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Tank's Cannon Used To Blast Roadway


WASHINGTON- Seabees made wise use of a Marine M-4 General Sherman tank driven by GySgt. Frederick L. Adams of Westwood, Mass., and found that they could shoot holes in volcanic rock for $59.50 each, compared with approximately $125 for the conventional method. The test was made on a roadbuilding project at a Pacific base.
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Appendectomy Interrupts Seabee Amphibian Work


PELELIU (Delayed)—The Seabees, who can build anything, anywhere, anytime, did it again when they launched two pontoon causeways during the assault on one of the Palau Islands with only a slight interruption while one of the Seabees underwent an emergency appendectomy.

Here's the official report on the two operations, amphibian and surgical: "At 1200 on Sept. 17 we received an order from the control boat to launch causeway and bring them into Blue Beach. The port causeway unit was launched at 1230V The launching of the starboard causeway was interrupted by an emergency appendectomy. This took place on the tank deck of the LST which had been converted into a hospital evacuation ship.
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Captured Saipan Railroad Now Managed By Seabees


SAIPAN (Delayed)—The Charan-Kanoa-Ashto Railway resumed operation today under new management. A Seabee detachment, part of the 4th Mar. Div., has taken over the property with a neatness and dispatch that would

do credit to Wall Street. In fact, the Marines even improved upon established methods of railway stealing by killing off most of the former stockholders and operators. NEW PRESIDENT New president of the C. K. & A. is Lt.Comdr. William G. Byrne of Butte, Mont, commander of the Seabees. Comdr. Byrne has had his mind on the railway since he saw his first map of Saipan and has been working on it since his landing with Marine assault troops. The former operators were decent enough not to sabotage its tracks

or rolling stock, but, unfortunately, the Marines and the Navy shot it up quite a bit. The Seabees "Inherited" nine locomotives, two of which were impossible to salvage. Three of them are running now, though, and- the other four can be repaired. There are about 100 miles of track in all, but not all of it is yet in American hands.—Sgt. John B. T. Campbell jr., combat correspondent.
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Seabees Do Major Iwo Building Hot!


IWO JIMA (Delayed)—The Navy's Seabees started this* advance base construction job literally from the ground up —where the Japs shells and mortars had pinned them when they landed 40 minutes after H-hour.

Assigned to bulldoze supplies and' equipment ashore in preparation for rebuilding the airstrips as soon as they could be captured, the Navy's construction specialists ran into what one of them described as "the hottest battle of supply in the Pacific." Sl/c. Frank Riefle of St. Louis. Mo., father of six children, was a member of a squad of Seabees and Marines whose first job was to furnish a perimeter guard around the rest of the shore party. "When our boat hit the beach, I made a dive for the sand. I had just got down flat when my ring was knocked off the middle finger of my right hand by a piece of shrapnel. I was only scratched, but men were being hit all around me. "The Seabees and the Marines moved 50 yards inland, and some shells fell between us and the rest of the shore party. We kept on going forward to keep from being hit, and by nightfall of D-day, we were on the front lines." The next day, Riefle said he and the other Seabees made their way back to their mates who were unloading supplies on the beach. "I landed with my platoon at about noon on D-day and the beach was plenty hot," said one Seabee. "Some of my men were hit immediately. I had been hugging the sand for five minutes when a shell landed about 10 feet away. A piece of shrapnel cut through my entrenching shovel and buried itself

in my pack not an inch from my back. "That shovel saved my life. I've dragged it over the beach ever since and I aim to take it back home, varnish it and hang it over the mantle." MM3/c. Leo J. O'Malley of Portland, Ore., another member of the party, decided to dig his beach foxhole even deeper as enemy fire became increasingly intense. With the first swipe of his shovel he uncovered a pack of cigarettes, a hand grenade and a can of beer. "I lit a cigarette," said O'Malley, "put the grenade where it would be handy, and then tested the beer to make sure it wasn't some new kind of Japanese booby trap. It wasn't! It was—well, just the luck of the Irish!" The Seabees and the Marines toiled side by side in the water and the volcanic sand. Under heavy enemy fire, their supply party unloaded "amtracs" and landing craft. They operated bulldozers and helped clear wrecked and disabled vehicles from the beach. All of this was necessary before their first Mg job — getting the airfield .in operation — could begin.
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No Speed Limit on Seabee Roads


