another interesting thing i have come across dredging the internet for knowledge.......

Another milestone in Seabee history was in the making in 1943 -- but the location was Hollywood rather than the South Pacific. Made in 1943 and released in early 1944, the motion picture The Fighting Seabees, starring John Wayne and Susan Hayward, made "Seabee" a household word during the latter part of the war. This picture also began a relationship between John Wayne and the Seabees which was to last more than three decades. In fact, John Wayne's last motion picture was Home for the Seabees, a Navy documentary filmed in 1977 at the Naval Construction Battalion Center, Port Hueneme, California. This was most appropriate, since the exteriors of The Fighting Seabees, had been filmed in and around the same base during World War II.

Shane

Good morrning to all you awsome people out there, i see my form here has slowed to a crawl like the highway in NY at rush hour...haha well i wanna thank you all for the great job you are all doing in here and keeping all your thoughts and prayers going out to the men and women who are out there with there necks on the line....stay sharp and stay motivated...HooRah

Seabees have a hand in everything....today history lesson Hiroshima....enjoy a little history

The Seabees' task on Okinawa was truly immense. On this agrarian island, whose physical facilities a fierce bombardment had all but destroyed, they built ocean ports, a grid of roads, bomber and fighter fields, a seaplane base, quonset villages, tank farms, storage dumps, hospitals, and ship repair facilities.

Nearly 55,000 Seabees, organized into four brigades, participated in Okinawa construction operations. By the beginning of August 1945, sufficient facilities, supplies, and manpower were at hand to mount an invasion of the Japanese home islands.

While the Allied forces in the Philippines and on Okinawa were readying themselves for the final battles that would get them to Tokyo and complete the roads to victory, decisive events were taking place elsewhere, on the island of Tinian in the Marianas. During the summer of 1945, the USS INDIANAPOLIS arrived at Tinian from the Naval Weapons Center at Port Chicago, California. Seabees of the Sixth Naval Construction Brigade helped with the unloading of the components of a newly- developed weapon. The Seabees then stored the elements in a shed built by themselves, and organized a detachment to guard the shed and its mysterious contents. Scientists assembled the weapon in the shed with several Seabees assisting as handymen.

On 6 August 1945 the new weapon was loaded into a U.S. Army Air Force B-29 bomber, named the Enola Gay. A short time later, the Enola Gay took off with its secret load from Tinian's North Field, which the Seabees had built, and started on her mission to Japan. Later in the day, the mission ended with the dropping of the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima.

This historic event sealed the fate of Japan. Realizing that the war was lost, the Japanese government negotiated a cease fire that went into effect on 16 August. On 2 September 1945 Japan formally surrendered, and Allied forces occupied the Japanese home islands in a peaceful manner. Thus, the Pacific roads to victory reached their final destination.

 Thanks Shane

Hi Shane,

Just wanted to say I enjoy your posts and your sense of humor...I still haven't figured out if you are signed up to receive care packages.  If you haven't yet, you should. 

Rosemary

hey Rosemary i am glad you enjoy my posts i realy enjoy posting to let people know about us....i will see about getting on the package list...thanks again... you have a great day.

shane

just to let you know, i signed up to recieve care packages....so now i am on the list you all can send me good things...hahaha..i hope you all have a great day...

Shane

Shane, be prepared to be bombarded with packages!

seabee_sniper:

another interesting thing i have come across dredging the internet for knowledge.......

 

You mean to tell me you don't know all of this information you've been posting from off the top of your head?!

Shane...

I have been quietly reading all your posts and not responding......just keeping it to myself.    But today I decided to say something............WOW!!!!   What a tremendous amount of knowledge.   My dad was in WWII and I never heard him mention Seabees.   So, this whole post has been a great learning experience for me.   Thank you for sharing with us. 

As always, it is WONDERFUL to see one of our "guys" on the forum.   To know that you take the time out for US!!!!   Thank you for that also.   I'm glad to hear that you finally joined ......and like someone already said........be prepared for the packages to start rolling in!!!!    Yeah.......I already told my hubby where the tax money is going!!!  

God Bless you and all you do........

Love and peace..........Anne Marie

PS.........loved the NY traffic reference...........only a NY would understand that  

well Anne Marie its great to get your feedback...i love to hear back and know how i am doing and how people like the info, i try not to make it to long because it can get borring and i like to keep people wondering well what next keeps them comming back for more, and the NY traffic thing...yes if you have been there you know what i am talking about....

