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CAN DO!
After the 7 December 1941 Japanese
attack on Pearl Harbor and the United States entry into the war, the
use of civilian labor in war zones became impractical. Under
international law civilians were not permitted to resist enemy
military attack. Resistance meant summary execution as guerrillas.
The need for a militarized Naval
Construction Force to build advance bases in the war zone was
self-evident. Therefore, Rear Admiral Ben Moreell determined to
activate, organize, and man Navy construction units. On 28 December
1941, he requested specific authority to carry out this decision, and
on 5 January 1942, he gained authority from the Bureau of Navigation
to recruit men from the construction trades for assignment to a Naval
Construction Regiment composed of three Naval Construction Battalions.
This is the actual beginning of the renowned Seabees, who obtained
their designation from the initial letters of Construction Battalion.
Admiral Moreell personally furnished them with their official motto:
Construimus, Batuimus -- "We Build, We Fight."
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