The files take a long time to get…when I wrote for My grandfather’s years ago, it took almost 6 months!
do you know which unit?
My Grandfather was a Seabee from 1943-1946. He spent most of his time at the Mariannas ( unsure on spelling) Guam. He trained at Faragot(?) Idaho Seaman 1st class 34th special construction battalion c company. Grandpa was drafted into the Seabees at age 18 and was a grunt. Some pics of him at Pearl Harbor but nothing from Guam. Would be great to find someone who was also there.
My father was in the 41st batallion and served in the jungles of New Guinea in 1943 to 1945. His name was Tony Canonie and I have a photo of his group there.
OK, so can you put it up on the thread? Always like to see photo’s of our Seabees from bakk then.
Sorry, the picture is framed. I do have another little picture of him and I’ll see if my husband can scan it into the computer one of these days. Anne
My dad was in the Seabees, but I know very little about his experiences. According to my mother he was spent some time in both Hawaii & the Philippines. He enlisted in 1943. He must have had some pretty rough experiences as he would not ever discuss his time in the service.
I am new to this forum, but just posted about my late father (T.J. McDaniel, Jr. of Bogalusa, LA). He served with the 73rd Naval Construction Battalion in the Solomon Islands. He shipped out May, 1943 about the USS President Polk and served until transferred to several Naval Hospitals due to skin disease problems. Places he hit were: Noumea, New Caledonia; Guadalcanal; and Munda Point, New Georgia. I have a photograph of the group he served in front of a tent with a sign reading "73rd N.C.B. Electrical Shop). My father just passed away (January), but if there is anyone from this group, I would gladly share this photo and information. My primary goal is to determine more about a possible Presidential Citation given to the unit for getting the airfield at Munda Point back in operation within 72 hours. Any help is appreciated. THANKS!
Hi Baylee, my dad was also in the 122nd, and we’re from PA also. I’d love to see pics…I have some too. My dad just turned 90 last week…2-2-22. His mind is a little fuzzy, and I never really asked him too many questions about this before…I know one of the guys in charge was named MacMillen ( not sure of the spelling) I’d love to hear from you if you check in here now and then.
Thanks
Joe
for anyone who had a family member in the 122nd ncb during WW2, check out this book on Google books…(the only place I’ve found it) it’s called:" Base Pacific: the history of the 122nd naval construction battalion." I was able to create a pdf file from it and had it printed and bound at Staples today and gave it to my 90 year old dad…what a gift for him. If anyone wants the pdf, just let me know.
Just saw your entry here. I’ve got that book in my house! My Dad was of course in the 122nd (I started this thread). What was his name and I’ll look him up. My Dad turned 89 this year and he was a CM.
Hello, the forum won’t let me reply to your PM…not enough posts…My dad’s name is Vito Tomasello…enlisted…on pg 95 I think…we’re in Pa too…Scranton…great to hear from you!!
I’ll check it out next time I get home. We’ve found a feww 122nd veterans in the Pa/Md area in the last 15 years or so. There was one guy that lived 5 miles from where my Dad was at. Were you able to receive my PM?
Well i hope i did this right. Just found this forum. My dad was on the FIRST CB detachment that left Camp Allen and went to Tonga in "42. His name was Phil “red” phillips. Called him Red because of his fiery red hair and beard. He was kinda famous for his antics over there…or so i heard. He was a “Rigger” according to his papers and what he told me. Don’t know if any of the men are left from the First. My dad died in "89.
One of the actual first Seabees? Wow. That’s something for sure! I’m gonna have to do a little reading up on them. Glad you found the forum. Do you have any pics of your Dad in the service? If you do it would be great to see them.
Hey how are ya. Yes, i have lots of pics of my dad and others. But i don’t have them on a disk or flash yet. I’ll work on that and post them here. I copied this mfrom a navy website…
" 1ST BATTALION
The First Battalion was commissioned at Camp Allen, Va., on March 15, 1942. Three weeks later, the first half of the Battalion, designated as the Second Construction Detachment, embarked for Tongatabu, just below the Samoa group. The other half of the First, designated as the Third Construction Detachment, sailed four days later for Efate New Hebrides. In April 1943, the Second and Third Detachments merged at Efate. In August of 1943, a detachment of 4 officers and 125 men which had been left behind at Tongatabu, sailed for Wallis Island, but rejoined the main body four months later. The First Battalion remained at Efate until they returned to the States in March of 1944. They were inactivated June 3, 1944."
Great! I had a good find last night. I found the original logs of the 122nd, my Dad’s unit. Next time I see him I’m gonna show them to him. Yes, it would be great to see some pics. Here are a few that I’ve got on my computer, some of them you might have seen earlier in the thread, but anyway I’ll post them again. Believe it or not, I still have the navy tunic he’s wearing. In the second picture he is pictured on board a destroyer being ferried to China as part of the U.S. occupation force. The third is Dad at the Seabee Memorial in D.C. about 10 years ago, and the final is the medal box I made up for him. i was able to photocopy the Seabee patch and rating insignia directly from the uniform tunic. I was pleased in how it came out.
Where did u find the logs at? I’m looking for anything on the 1st. I found a few things on navy.mil. Here’s a few pics. My dad is the bearded one 
The pic where he is standing under the trilithon on Tonga has a lot of meaning to me. I went to Tonga in "96 and had my pic taken under it. Of course it didn’t look the same then, all the brush had since been cleared away. it’s quite the tourist attraction now.
Great pics and how did he get away with the beard? To get to the official logs of the 1st Battalion go to www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq67-1.htm and click on ww2, click on seabee unit histories, click on battalians and all the battalians are listed. It’s a pdf file you can download. The logs are there. Let me know how you made out.