Can Do

They’ve labored in the tropical sun and they’ve dug in the Antarctic snow. For 67 years, from World War II Pacific islands to Middle Eastern sands, they’ve built our bridges to freedom with a tool in one hand and a rifle in the other. They are the United States Navy Seabees. Tell them what you want done, supply the materials, and then get out of their way.


Congress recognized the need for more naval support bases by 1938. Civilian contractors were at work expanding the support network in the Pacific by 1940. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, it was recognized that further expansion of facilities would have to be conducted by military units. Under international law, it was illegal for civilian construction workers to resist enemy military action. To have done so would have led to their immediate execution as an illegal guerilla force.


The speed with which the First Construction Detachment was recruited, organized, and deployed is amazing compared to the pace of bureaucracy today. On the 5th of January, 1942, Rear Admiral Ben Moreell received authority to form a Naval Construction Regiment. By the 17th of February, just 6 weeks later, the 296 men of the First Construction Detachment were unloading their equipment and supplies on Bora Bora in French Polynesia.


The need for speed led to the relaxing of normal recruitment standards. The first Seabees were an all volunteer force with men from the age of 18 to 50 being accepted. It is a tribute to the spirit of those work hardened men that many over the age of 60 had lied about their age in order to be accepted. They came from the ranks of men who had built Hoover Dam. They came from building highways and tunneling for subway systems. They came from building skyscrapers, docks, ocean liners, and aircraft carriers. The average age of the first recruitment was 37 and they were ready to go to war.


From paving our nation’s way to victory across the Pacific, through good will building projects for local nationals all over the world, from relief assistance in the aftermath of natural disasters at home and abroad, and on to the sands of the Middle East, the United States Navy Seabees have established a solid tradition of service in war and at peace.


While the two word motto, “Can Do,” says a lot about the Seabee spirit, the inscriptions on the Seabee Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery expands on that theme. In addition to the familiar “Can Do,” there are two other inscriptions that pay tribute to the service of the Seabees over the last 67 years:

“WITH SKILLFUL HANDS AND WILLING HEARTS,
THE DIFFICULT WE DO AT ONCE.
THE IMPOSSIBLE TAKES A BIT LONGER.”


“WITH COMPASSION FOR OTHERS
WE BUILD – WE FIGHT
FOR PEACE WITH FREEDOM”