Courage Sacrafice…The Navy Seabees

Posted on March 18, 2012 by Chachi

The men and women who fight in the armed forces of the United States of America are heroes. Plain and simple.

“When you see men choke down their fear and dive in after an unexploded bomb so that our planes can land safely, a lump comes in your throat and you know why America wins wars.”

I am reading a book called “1942: The Year the Tried Men’s Souls”. The above excerpt is from that book. In WWII the Navy Seabees came to the battle for Guadalcanal. U.S. fighter planes had just arrived on the island bringing tears to the eyes of men fighting there, whom for weeks had no air cover. The airstrip the Japanese had just left behind was now used to turn the tides of war.

The Seabees were the skilled work force of the Navy, often men beyond draft age who were skilled in specific labor. After Pearl Harbor these skilled men volunteered by the tens of thousands. The Japanese raided the airfield at Guadalcanal almost daily because of its strategic importance. As enemy bombers approached with 500 lb bombs, the U.S. fighters would scramble. Whenever an enemy bomber dropped a bomb that hit the field, the crater it left would have to be repaired before the U.S. fighters in the air ran out of gas.

As weeks went on the Navy Seabees could patch a crater from a 500lb bomb in forty minutes! Amazing. But sometimes the 500 lb. bomb would not detonate. It would make a crater, but was still a live munition. It is worth quoting again.

“When you see men choke down their fear and dive in after an unexploded bomb so that our planes can land safely, a lump comes in your throat and you know why America wins wars.”

“Greater love has none than this that a man would lay down his life for his friends.”

War is not a romance novel, and daily, in small mundane tasks, our men and women risk their lives for us. We need to say thank you as often as possible.