Who got there first...
Marines or Seabees?

Part of Seabee history during WWII is the controversy of who first arrived on the shores of some of those South Pacific islands. As our brave, U.S. Marines stormed a few of those hostile beaches, they were sometimes met by strange looking beasts...

Let's begin

On a certain Pacific Island, it is said, natives were mopping up the remaining Japs. One day a group of natives wiped out a party of Japs, but the natives hesitated to kill a strange animal which the Japs had brought to the island. The animal was a goat, and after observing the goat curiously, the natives returned to their chief for instructions as to whether or not they should kill the strange beast.

"What manner of beast is it?" the chief asked.

"Oh, he's very strange, majesty," the natives replied. "He has fierce eyes, long horns, a shaggy beard, will eat anything, and stinks like hell."

"Spare him," the chief ruled at once. "He's what the Americans call a Seabee."

The description fit so well that a few of the WWII Seabee battalions adopted billy goats as mascots.

 

So who did get there first?

Here's one of the many stories

In July, 1943, during the Munda operation, a Marine detachment made the classic dawn assault on a New Georgia beach. As they came tearing up on the beach looking for Japs, a party of white men stepped out from behind trees and waved to them. Marine jaws dropped as the party approached and Seabee Lieutenant Bob Ryan, of Santa Paula, Cal., extended his hand to the Marine major.

"Major, the Seabees are always happy to welcome the Marines!" Lieutenant Ryan said warmly, with a heavy tongue in his cheek. Then a Seabee boatswain's mate walked over, clapped a Marine private on the back and quipped: "What kept yuh, bud?" The quip was almost too much for a self-respecting Marine to take. Great oaths rent the air and there was much stamping of earth before the Montezuma boys got around to appreciating the Seabee jest.

Lieutenant Ryan's party had been scouting for an airstrip location when they spied the Marines approaching. The Marines insisted that the whole affair was a frame-up, but the Seabees contend that it is typical of the manner in which they must "protect the Marines."

Another of the rivalries during WWII between the Marines and the Seabees was the question of who was there to protect who?

 

And this unknown Seabee poet answers
the ultimate "Who's first?"

The Fighting Seabee

The Navy needed fighters
And they needed engineers,
So they organized the Seabees to
    pin back Nippee's ears,
They took welders, riggers, boilermen,
    cooks and bakers too;
They signed them in the Navy, which
    was the thing to do.
With Tommy guns and rifle, we Seabees
    learned to shoot;
We used a big machete knife, and other
    things to boot.
They taught us how to march and drill,
They taught us how to dress;
We learned Commando tactics and
    we bucked the line at mess.
We learned the Navy lingo; we called it
    "deck" and "swab";
We learned just how to "knock it off"
    like any other gob.
They taught us all these many things
    in thirteen weeks or less,
And what they didn't teach us, the rest
    we had to guess.
We finished out our training and
    we sailed to Island X,
We had all our equipment stowed
    below and on the decks.
The japs they held the island when
    at last it hove in sight;
We knew that they were ready, so we got
    prepared to fight.
We landed under heavy fire, and
    there was plenty hell,
It kept us busy most the day, just
    dodging every shell.
We soon had wiped the Nippees out
    and then we went to work,
Each Seabee did his duty - not a one
    was seen to shirk.
We built a mighty landing field,
    a barracks and a dock,
About a hundred miles of road we made
    from solid rock.
We got things finally squared away,
    'twas pretty to be seen,
Then we went back to the beachhead,
    where we saw our first Marines.
They had followed in behind us,
    though they said they got there first;
We had everything completely fixed,
    they could even quench their thirst.
From the Halls of Montezuma, to the
    shores of Tripoli
It used to be the Leathernecks, now
    it's all Seabees.
And when we reach the Pearly Gates and
    stand at Heaven's scene,
There'll be a Seabee waiting there
    to greet the first Marine.

 

Ah, yes... deep down we love those scrappy,
little fighters but the moral of this page is

If we can't make fun of the Marines,
then what good are they?

Here's one last Seabee poem that tells the story

We work like hell, we fight like hell,
    And always come back for more:
The Navy's advance base engineers
    On many a foreign shore.

On half the lousy islands
    For here to Timbucto,
You'll find a hive of Seabees-
    One hell of a fighting crew.

The admiral just dropped around
    To chat the other night,
He said, "Now boys, I know you work
    But you've also been trained to fight.

"So if there's any trouble, don't stop
    To put on your jeans;
Just drop your tools, grab up your guns
    And protect those poor marines."

 

Did you know that the first SEALs were Seabees?

From the Navy's page on the SEALs: Today's SEAL (Sea, Air, Land) teams trace their history to the first group of volunteers selected from the Naval Construction Battalions (SeaBees) in the spring of 1943. These volunteers were organized into special teams called Navy Combat Demolition Units (NCDUs). The units were tasked with reconnoitering and clearing beach obstacles for troops going ashore during amphibious landings, and evolved into Combat Swimmer Reconnaissance Units.

Stories and poems were taken from Can Do!: The Story of the Seabees by William Bradford Huie, Lieutenant (jg), CEC, USNR. Copyright E.P. Dutton & Company, Inc., New York, 1944.

Mr. Huie wrote another fine book about the Seabees, From Omaha to Okinawa: The Story of the Seabees, copyright E.P. Dutton & Company, Inc., New York, 1945.

Here's a couple other books about the Seabees:

U. S. Navy Seabees: Since Pearl Harbor by Jay Kimmel

Davisville, Ri And The Seabees by Walter K. Schroder & Gloria A. Emma

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