OKINAWA (Delayed)—The latest tribute to the indefatigable Seabees, according to a combat correspondent. Traffic was jammed temporarily at a road intersection near Yontan airfield while members of a Navy construction battalion dumped fill into a boggy section. A Marine truck driver hopped out of his cab and strode over to the next vehicle. "Say, Mac," he accosted the other operator, "where does this road to the right go?" "You got me, fella," was the reply. "I drove by here two hours ago and the road wasn't even there."
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Lighting System Installed by Seabees



BOUGAINVILLE (Delayed) — Those canny Seabees are at it again, this time throwing a lot of light on the subject. ChElecM. H. D. Botsford of Beloit, Wis., was called upon to build a portable lighting system to facilitate building a bomber strip at night. He called in ChElecM. Samuel Goldstream of Hollywood, former M-G-M lighting specialist. Presto, a generator was installed in a small trailer and four 500-watt bulbs installed in fixtures on the roof. As more light was called for, 20


reflectors were made and mounted on iron pipe standards, then 14 standard type lens floodlights were found and mounted, and finally a second trailer with pan type stage lights was put into action. A crew under ChElecM. Jay S. Stigler of Long Beach, Calif., installed lines to the lights from four generators on the field. Electricians on watch at the generators ' shut them off when an air raid' alert sounded, plunging the field" into total darkness.—Stf.Sgt. Soloman Blechman, combat correspondent.

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Newly-Won Isle Prepared For Use By Seabee Units

Weak Enemy Resistance Met As Amphibious Group Seizes Tiny Green Island

By Sgt. Ray Fitzpatrick


GREEN ISLAND, New Ireland Group (Delayed)—The last group of organized Japs on this island has been trapped and wiped out by New Zealand troops. More than 50 Japs, members of Marine and Naval Landing units, were klUed. The New Zealanders had only slight losses.—Sgt. Ray Fitzpatriek, combat correspondent.

Combat Correspondent

GREEN ISLAND, New Ireland Group—Against little opposition our amphibious invasion force landed here, and already tireless American Seabees are working to make this little island an operational base against the Japs. We were attacked by dive-bombers soon after dawn, but there was no damage. Strong interceptor coverage has driven off all other Japanese planes, and they have not been able to get close enough to bomb us since we landed. Only a few Japs were found ashore. FEW MARINES New Zealand soldiers and our Seabees make up the bulk of the occupying force, though they are accompanied by some Army units and a handful of Marines. We are digging in for air attacks, since the Japs undoubtedly will pour a lot of steel at us to prevent us from getting firmly settled. Marking the farthest advance made yet into Japanese-held territory by South Pacific forces, this little island is only a matter of minutes by air from Japanese fields at Buka, and but little more from Rabaul. The island, shaped like a reversed "C, is covered with jungle, palm trees and undergrowth. New Zealanders and an army unit are setting up AA guns. Units of troops are being placed strategically about the island. KIWI ASSAULT In the four hours since the first Kiwi assault troops hit the beach, an unbelievable amount of work has been accomplished. Telephone communication has been established, CPs set up and a shuttle system of small boats between parts of the island readied. Everywhere the Seabees are transforming the face of the island. Under a blazing sun, they are slaving to get the occupying force firmly entrenched before bombers come. Coconut palms are falling like match sticks, coral dust and jungle slime are being churned up and landing stages are beginning to stretch over the
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Guadalcanal Unit Served Ice Cream Twice Each Week


GUADALCANAL (Delayed)— A Marine outfit here is being served ice cream twice a week, thanks to the traditional ingenuity of the Seabees. The ice cream manufacturing unit was headed for the scrap pile because some of the parts were worn out and could not be replaced. Then Lt. John N. Tuttle, USN, looked it over and things began to -happen. ChElecM. W. C. Stephens made a set of flutter valves from 16 discarded razor blades. SFI/c. Herbert G. Hohenthaher, a former plumber, salvaged some needed tubing from a wrecked Japanese plane. A Japanese thermometer, found while building a road, was installed. Finally, Baker 1/c W. C. Lawless, a former professional ice cream maker from Bessemer, Ala., was called in to make the ice cream. — MTSgt. Frank J McDevitt, combat correspondent.
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Seabees Unload Ships Abroad - June 1943.


WASHINGTON, D. C. — Special Navy Seabee, or Construction Battalions, trained for the job, have trimmed days off the time required to unload from ships the munitions and supplies used to fight the enemy from advance bases.

