My dad was a Seabee during the Viet Nam war. It was his job to build the defenses and structures while still fighting the enemy.
He did two tours there and even though he was in the Navy, he didn’t spend any time on ships. He wore combat boots and fatigues. He carried a rifle and stomped in the same mud as any solder.
On his first tour, he was on Seabee Technical Assistance Team 0311. After that, the Navy was asking for volunteers for Team 0312 that was going to be stationed at Micronesia. No fighting this time but instead there would be scuba diving and a Boston Whaler.
After only four months of training, the Army’s 9th infantry division was sent home and Seabee Team 0312 was sent to help fill the gap. Navy=Never Again Volunteer Yourself.
Recently, he has been trying to get in touch with his teammates and is planning a reunion in June. One of his best friends who was on both Seabee teams was a guy called Doc. Doc had died 8 years ago and Dad has been corresponding with his wife Joyce.
Mostly he has written about the time spent in Asia. Doc, like most guys that served, didn’t talk much about that time with family. The letters touched on things from their six months of training to a time Doc took my Dad a trip to a village to help the sick and injured.
Dad as been sending me copies of the letters he has been writing to her. As I read these letters, it came crashing down on me that the time Dad was talking about, he was 15 years younger than I am now.
These letters opened a window to my dad and I am getting to see different side of him.
People have been asking me about my humor in my writing. So to bring this full circle, I want to end this post with an excerpt from a letter my Dad sent out to his teammates. It was a three page autobiography that started out like this:
"In May of 1945, Germany surrendered unconditionally to the Allies. Two months later, Jack Joe (my Dad) was born. The Japanese realizing with this birth their cause was unattainable also surrendered. (Thus) ending World War Two." It eerily sounds like something I would have written.
This is Seebee Team 0311. Dad is in the bottom row, second from the left.
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