From the Sgt Grit Newsletter - 13 NOV 2014 Seabees Submitted by John Ratomski Sizable detachments of Seabees, who stormed ashore with Marine assault troops in the first, second, and third waves to land on Bougainville in the Solomon Islands, distinguished themselves by the skill and valor with which they filled their combat assignments. As the invasion forces approached the enemy beaches, the Seabees manned machine guns on Higgins boats, tank lighters and landing craft. Dare-devil builders leaped ashore from the first boats to nudge into the sand, and unloaded fuel, ammunition, rations and packs while heavy fighting broke out all about them on the beaches. Then, as the Japanese were driven back into the jungle, the Seabees manned beach defenses side-by-side with the Marines. In addition to these activities, which were beyond the normal call of duty, the volunteer group of 100 Seabee officers and men who landed with the first wave also were credited with additional acts of bravery performed with complete disregard for their personal safety. Landing craft from one transport had to pass through a narrow channel between two small islands just off Bougainville. Japanese machine gun nests on the inside of both islands had been firing upon every boat that attempted to move through the channel until Seabees... Read the rest of this submission at: grunt/corps/newsletter/10302/#seabees Subscribe to the Sgt Grit Newsletter and Special Offers at: grunt/subscribe/ Submit your Marine Corps related stories and images at: grunt/corps/stories/post/
Posted on: Tue, 18 Nov 2014 16:06:03 +0000
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