Before such specially - trained men were available it took several days to unload a ship at an advance base. The special battalions, which consist predominantly of men who never had been aboard a ship before, and who have been given an intensive course in stevedoring, have cut the time appreciably.


The Seabadores have a saying;


"They can never win a battle, but they sure as hell can lose one.
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Engineer Unit, Seabees Dish Up Road To Order
2000-Yard Supply Route Cut Through Rugged Guam Jungle In Seven Hours
GUAM (Delayed) — Elements of the 3rd Mar. Div. had pushed Japs into the hills back of the beaches. They needed a supply route. Marine engineers and Seabees gave them a 2000 - yard road through the rugged terrain in seven hours. The "cat skinners" who cut it through with bulldozers were under constant Japanese sniper fire. The route was reconnoitered and laid out on the third day of the battle under supervision of Capt. K. A. Gordon jr. of Pasadena, Cal. Construction was carried out on the fourth day, with Capt. D. E. Lutz of Los Angeles in charge. ROAD LINK VITAL It is anticipated that the road will play a vital role in the ultimate annihilation of the Japs. Now immediately behind the front lines, it will be pushed forward as Marines advance until it connects with the Mount Tenjo Road, a route constructed by the Americans before the Japanese captured Guam. The bulldozer crew that "busted" the road through in record time despite natural obstacles and Japanese bullets included MTSgt. F. K. Thornton of San Diego; Sgts. Jones S. Riddle of Curweensville, Pa.; Donald E. Kincaid of Hollister, Cal.; Walter J. Fehl of Peoria, Cal., and John C. Dixon of Tichner, Ark.; Corps. John E. Kincade of Yuba. City, Cal., and Phillip H. Buteau of Central Point, Ore.; PFC. L. E. Miller of Humboldt, la.; Seabee MMI/c. Bud Gray of Los Angeles and Seabee SFI/c. R. J. Hensley of Ellensboro, N. C. USED POWER SHOVEL, Assisting the "skinners" with a power shovel were Sgt. Eugene H. Romano of McAllister, Okla.; Corp. Johnnie F. Sartoris of Los Angeles, and PFC. Albert E. Pauley of Louisville, Ky. Guarding the workers from snipers were Sgt. Vernon Becker of Susanville, Cal., and PFC. Ernest Molina of Los Angeles.— Sgt. Harold A. Breard, combat correspondent.

 

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Supplies Move Fast


Only Ammunition Still Problem For Engineers



GUAM (Delayed)— Marine engineers & Seabees were tired almost to the point of exhaustion but they were breathing easier as the battle to regain Guam entered its fourth day. Through coordination of manpower and machinery, they had ashore sufficient ammunition of every caliber to meet any contingency ; enough water, together with that being obtained by their distillation units from several springs, for drinking purposes; more than a week's supply of food; everything required in the treatment of the wounded, and a reserve of fuel for vehicles of every type. AMMO GOES FAST With the exception of ammunition, especially for artillery, the engineers had the supply problem in hand by nightfall of the first day. The heavy guns were using shells as fast as they could get them. They were kept supplied that first night by human chains passing the ammunition from landing craft. Assault waves had moved inland only a short distance when engineering working parties, including Seabees and other elements, took over the beaches. Within five hours, supplies were reaching shore in quantity. From the outset until the third night, these men, many of them working shoulder deep In water, were subjected to enemy mortar fire. Besides handling supplies, the engineers were charged with evacuation of the wounded to the invasion fleet. —Sgt. Harold A Breard.


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'Proud To Have You' Says General"


CAMP PENDLETON-Seabees attached to the Fourth Marine Division were warmly congratulated Tuesday on the second anniversary of the founding of their organization. Following is the message of the Division's Commanding General: "On the second anniversary of the organization of Naval Construction Battalions it is a pleasure to compliment you on your excellent performance of duty in this Division and to wish you well in the days ahead. "Your organization now numbers some 262,000 officers and men, more than 10 per cent of whom are now overseas. "Your reputation of being able to do the impossible in short order has made you a favorite of the Marines with whom you work shoulder to shoulder. "The record of the Seabees on Guadalcanal, Bougainville and all through the Pacific has been one of proud accomplishment and hard work under most extraordinary and trying conditions. "I know that the officers and men of the Seabees in the Fourth Division are ready and eager to carry on such a proud tradition. "The Marines arc proud to have you wear their uniform and! am proud to have such a fine group under my command. H. SCHMIDT, Major General, USMC, Commanding, 4th Marine Division.
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FMF Head Lauds 3rd Div. Engineers.