Well today we went to range again and pushed 130 shooters threw and got them ready to go north.....our staff did a great job, just to let you know there is only 8 of us that do this job, 130 people isnt to bad on a big push we can get on the upword of 230 people, i have to say that makes for a long day...you think standing in line the day after christmas is bad wow.....well i am working on about 4 hrs of sleep in 2 days so in closing i would like to say thank you for all the great feedback i am getting and i hope you all enjoy......god bless...

Shane

You didnt think i could leave you for today with nothing to read and thinkg about.....

In Todays History of The SEABEES......"THE FIRST SEABEES" just a glimps onto how the seabees were picked by experience and skill

The first Seabees were not raw recruits when they voluntarily enlisted. Emphasis in recruiting them was placed on experience and skill, so all they had to do was adapt their civilian construction skills to military needs. To obtain men with the necessary qualifications, physical standards were less rigid than in other branches of the armed forces. The age range for enlistment was 18-50, but after the formation of the initial battalions, it was discovered that several men past 60 had managed to join up, clearly an early manifestation of Seabee ingenuity. During the early days of the war, the average age of Seabees was 37. After December 1942 voluntary enlistments were halted by orders of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and men for the construction battalions had to be obtained through the Selective Service System. Henceforward, Seabees were on average much younger and came into the service with only rudimentary skills.

The first recruits were the men who had helped to build Boulder Dam, the national highways, and New York's skyscrapers; who had worked in the mines and quarries and dug the subway tunnels; who had worked in shipyards and built docks and wharfs and even ocean liners and aircraft carriers. By the end of the war, 325,000 such men had enlisted in the Seabees. They knew more than 60 skilled trades, not to mention the unofficial ones of souvenir making and "moonlight procurement." Nearly 11,400 officers joined the Civil Engineer Corps during the war, and 7,960 of them served with the Seabees.

At Naval Construction Training Centers and Advanced Base Depots established on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, Seabees were taught military discipline and the use of light arms. Although technically support troops, Seabees at work, particularly during the early days of base development in the Pacific, frequently found themselves in conflict with the enemy.

After completing three weeks of boot training at Camp Allen, and later at its successor, Camp Peary, both in Virginia, the Seabees were formed into construction battalions or other types of construction units. Some of the very first battalions were sent overseas immediately upon completion of boot training because of the urgent need for naval construction. The usual procedure, however, was to ship the newly- formed battalion to an Advanced Base Depot at either Davisville, Rhode Island, or Port Hueneme, California. There the battalions, and later other units, underwent staging and outfitting. The Seabees received about six weeks of advanced military and technical training, underwent considerable unit training, and then were shipped to an overseas assignment. About 175,000 Seabees were staged directly through Port Hueneme during the war.

I hope you enjoyed...let me know

I just wanted to repeat the "wow what great information you pass on to us" post and it's great to have you here on the forum. I know you hear this all the time but a big THANK YOU for serving. God Bless

Alison

Keep posting, It's like an online class.  Do we get a certificate or something afterwards?   Ya'll do a great job!  Thank you, Jazzee Girl

I will have to try to come up with something for you all, you are all great and i will see what i can do..lol i hope you all have a great day and i will try to get you some more info to ponder about....

shane

Song Of The Seabees

WE'RE THE SEABEES OF THE NAVY

WE CAN BUILD AND WE CAN FIGHT

WE'LL PAVE OUR WAY TO VICTORY

AND GUARD IT DAY AND NIGHT

AND WE PROMISE THAT WE'LL REMEMBER

THE SEVENTH OF DECEMBER

WE'RE THE SEABEES OF THE NAVY

BEES OF THE SEVEN SEAS

THE NAVY WANTED MEN

THAT'S WHERE WE CAME IN

MISTER BROWN AND MISTER JONES

THE OWENS, COHENS, AND FLYNN

THE NAVY WANTED MORE

OF UNCLE SAMMY'S KIN

SO WE ALL JOINED UP

AND BROTHER WE'RE IN TO WIN

The interesting fact is that yes we do have a song..haha but the section of the song that starts with

"THE NAVY WANTED MEN"

in the seabees we are NOT required to remember this part so when we go up for our (scw)seabee combat warfare verbal test, people still have to look this part up.

 while in "A" school "A school is where seabees learn how to do there rate(job)

Seabees are required to remember this song for the whole time...

have a great day

Shane  

I am learning so much!  Here's something  for you to laugh about...I used to think that Seabee referred to the "rank" status like Sgt or Capt.     Thanks for all the good info!