Hi Indy and Team,
My great-grandfather served in the US Navy Seabees during WW2. He was stationed on Kwajalein in the Marshall Islands. I’d like to know more about the Seabees involvement in WW2: history, training, combat, roles, etc. It might make for a good special episode.
Thanks for all you do and keep up the good work!
Hi Jake, welcome to this forum. I hope you enjoy using it!
This is a very interesting topic and a great idea for some focus.
My father was in the WW2 SeaBees, as an 18 year old in 1943, he was a Seaman guard for the construction professionals facilities during island hoping. As he described, the Japanese would try sneaking into camp at night to destroy equipment. While he was on duty, guards would set up trip wires for flares in the jungle, to illuminate the area and help them manage the situation. He went into Okinawa on the second day of the invasion.
The work of the Seabees was one of the highest priorities, many of them were experienced civil engineers and construction workers that help build and maintain critical airfields.
Thanks for posting this great suggestion.
We build, we fight, can do!
That was the SeaBee’s motto. They took island jungles and turned them into airfields that could handle B-29s in a matter of days. They also built and maintained the port facilities that gave the allies the crucially needed logistics edge that the Japanese just couldnt keep up with.
Welcome to the Forum and thanks for your contributions.