Record Operation Smoothest Yet, Says Gen. Smith

GUAM (Delayed) -The rapidity with which supplies were transferred from ship to shore during the initial phase of the ivasion of Guam by engineers of the 3rd Mar. Div. won the praise of Lt, Gen. Holland M. Smith, commander of all land operations in the Marianas Islands. After he made a tour of inspection ashore, he was quoted as having said that the shore party opereations were the smoothest that had ever been accomplished in the Pacific. Besides supplying half the peisonnel, the engineers supervised these operations. The total tonnage of supplies unloaded established a record for Marine amphibious operations. The engineers, commanded by Lt.Col. Robert E. Fojt of Snook, Tex., were assisted in their shore party work by Seabees and other elements of the 3rd Div. Sgt. Harold A Breard, combat correspondent.
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  • 4 weeks later...
Fort Wayne World War II veteran Edwards was in first wave of troops to hit Normandy.


Navy Rhino barge driver recalls vulnerability, grim sights at Omaha Beach.


“When our ship went across the ocean to England in spring 1944, we were not told what we would do,” said U.S. Navy veteran Alfred Edwards of Fort Wayne. On June 4, 1944, they practiced maneuvers with 5,000 ships in the English Channel. They did not find out about a major planned invasion at Normandy until the following day.

Edwards and his twin brother, William, were born in 1924 in Fort Wayne. Their father, Albert William Edwards, had fought in the British army during World War I. After immigrating to the U.S. in 1921, he worked as a printer. “Our father taught us to always respect this country,” Al Edwards said. “Dad reminded us that America has been good to us, and we should be thankful to be here.”

Two days after graduating from Central High School in 1943, Al Edwards was drafted into the Navy. He completed Seabee training at Camp Perry, Va., and advanced training in Rhode Island as part of the 111th Naval Construction Battalion. “Seabees build things,” he said. “We were taught how to use bulldozers and road equipment.”

On June 6, 1944, a year after leaving Fort Wayne, Edwards operated a Rhino barge as part of the first wave of troops to approach the shore at Omaha Beach in Normandy, France. “A Rhino barge carried tanks and troops,” he said. “We had no protection from enemy fire as we guided it in.”

When the boats and troops reached the shore, the news was grim. “We put ramps down from our boats and saw dead GIs already on the beach,” he said.

Edwards and other Allied troops spent three months in France, encountering shooting from the enemy troops and searching for mines embedded in the sand by German soldiers.

After the beaches had been secured, Edwards and other Allied troops became part of the Red Ball Express, a truck convoy that supplied Allied forces quickly through Europe after D-Day. “Trucks were identified with red balls on their sides as they drove along a closed route,” said Edwards.

After a brief furlough, Edwards returned to the fighting in June 1945, this time in the South Pacific. “We were the only Seabee battalion to serve in both the Pacific and European theaters,” he said.

For two months Edwards and other Seabees joined with Australian forces invading the islands of Borneo called Tarakan, Balikpapan and Brunei Bay.

Edwards experienced more fear than he had ever known. “It was scary fighting the Japanese,” he said. “We were afraid to sleep in our tents because we knew the Japanese fought to die. We fought to live.”

Once an Allied victory was ensured in the islands, Edwards and other Seabees set up a makeshift camp in the Philippines. “We were told to practice for a planned invasion of Japan,” Edwards said.

Though he had escaped injury so far, Edwards did not feel optimistic about his outcome in the proposed invasion. “In letters I wrote to my mother, I put that I hoped my luck would hold out in that invasion,” he said.

With the surrender of the Japanese emperor in early August, Edwards and other Allied troops were immensely relieved. Edwards, now at the rank of boatswain's mate 2nd class and earning $114 a month, returned to the U.S. He was discharged Dec. 14, 1945. William and a younger brother, Herbert, had also served during World War II and also came home safely.

Al Edwards continued his military service by joining the Naval Reserves for 13 years. He worked as an engineer at General Electric for 42 years.

In 1946, Edwards married Ursula Jean Dale of Fort Wayne. The couple were parents to one daughter. Ursula died in 2007.

Edwards attended military reunions for many years. In May, he participated in Honor Flight Northeast Indiana. His two brothers went on Honor Flight Northeast Indiana in 2014.

Edwards has had the privilege of placing a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on three occasions. He has volunteered as a museum guide at the National Military History Center since it opened in 2003.

