CAN DO:THE STORY OF THE SEABEES CONSTRUCTION BATTALIONS IN VIETNAM 21454

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Narrated by Jack Comley, CAN DO: THE STORY OF THE SEABEES tells the story of the U.S. Navy's Seabees or United States Naval Construction Battalions. The film begins with footage of Davisville, Rhode Island, home of the CB's Atlantic headquarters the U.S. Naval Construction Battalion Center. The film provides a brief history of the CBs through photographs showing how the CBs worked in WWII to blast coral reefs, build advance bases, and provide causeways, piers, causeways and other facilities for the Navy in the Pacific. At 4:13, modern day footage (dating from the mid-1960s) shows training of crews to use bulldozers and other heavy equipment, conduct surveys (5:30), telephone line construction (6:20), and more. At 6:40, CBs use a civilian sawmill to make timbers and at 7:50 they learn to use a telephone switchboard. At 8:50 recruits practice building buildings, and at 9:00 weapons training takes place at Sunland Reservation near Davisville.
At 12:00 the film switches gears to show the Seabees operating in South Vietnam. At 12:48 the outskirts of Hue are seen, where the CBs are busy building a base for the Marines and Army. Elsewhere in Vietnam, fleet logistic warehouses are shown at 15:00, and a body and fender shop where Marine and Army vehicles will be repaired. At 17:00, another CB base is seen, this one protected by armed CBs against Viet Cong attack. CBs are shown playing volleyball and relaxing at the mess hall.
At 17:20, the film switches to the South Pole where the CBs maintain the USA's most distant base in Antarctica as part of Operation Deep Freeze. A C-130 Hercules is shown delivering a Swiss-built snow machine, used to create a new Little America. At McMurdo Sound, a nuclear reactor prepared in Rhode Island is shown being installed at the Antarctic, to provide power for McMurdo. (This was known as the PM-3A (Portable, Medium-power, 3rd generation). It was one of the first shore-based power plants to use solid-state equipment. The plant was air-cooled with the condensers and fan units running glycol. Waste heat was also used for desalination using vacuum flash distillation. The reactor went critical in March of 1962 and supplied useful electricity to McMurdo in July of 1962. With a total of 438 malfunctions during its operational lifetime from 1964 to 1972, when it was decommissioned, the reactor at McMurdo proved to be an unreliable source of power generation, available only 72% of the time.)
At 21:00, Rota, Spain is seen where the CBs are busy building pre-fabricated homes for housing military personnel. At 22:00, some of the support staff at Davisville is seen on Narraganset Bay. Supplies are seen including copper, lead and zinc ingots, stores in barrels, trucks, building materials, rubber, etc. The film concludes with remarks about the impact of the CBs on Davisville and the CB motto: We Build, We Fight!
Naval Construction Battalions were conceived of as a replacement for civilian construction companies working for the US Navy after the United States was drawn into World War II with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941. What distingushes Seabees from Combat Engineers are the skill sets. Combat Engineering is but a sub-set in the Seabee toolbox. They have a storied legacy of creative field ingenuity stretching from Normandy and Okinawa to Iraq and Afghanistan. Seabees believe that anything they are tasked with they "Can Do" (the CB motto).
This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit www.PeriscopeFilm.com

[@user-zi5hq6su6k]

Proud former Seabee. Did "A" school (Equipment Operator) Fall 1968 there, a year shore duty Great Lakes, Il. , then in1970 Vietnam with MCB 62 out of Gulfport, MS. Some of the best years of my life.

[@CBeard849]

My pop was a Seabee from 1954-1975 ending his career in the Navy as an EOC. He was in every unit that ever trained and shipped from USNCBC Port Hueneme, CA. He was all over So. Vietnam doing everything Seabees do. Sometimes I watch these movies in case I'd catch a glimpse of his face. He passed in 1989 and suffered from AO exposure. Seabee's always have an important job to do. God Bless our boys all over the world.

[@PeriscopeFilm]

God bless your dad for his service to our great nation.

[@ronlarrivee1455]

I lead a Seabee Team 30211 to Nha Be to build SEAFLOAT in 3/1969. It was a floating base designed to be anchored in a river in support of PBR's in the delta. We had 21 days to build 7 hootshes on 7 Ami barges. We built them in 7 days!! I had a great team! BUC Ron Larrivee, Ret

[@markoj3512]

I heard such stories in documentations, the performance of Seabee's was/is incredible. They accomplished there todo's in fraction of the required time. In one documentation they fixed a destroyer in 36 hours.

[@stemmentor9700]

Proud retired Seabee here. 79-99.

