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THIS WEEK IN SEABEE HISTORY...

June 2, 2015 | By Seabee Magazine
Consolidated by Dr. Frank A. Blazich Jr., Historian, Naval History and Heritage Command
9375
VIRIN: 150602-N-ZZ182-9375
CM3 Marvin G. Shields, Seabee Team 1104, perished in the Battle of Dong Xoai  

June 9

1943: ACORN 1 dissolved. 1952: In Korea, a detachment from Amphibious Construction Battalion One landed behind enemy lines on the island of Yo. There they build an emergency landing airstrip for crippled U.S. Marine aircraft. The planned 2,400 foot runway had been estimated to be a 45-day project. The Seabees finished it in 16 days. June 9-10 1965: Just before midnight on 9 June 1965, an estimated 2,000 Viet Cong launched an attack upon the still unfinished U.S. Special Forces camp at Dong Xoai in the Republic of Vietnam. The men of Seabee Team 1104, who were building the camp, joined with a small detachment of U.S. Army Special Forces and 400 RVN irregular forces to put up a heroic defense. 1968: An NMCB 5 patrol, patrolling the area south of Sector II on the Dong Ha Combat Base, set off an explosive device resulting in the injury of one member of the patrol, BUH3 T.L. Richart.

June 10

1944: Camp Peary, Magruder, VA disestablished. 1965: SW2 William C. Hoover was killed at the battle of Dong Xoai. Hoover was the first Seabee killed in action in Vietnam. Although wounded in the initial Viet Cong mortar barrage, Hoover quickly went to his assigned defense post and began firing at the enemy. He was subsequently killed in the fighting. For his heroism, William C. Hoover was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star. Also killed in the battle was CM3 Marvin G. Shields, the first Seabee to receive the Medal of Honor. Both men were members of Seabee Team 1104.

June 11

1965: In Costa Rica, three members of a detachment from Mobile Construction Battalion One saved the lives of three Costa Ricans who were stranded by a six-foot-deep mud flow during a flood control project. No deaths or injuries were reported and property damage was light in the San Jose and Cartago area where a flood in December 1963 had left nearly 5,000 homeless. 2010: CDR William Whitmire, CEC, USN assumed command of NCTC Gulfport, MS after reliving CAPT Stephanie Jones, CEC, USN.

June 12

1800: The U.S. Navy purchased the site of the Portsmouth, New Hampshire Navy Yard and established the yard on this day. 1943: ACORN 2 dissolved. 1944: 16th, 21st, 22nd NCRs inactivated. 2nd NCB inactivated.

June 13

1966: 60 Seabees from CBC Port Hueneme, CA sent to help fight the fire on the Los Padres National Forest, 35 miles northeast of Santa Barbara. 2008: LCDR Gregory C. Miller relieved LCDR Daniel M. Stoddard as Commanding Officer, UCT 1, Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek, Norfolk, VA. 2008: CDR Stephanie M. Jones, CEC, USN, relieved CAPT Darius Banaji as Commander, Naval Construction Training Center, CBC Gulfport MS. 2008: CAPT James A. Worcester, CEC, USN relieved CAPT Kelly J. Schmader as commanding officer, Naval Facilities Expeditionary Logistics Center and as commander, 31st Seabee Readiness Group, Naval Base Ventura County, Port Hueneme, CA.