From Omaha to Okinawa;: The story of the Seabees,
by William Bradford Huie
Category: History

William Bradford Huie, joined the U.S. Navy in 1943. He was commission as a public relations officer in the little-known Civil Engineer Corps' Construction Battalions––the Seabees. The following year he published “Can Do!”, an account of their landing with the Marines at Guadalcanal and Wake Island, Sicily and Salerno. This book is a sequel to “Can Do!” and continues the saga of the combat trained civilian plumbers, carpenters, heavy equipment operators, wharf builders, and civil engineers who served in the U.S. Navy construction battalions. The story begins with Iwo Jima when the Seabees braved concentrated enemy fire to rig floating causeways, blow up wrecked landing craft, and to build the desperately needed airstrips while under enemy fire. Huie also describes the Seabees on D-Day at Omaha Beach, where they manned fifteen hundred vehicles during the first wave of landings at Normandy. He provides the details of the creation and testing of various pier-heads, floating steel bridges, and “Rhino” ferries. He also tells colorful stories of moon-shining, brawling, and carousing along with compassionate stories of the children in the prisoner of war camps.