Edwards and his two brothers, both Fort Wayne residents, get together often. “No one wanted to go to war,” he said. “But I felt lucky to serve my country and would do it again. God bless America.
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  • 1 month later...
NO BED-TIME STORY


The man who gripes about a four-hour watch will get no sympathy from Harry H. Brock MM2c, who had to stay up three days and nights without sleep to keep his gasoline barge off the reefs at Peleliu.


Wounded in the leg by a bursting mortar shell on the first day of supply operations off the beaches,. Brock and his barge mates battled through mortar and machine gun fire from the Japanese on shore but protested loudest over navigational difficulties. They tried steering at night by the stars; then they tried the Milky Way,


That didn't work either, Brock lamented. "Next morning we were on the other side of Anguar island and it took us eight hours to get back to Peleliu.
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STRAIGHT FROM MARS!


The flailing mine detonator which Marines and 127th Battalion Seabees have rigged up looks like it came straight from Mars.

The flail idea in mine detonation isn't new.. It has been in use in this war for several years, particularly during the British campaign in Africa, but the Marines and Seabees had nothing but a medium tank and some scrap when they started and no models or drawings to work from.

They built a protruding frame work from the front of a Sherman tank, installed two revolving drums to which the heavy chain flails were attached with wedge-type cable sockets. The driving mechanism was made from truck drive shafts and universal joints and pulleys; cast from a salvaged airplane propeller.


The supporting frame is composed of pipe, angle channel, strap and plate welded. The frame is attached to the tanks hydraulic ram by a link mechanism which permits ready raising and lowering. Plate was used as armor to protect the differential assembly and power was taken from the tank's main propeller shaft and transmitted through the driving mechanism. to the drums.


The device was tested through two formidable minefields.and came out still flailing, with all mines detonated.


Its builders called the device if The Scorpion.
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MOBILE WELDING UNIT BUILT BY CBMU


A Japanese D.C. generator and a salvaged six-cylinder Dodge engine and transmission mounted on a ton-and-a-half Ford truck frame have provided CBMU 558 with a mobile welding machine suitable for such welding and burning jobs as making culvert sections out of old oil drums, and heavy equipment repair and renovation.



Filling in the details, LT. R. N. Clark" CEC, USNR" OinC, reported the electrode holder was made from a six-inch brass bolt a piece of brass bar 1 1/2"x l 1/2", and a screw-type holder. Cutting tips; he said were fashioned from the carbons of discarded searchlights. Electrode and ground leads were made from #1 extra flexible welding cable.


Two leads in parallel are used to carry the load. The lugs used to connect the leads to the machine came from the jackets of two fifty caliber bullets,


A field rheostat was made from Nichrome wire and a slider has been used for the variable voltage settings. The rheostat, along with the electrode are mounted on a plywood panel attached to the truck frame.

The machine has an approximate output of 350 amperes.
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PRESTO--A TRANSPORT!


There were only two Liberty ships at hand when a Marine Air Group needed transport. The emergency matter was placed with CBMU 582 and one day before. sailing time, the Seabees had converted the cargo carriers into transports for the job. Chief Carrpenter Cecil H. Holsinger, CEC, designed and supervised construction of skeleton-framed bunks in tiers of threes and a carpenter detail headed by Thomas D. Hughes, CCM and Frederick F. Kraus, CCM, did the work to add one third bunk space provided in the tween-decks area.
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4th Special NCB - Guadalcanal....March,April, May, 1943.


Nightly bombings, loss of sleep, lack of equipment, mud, and heavy seas all

failed to stop Seabees of the Fourth Special, according to Col. C. H. Nichols, Port Superintendent of an advanced base, who added that the Specialists managed to "get results under the most miserable conditions."


In the early days," said Col. Nichols, "we were bombed night aiter night by the Japs, causing us to lose lots of sleep. We never had enough of any kind of equipment. The island was a sea of mud. Working in an open roadstead caused constant interruptions by reason on of heavy seas.


In spite of all these things you (the Fourth Special) have succeeded in handling an enormous (more than any other port in the Area) amount of shipping, and you have never lost your cheerful, good-natured, optimistic attitude.
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  • 2 weeks later...
SEABEES ACCELERATE ADVANCE - Jan. 1945


This fine piece of engineering marks a great stride forward in the acceleration of the development of future installations which will assist in pushing the war into

enemy territories," wrote the Army Commanding General of a newly-invaded island to officers and men of the 101st Battalion upon the completion of a new road, the "West

Side Highway."


