-
derivative filename/jpeg
-
363-03954 to 363-03959.pdf
-
Digital Object Identifier
-
363-03954 to 363-03959
-
Title
-
Bloody Baptism While Building: Viet Seabees Retrain
-
Description
-
Reprint of a Los Angeles Herald-Examiner article titled "Bloody Baptism While Building: Viet Seabees Retrain" for a Seabees press release
-
Date
-
1966, June 4
-
Subject
-
United States. Navy. Seabees; Vietnam War, 1961-1977; Construction projects; Los Angeles Herald Examiner (Newspapers)
-
Location
-
Washington, D.C.
-
Coordinates
-
38.9072; -77.0369
-
Container
-
B65, F12
-
Format
-
press releases
-
Collection Number
-
MS 363
-
Collection Title
-
Beverly Deepe Keever, Journalism Papers
-
Creator
-
United States. Navy. Seabees
-
Collector
-
Keever, Beverly Deepe
-
Copyright Information
-
These images are for educational use only. To inquire about usage or publication, please contact Archives & Special Collections.
-
Publisher
-
Archives & Special Collections
-
Language
-
English
-
extracted text
-
UNITED STATES NAVY
CONSTRUCTION BATTALIONS
CIVIL ENGINEER CORPS
100TH ANNIVERSARY
MARCH 2, 1967
SEABEES
IN
ACTION
SEABEES
25TH ANNIVERSARY
MARCH 5, 1967
'' Heroes, hell,
We're construction men!"
LOS ANGELES HERALD-EXAMINER - 4 JUNE 1966
DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY
NAVAL FAGILITIES ENGINEERING COMMAND
MILITARY READINESS - SEABEES - CODE 06A
WASHINGTON. D. C.. 20390
202 OXFORD 77177. 77178
U.S. NAVY CONSTRUCTION BA TT ALIONS
"CONSTRUIMUS, BATUIMUS - WE BUILD, WE FIGHT"
"CAN DO! "
SECOND FRONT PAGE
HE~INER
CIVIL ENGINEER CORPS
100TH ANNIVERSARY
MARCH 2, 1967
LARGEST EVENING CIRCULATION IN AMERICA
VOL.XCVI
SAT., JUNE 4, 1966
NO. 70
SEABEES
25TH ANNIVERSARY
MARCH 5, 1967
BLOODY BAPTISM WHILE BUILDING
Viet Seabees Retrain
By TED THACKREY JR.
Herald-Examiner Staff Writer
poRT HUENEME, June 4-Here's a word of warning:
If you happen to visit
the Navy's Construction Battalion Center here, and run across a man from
the Ninth Seabee Battalion, you can talk to him all you want - but don't
call him a hero.
back a "most outstanding" USN, commanding officer
He won't like it . ..
The Ninth returned three
months ago from a bloody
eight-month tour of duty at
l'.>a Nang, South Viet Nam.
They were the first Seabee battalion since World
War II to come under direct attack from an armed
enemy, and they broug_h t
unit citation as well as one
Silver star, a Legion of
Merit, seven Bronze Stars,
seven Navy Commendation
Medals . . . and 109 Purple
Hearts.
"But now we're getting
ready to go back," said
Capt. Richard · E. Anderson,
CD
of the Ninth. "There's no
time for telling ourselves
how good we were.
"That was then. This is
now. This outfit's got a
long v;ay to. go before it'll
be ready for a combat zone
again."
He should know.
Builders But
Will Also Fi.ghf
That Silver Star, the Legion of Merit - and one of
those Purple Hearts - belong to him. He also holds
the 1965 Morrell Medal of
the Society of American
Military Engineers for his
outfit's achievements at De
Nang.
"Heroes hell" he s
have to, sure. And, especially in a place like Viet
Nam, we'll probably have
to.
"But the main job is
building: that's why the
Seabees were formed in the
first place, and that's still
our principal mission."
First Taste of
Guerrilla War
Of course, the seabees
have always been first-rate
builders. They first proved
their abilities at Guadalcanal, where they kept runways open at Henderson
field despite repeated Japanese air attacks.
They provided the floating drydocks that. made
possible the Sicily and Normandy landin gs, and have
built bases all the way
from Tinian to Antarctica.
Viet Nam, however, was
their first experience in actual guerrilla warfare and an expensive lesson.
The Ninth Battalion was
the third Seabee outfit of
its size to reach Viet Nam.
It moved in at Da Nang
East, last June 27. Within
hours, men and machines
were at work on a missile
site nearly four miles up a
weird peak called Monkey
Mountain which was made
up almost exclusively of
dense jungle and high
cliffs.
·
They got that job done a
month ahead of sch'.edule,
and had just completed
their other big project, a
full-scale Naval Hospital for
combat casualties on Oct.
28, when the Viet Cong hit
them.
Eight ot the hospital
buildings were destroyed
by demolition charges and
the 500-man outfit took 90
casualties within an hour.
