Number 1 PRESS RELEASE February 2004

U.S. Navy SEABEES to Get More Public Recognition

After laboring for over sixty years in our nation's service, doing impossible construction tasks as if they were routine while being regularly confused with the U.S. Marines or Navy SEALs, the U.S. Navy SEABEES are moving into the spotlight once again. The legendary daring and heroic exploits of over three hundred thousand U.S. Navy SEABEES in World War II, plus the several generations who followed, are largely unknown to the public today and even to many of our current military members. Yet since the end of World War II, SEABEES have continued to serve, through Korea, Vietnam, Gulf War I, Somalia, and Bosnia, until arriving most recently in the midst of combat operations in Afghanistan and OPERATION IRAQI FREEDOM. Now, a dedicated grassroots effort to bring the SEABEES’ many contributions to the awareness of all is gathering volunteers for “OPERATION SEABEES KNOWLEDGE.” Spokesman “Stormin’ Normand” Dupuis is a retired SEABEE reservist chief, while Advisory Group members Joe Buff and David E. Meadows are both highly acclaimed military action/suspense novelists.

Joe Buff recently wrote a supportive essay titled "SEABEES...Special Forces?" for his regular opinion column on Military.com, a premier website with over three million subscribers and countless guest viewers every day. (Joe’s late father was a SEABEE who served mostly in the Pacific theater in the early Cold War.) Joe Buff also has an exciting sequence involving SEABEES in his upcoming novel STRAITS OF POWER, due out in late 2004. Another example of dramatic SEABEES recognition, soon to be in the hands of countless avid readers, is the latest novel by David E. Meadows. His JOINT TASK FORCE: FRANCE, available summer 2004, is the captivating story of a covert mission to recover stolen military technology in the jungles of West Africa, with SEABEES among the principle characters called upon to get this "impossible" job done!

The SEABEES’ unmatched record of accomplishment in both wartime and peacetime service around the globe is highlighted by:

Hazardous duty at the "bottom of the world" on the Antarctic ice, supporting scientific exploration in OPERATION DEEP FREEZE. Here they installed and operated a nuclear power generating plant, and built living and working facilities for a group of international researchers in that unforgiving environment.

Assembling of a floating dry dock for American nuclear submarines under nearly impossible climatic conditions in Holy Loch, Scotland, in an early Cold War move against the Soviet ballistic missile threat.

Immediate disaster relief in case of natural and man-made occurences, encompassing everything from wildfires, floods, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions, to tornados and hurricanes. Even in war-torn places like Somalia, Afghanistan, and Iraq, SEABEES build or repair everything from schools, hospitals, and roads, to power and water supply systems.

The way SEABEES view their combat and humanitarian missions is expressed vividly by their official motto, "With compassion for others, we build -- we fight for peace with freedom.” The SEABEE spirit is captured in their "CAN DO" attitude, and in their famous saying, “The difficult we do at once, the impossible takes a little longer."

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Volunteer Founders Committee of OPERATION SEABEES KNOWLEDGE

Joe Buff, son of a Seabee. OSK Civilian Consultant, and Military Commentator & Novelist

"Stormin' Normand" Dupuis, retired reservist Seabee chief. OSK Contact/Ombudsman

Capt. David E. Meadows, USN. OSK Navy Liaison, and Military-Suspense Novelist

OPERATION SEABEES KNOWLEDGE seabeesinfohq.org E-Mail seabees@seabeesinfohq.org

DISCLAIMER NOTICE: "Operation Seabees Knowledge" ("OSK") is a grassroots volunteer effort. It is not a legal entity. Neither OSK nor the website seabeesinfohg.org solicit, accept, and/or disburse any contributions or other payments. All OSK volunteers receive no reimbursement of expenses nor any other compensation, and proceed entirely at their own risk.