The officers and men who have made this asset available to our operations have made thereby a direct contribution towards the defeat of our enemy, the commendation said.


The commendation also bears the endorsements of the colonel commanding Army Engineers on the island and the OinC of the Seabee regiment.
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DEMOLITION SPECIALIST RECEIVES BRONZE STAR. April 1945.


A CEC officer whose demolition unit cleared underwater obstacles and beach obstructions to pave the way for early assault waves during the invasion of Southern France last August has been presented the Bronze Star Medal by Rear Admiral John J. Manning, CEC, USN.


The citation commended the officer, Lt. (jg) Jospeh L. Padgett, CEC, USNR of Marion, N. C. for "extraordinary ability, cool and courageous action and outstanding devotion to duty.


Earlier he had been commended by Admiral Royal E. Ingersoll, Commander in Chief, Atlantic Fleet, for the development of a successful method for the clearance of wires and entanglements. "This latter weapon," said Admiral Ingersoll, "was developed in the face of protestations by physicists who advised that the solution was impossible"
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CABLE TROLLEY EVACUATES WOUNDED - April 1945.


During the vicious struggle for Bloody Nose Ridge, the Five Sisters, and other bitterly contested Japanese suicide emplacements on Peleliu, members of an Army division captured several positions along the top of the sheer ridges, commanding a view of the Japanese held caves and dugouts in the coral pockets in between. By using hands, feet, fingernails, and teeth, a man could work his way up to these positions, but the problem of getting food and ammunition up and carrying the wounded down still remained to be solved.


An Army officer turned for assistance to a Seabee Special battalion and to Chief Eugene A. Dolan of Long Island City, N. Y. Dolan broke out three sets of block and tackle and enough rope to rig a trolley from the foot of the hill to the positions on the ridge. A stretcher, fastened to the line, provided suitable transportation.


The next day, however the officer returned with a request for more rope. In the periods between the brilliant white flares which lit up the coral, the Japs had stolen out and cut the lines. Dolan suggested the use of steel cable would be more effective' donated more blocks, cable clamps, and cable, and rigged up a new trolley. No further difficulty was encountered.


The following week Dolan was called upon to supply 800 feet of steel cable which was used to hoist light artillery to the summit of a ridge. These guns were credited with contributing substantially to the elimination of the last Japanese defenders.
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CONVERT LARGEST JAPANESE EQUIPMENT, APRIL 1945.


By capturing and reconditioning a Japanese dipper dredge in the Marianas, a Seabee battalion claims it holds the record fer putting to work the largest single piece of Japanese equipment captured so far.


In taking over the 550-ton dredge, the Seabees had to, shoot several Japs Who refused to come out of the boiler room and surrender.
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MOMENT OF GLORY -

 

 

 

As he pressed down, he could see the crisp punctures cut right through the middle. But there was no thrill of achievement, no exhilaration at having downed a hated enemy. Nor would there likely be, ever.
His weapon, the Seabee reproached himself was a sewing machine, not a machine gun, So 26 year-old Bertram J. Robbins, SSM(T)2c, of Colorado Springs; Colo., worked on in his Iwo Jima-bound transport, resigning' himself to the inglorious substitute of needle for bayonet and thimble for armor.
Then, as the transport layoff the enemy -held island, Japanese torpedo planes and dive bombers attacked.
A call came for volunteers to help man the transport's guns. Heart pounding" Robbins volunteered.
You! Your on that gun over there! an officer shouted.
In the long minutes that followed the Seabee worked furiously and gladly. The attack was beaten off.
The regular loaders were back on the job next day,Robbins was back at his machine I'm Just putting patches on Seabee pants again he said. His eyes turned backwards to yesterday.But It was fun while It lasted.
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FROM THE MARINES!

 

"No words of tribute can express ,what those boys did." Thus Captain Jesse L. Massey, Quartermaster for the Fourth Marine Division, paid tribute to the Seabees who landed with the Leathernecks during the first few days of the Iwo Jima campaign.

They were brave and resourceful enough, the captain continued, to carry out a difficult assignment under the most hazardous conditions.
Said another Marine veteran, Warrant Gunner Carl H. Gerlach: I saw Seabees of the 133rd battalion carry ammunition to Marine gunners on the front lines until we could set up a dump behind the lines. I understand the group I was with was under fire for the first time. The work I saw done was as fine an example of Seabee "Can Do" as will ever be turned in by any outfit."
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