Displaying page 12 of 74. Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74

Submitted by	Comments:
Shane Platt From: Dundee Mi Website: E-mail: techdivr@cass.net	Great site!! I was a CE served from 1992-1997. I am looking for my buddy James Randall Kauffman from Colorado Springs CO. Added: September 4, 2006
Submitted by	Comments:
John A LePera From: New York Website: E-mail: luna3@zoominternet.net	Well its been a long time served 66to68 Chu Lai with MCB3 C.co then A.co reunion in Texas Sept.15 to 17 Hope to see you there. Added: September 3, 2006
Submitted by	Comments:
Lea From: Maine Website: E-mail:	Thanks for the info youve posted, my grandfather was a seabee, and heard many storys growing up. Now as a adult i'm making a sc***book of his tours as a seabee and findidng the orgin and song made my week! Plus the links and stuff. This has really helped. :) Added: September 2, 2006
Submitted by	Comments:
John R. From: New York Website: E-mail: Jonathon17pim@aol.com	September 1, 1942, 6th Seabee Battalion lands on Guadalcanal.The Seabee story of Guadalcanal begins on the afternoon of August 20, 1942, when 45 year old Commander Joseph P. Blundon (CEC, USNR) arrived in a PBY off Lunga Point and promptly reported to General A.A. Vandergrift. I guess I was the first Seabee to go under fire, Commander Blundon recalled. The Marines had been on Guadalcanal thirteen days, and they had a tiny beachhead around Henderson Field. While I was reporting to General Vandergrift, the Jap bombers came over and I hit my first foxhole. A few days later my Sixth Seabee Battalion arrived, and we assumed full responsibility for the completion and maintenance of Henderson Field. The Japs had cleared an area 300 by 5600 feet, but it was by no means finished. The Japs were shelling the field with Howitzers, as well as bombing it night and day, and it was our job to keep the holes filled up while we finished the grading, laid Marston mat, built hardstands and revetments, and helped solve the fuel and ammunition problems. We had very little equipment, General Vandergrift assigned us a section of the beach to defend against the Jap landings, and we figured we could defend the beach and still do the job at Henderson Field. We realized at the outset that the battle was going to turn on how fast we filled up holes and how fast we could develop that field. When the Jap bombers approached, our fighters took off, the bombers blasted the airstrips, and then if we couldn't fill up those holes before our planes ran out of fuel, the planes would have to attempt to land anyway, and they would crash. I saw seven of our fighters crack up in one bitter afternoon. From "our" point of view the battle of Guadalcanal was a race between the Jap artillery and the air force and the Sixth Seabee Battalion. We played our cards fast. We pitched our camp at the edge of the field to save time. We dug our foxholes right up alongside the landing area. We found that a 500 pound bomb would tear up 1600 square feet of Marstom Mat, so we placed packages of this quantity of mat along the strip, like extra rails along a railroad. We figured out how much sand and gravel was required to fill the average bomb or shell crater, and we loaded these measured amounts on trucks and placed the trucks under cover at strategic points. We had compressors and pneumatic hammers to pack the fill into the craters. We organized human assembly lines for passing up the pierced plank and laying it. Then when the Jap bombers approached, every Seabee including even our cooks, manned his repair station. Our crater crews were lying in the foxholes right at the edge of the strip. The moment the bombers had passed over, these men boiled out of the holes and raced for the craters. Every man had to keep his eye peeled for Jap strafing planes, and when the Jap dived in, our men dived for the close at hand foxholes. We found that 100 Seabees could repair the damage of a 500-pound bomb hit on an airstrip on forty minutes. In twenty four hours on October 13 and 14, fifty-three bomb and shells hit the Henderson airstrip. During one hour on the 14th we filled thirteen bomb craters while our planes circled overhead waiting to land. In the period from September 1, to November 18, we had 140 Jap raids in which the strip was hit at least once. Our worst moments were when the Jap bomb or shell failed to explode when it hit. It still tore up our mat, and it had to come out. "When you see men choke down their fear and dive in after an unexploded bomb so that our planes can land safely, a lump comes in your throat and you know why America wins wars". Shell craters are more dangerous to work on than bomb craters. You have a feeling that no two bombs ever hit in the same place, but this isn't true of shells. A Jap five-inch gun lobs a shell over on your airstrip and blasts a helluva hole. What are you going to do? You know, just as the that Jap artillery man knows, that if he leaves his gun in the same position and fires another shell, the second shell will hit in almost the same spot as the first one. So a good old Jap trick was to give us enough time to start repairing the hole and then fire the second shell. All you can do is depend on hearing that second shell coming and hope you can scramble far enough away before it explodes. But this is a gamble which is frowned upon by life insurance companies. 6TH SEABEES "WELL DONE" YOU ARE NOT FORGOTTEN!! Added: August 31, 2006
Submitted by	Comments:
Ted Matinez (Marty) From: Boise Id. Website: E-mail: tedgardencity@aol.com	I was with NMBC 9 in 1967-69, Maked two tour to Vietnam,1969-72 Subic Bay PI. NavlMag. 1972-73 NMCB Added:
Submitted by	Comments:
Edwin Foster From: Middlefield, Ohio Website: http://www.112thseabees.com E-mail: edwin@nls.net	136th NCB Commissioned at Camp Peary in September 1943, the 136th NCB was transferred to Endicott on Sept. 29. Moving to Quoddy Village, Me., on Nov. 13 the outfit was stationed there until April 15, 1944, when it was transferred to Port Hueneme. Shipping overseasm from Hueneme in June 1944, the unit was stationed at Pearl Harbor until Oct. 15. Sailing westward again, the Battalion landed at Guam in late November. War's end found the 136th located at Guam, but after the surrender one half the outfit was moved to Yokosuka. Japan. Added: August 29, 2006
Submitted by	Comments:
Carl Huntzinger From: Pine Grove, Pa. Website: E-mail: seabee40@comcast.net	Looking for anybody who was with Mcb -40 1965 to 68 who did the two tours to Chu Lai. I was a equipment operator in A Co.. 1st tour I was in 2nd platoon 4th squad, 3rd fire team with Crowson, Gosset, Summers and Dodson. 2nd tour I spent a little time with the battalion but then was sent up to Dong Ha in support of MCB-5 and a Marine Engineering Battalion. Added: August 28, 2006
Submitted by	Comments:
Lee Dugas From: New Orleans, La. Website: E-mail: LDugas2000@aol.com	Nice to find a helpful place..I was with CBU-402, NASP, Now disabled Added: August 28, 2006
Submitted by	Comments:
Rick Miller From: Steelville, MO Website: E-mail: rjmill51@hotmail.com	Served 1969-1971 w/ USNMCB 5. Gulfport, Mississippi. Cau Mau, Long Phu, Saigon, DaNang. I have only seen 1 person from MCB 5 since getting out. If your out there send e-mail. Added: August 27, 2006
Submitted by	Comments:
John "Roundman" Carney From: CT Website: E-mail: JCamC46@aol.com	Seabees / Vietnam vets / open to all Reunion: Hampton, VA Feb. 2 - 4, 2007 contact: Dave Schill (DWSchill@comcast.net) 856-234-2273 site: www.tet68.org Added: August 26, 2006

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74

Powered by PHP guestbook 1.33 from PHPJunkyard - Free PHP scripts