a flagpole,
repairing a watch, were child's play at the hands of the Seabees.
The Marines who have fought together with you against the Jap will never forget the
support you have given us unfailingly from Guadalcanal to Tokyo. The bond of fellowship
between Marines and Seabees, forged by the heat of battle, Is one which I am sure will
last as long as there are veterans of these organizations left to recount firsthand
experiences of the many hard-won battles of the war.
On behalf of all Marines in the Pacific, I want to my thank you, and well done!
ROY S. GEIGER
Lieutenant General, U.S.M.C.,
Commanding General, Fleet Marine Force, Pacific

It gives me great sadness to know that we are nearing the end of the "Greatest Generation", we are losing these men way to fast.

I've had the honor of knowing a couple of these men and great men they were. All that I have known are now gone but it was a great honor just to stand in their shadows.

Amen Paul..

All should be proud of relatives that served with the Seabees. One of my friends served with the Seabees for 25 years. His wife was in the State Dept. & served at embassies all over the world. He was always transferred to what ever embassy she served at which included Russia, China, Saudi, North Korea, etc. He was a mail courier at these embassy's & both he & his wife were experts shots & hunters. Virtually certain both were deep cover CIA. Both are retired & have a huge secluded home in Oregon.

Grandfather was a Seabee in Korea. Earned a purple heart there.

Former father-in-law was a Seabee in 'Nam.

No idea how I never ended up being one.

Thanks for the Honor you give my Father-in-Law Cross. It diminishes us all every time one of our Heros from long ago Passes. The memory of great events and incredible exploits in the minds of men still living gives us a connection to regular guys who did incredible things. The frail old man lying in that hospital bed awaiting his death was once a scared guy in terrible places accomplishing amazing things. Once mighty warriors are gong home every day. Maybe some day some folks will look at my generation with 1/10 the repect. I lift my mason jar of Kentuckys Finest in Salute to them all.

Many's the time I wished I'd gone into the Seabees instead of the Air Force. I would have loved building stuff and I would have known something when I got out.

My Dad and his two brothers were in the Seabees, all in Vietnam at the same time, MCB-53. Brother four was in the RED HORSE Squadron of the Air Force, also in Vietnam with them.

The Seabee at the former base in Davisville, RI:

My dad was a Seabee (funny how many of us can say that) at Davisville and then Chu Lai.