[@tomsmietana61]

I served with nmcb 74 in the mid 80's and i talk to a Vietnam seabee almost daily

[@InOppositiontotheNewWorldOrder]

EO Battalion 133 1985-88

[@frankarnold571]

My dad was in the 73rd Seabee battalion charlie company Guadalcanal, New Georgia, and Peleliu.42-45

[@47OLDIES]

I was with 74 , 70 -71 and made the trip to Vietnam. CE in Damnang and Ben Hoa

[@charlesccochran5029]

I served on 13 man Seabee Team 7107 Mekong Delta Vietnam 1971-72 , the last SBT to leave Vietnam. Ran out by NVA in spring offensive of 72.

[@mokooh3280]

I served 67/68 sw3 an hoa, danang, liberty bridge, hell of a time

[@anthonyweldon2162]

Hey this might believe that we leave this place with our word honor your horse ladies and gentlemen no I said honor your old oh a t h s o a p h s wow. . Oaths

[@RiamCute]

More story' please....

[@MichaelKing-re8zc]

I served with NMCB-133, a Builder in C. CO. 1973-77.

[@harrygmarshall5157]

Bu3 1969/1970 MCB 62 1st DMZ SUPPORTING 2:26 3rd Marines 2nd Mekong Delta supporting Navy Seawolves and PBR Forces ,, quite an adventure 🐝

[@michaelloar4618]

My Grandad was in MCB58 "The Great 58" Alpha Co. In Danang. Just don't remember the years off the top of my head. "Can Do".

[@robertcooper-ke6cc]

I was stationed with ACB-1 from NOVEMBER 2003 THROUGH JUNE 2009.

[@jamescarlson6723]

As a Vietnam veteran I guess when I was discharged my basic thoughts kept repeating NEVER GIVE UP. In spite of all the controversial and difficult times re-adapting to life in the US in returning from Vietnam. Most veterans I have known keep that as a basic belief regardless of how difficult things seem to be.

[@leananshae]

out of sheer loyalty, I watched the whole video, but the music was so loud and frenetic that I got a headache. GO FIGHTING SEABEES!

[@joshrymer9059]

Hoorah Seabees

[@richardhelmich4224]

Veteran of MCB 12 And MCB 121 Danang, 1968,1969 and 1970.

[@thomasleblanc3513]

MCB 133 1969 / 1973 Gulfport, Guam ,Miramar NAS , Rota Spain , Catania Sicily a great group of guys.

[@steve52760]

Wish Davisville was still the home of the Seabee’s.

[@rafehr1378]

Served in NMCB 10 1972,' 73.

[@-HustleUnion-]

Man this would have been so damn fun to do as a youngster.

[@georgehawes5308]

Yeah, except for the part where enemy is trying to kill you.

[@avgjoe-cz7cb]

It was Except for the politics. Affirmative Action held me back. To graduate Top of class and not get a promotion simply because I was white showed how backward the Service was. 1975. But I did OK after I got out. BUT, Yes it was FUN...A year on Guam...Sun And Fun.

[@michaelmaresca1811]

Dad said a waitress brought wine glasses to the table and when the waitress returned to get the wine glasses all that was left was the stems! They grinded down the glass chalice with their teeth and left the waitress nothing but the stems! Crazy story!

[@SamSeabee1]

SAW DRUNKEN MARINES & UDT DO THE SAME THING I NEVER GOT THAT DRUNK ! I DID A LOT OF DUMB THINGS LIKE GOT MARRIED IN NAPLES ITALY AFTER CHRISTMAS 1968 IN THE NEW YORK BAR TO A LADY OF THE NIGHT BY A 2 ND CLASS STEEL WORKER ( MORMON ) WITH ANOTHER EO AS MY BEST MAN WHO SOME HOW CAME UP WITH A GOLD WEDDING BAND FOR HER !!! OH WHAT A WEEK TILL WE LEFT AFTER NEW YEARS DAY & DANGED IF SHE DIDN'T MEET ME IN EVERY PORT TILL WE SAILED HOME LATE FEB 1969 LOL

[@elleryray4754]

World Famous....

[@SamSeabee1]

VIETNAM 6-1967 TO 5-11 - 1968, KHE SANH 8 - 1967 TO 3 - 28 - 1968 TET

[@InOppositiontotheNewWorldOrder]

Can Do 85-88

[@avgjoe-cz7cb]

Glad you made it back...

[@Tactical_Wars]

nice ..

[@charlesccochran5029]

Yes it was insane, i served on Seabee Team 7107 Mekong Delta Vietnam 71-72

[@ericpham7871]

Vietnam or the Mississippi down stream are best site for floating island aircraft carrier construction as big as 1000000 u.s.s Reagan put together and cost only 50 billions or less can house entire naval aviation wings of the Pacific fleet