But the hospital was rebuilt within two months,
and ready for patients
again
Just a week later, there
was another attack by the
Congs. A total of 13 mortar
rounds were exploded in•
side the camp's perimeter
and another eight men
wounded, inclucUng Capt.
Anderson.
That didn't stop them,
either.
They repaired damages
there "with the left hand"
while building a Marine
base at Marble Mountain.
And the whole area was
shipshape when the 11th
Battalion arrived to take
over operations at the end
of Jan uary.
"We were tired when we
got home," admitted Steel•
worker First Class David
LAncaster, 31, of Spartanburg, S.C. "But it wasn't
the end of anything. It was
just the beginning."
The trool)S got some
leave, and then the retraining process began.
First came replacements.
The Seabee battalions
bave been increased in
strength from 500 to more
th a n 700 men, which
means about 40 per cent of
the Ninth is now made up
of youngsters fresh out of
boot camp, plus a few old•
hands returned from civilian life.
Those who have cons t r u c t I o n experience receive ratings in accordance
with that experience. Those
who have n one go to special schools here at the
Construction B a t t a l io n
Center.
Field Problems
Like Infantry
Military training comes
second - but a very big
second, indeed.
This week, the battalion
has been deployed at Conejo Brade on overnight bi•
vouac. Their field problem
is strictly infantry: Find
and destroy an -"aggressor"
Q)
guerrilla force made up ot
combat veterans operating
against them in the hills.
The ·•aggressors" are Seabees, too, of course. But
they wear special uniforms
and carry-nonstandard
weapons. And their tactics
are copied from the Viet
Cong, against which the
battalion will be operating
again before the year is
out.
"Some of the kids were a
little skittish at first," said
Equipment Operator First
Class Gus Meilleur, 38, of
New Orleans, La. Meilleur
is one of the "aggressors"
who ambushed a truck on
the road up the grade and blew off a front wheel
- in the opening maneuver.
"But they'll settle down.
Now, and later when we go
down to Camp Pendleton
for extra training with the
Marines at their Infantry
School t here. They'll be
fine by the time they get to
Viet Nam. They always
are ."
Capt. Anderson listened
without comment.
Retur n by Air
During August
"The teamwork training
the construction jobs to
which we'll be assigned
comes later ," he said, "and
it's got to be done before
August. That's when we go
back . . ."
This time the battalion
will go by air to the combat
zone, instead of riding a
ship transport as they did
last year. They can be
manning machines in Viet
Nam just one day after
th~y shove off from Hueneme.
"And that's what they
will do," the commanding
officer said. "All we want is
to get the job done. If we
can do it without a fire
fight, we'll do it. If not
fight, we'll do It. If not ..."
He looked up the hill
where Able Company was
dealing handily with a simulated Viet Cong attack by
"aggressors." The men, veterans and newcomers alike,
seemed to be working well
together. He nodded
thoughtfully.
"Heroes, hell •••"
for
Although their main job
is building, Seabees
must learn how to fight.
In a simulated battle,
men of Ninth Seabee
Battalion, background,
come out of the dust in
the wake of a smoke
bomb, to attack Viet
Cong "guerrillas" in
foreground.
A 1700-foot quay wall was built in
Da Nang. The Ninth was the first
Seabee battalion since World War II
to come under direct attack from an
armed enemy. It was named a "inosi
outstanding" unit.
0
Members of Ninth Seabee Battalion build barbed
wire around their camp in Da Nang. The unit
is expected to return to Viet Nam in August.
The Ninth Seabee Battalion returned t hr e e
mon tbs ago from a
bloody eight-month tour
of duty at Da Nang,
South Viet Nam. During
their tour there, the
Seabees were frequently
attacked by Viet Cong
A scene of
wreckagt a ft er their
camp near East Da
Nang was hit by Viet
Cong mortar and small
arms fire.
Seabees are shown raisin, 1hr s(rrl
framing o( an "'elephant hut"' in
Viet Nam. This building was used as
-Htt■ ld•Examlner l'floto t,y LOU MACK
a suppl~ warehouse. They constructrd a missile site, a Naval hospital
and other structures.
Standing under the famous insignia
of Seabees, Lt. Comdr. Ben W. Morris, center, and two construction
apprentices, Joseph Pillar, 19, left,
and Carl Nickens, 20, look over blueprints of new projects.
The United Stales Novy Seobees warmly thank THE LOS ANGELES HERALD.EXAMINER for permission to reprint this uclvsive story
0
DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY
NAVAL FACILITIES ENGINEERING COMMAND
MILITARY READINESS - SEABEES - CODE 06A
WASHINGTON, D. C., 20390
POSTAGE AND FEES PAID
DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY
OFFICIAL BUSINESS
CIVIL ENGINEER CORPS
100TH ANNIVERSARY
MARCH 2, 1967
SEABEES
25TH ANNIVERSARY
MARCH 5, 1967
