Navy Construction Battalion 62 veterans cement bond with reunions

Nov. 9—TIFTON — There's an odd — but in a good way "odd" — thing about the band of brothers who served in Navy Mobile Construction Battalion 62 (the Seabees) in the early and mid-70s. As they talk about their Navy service, several of them lament injuries they suffered that plague them today as most near retirement age. And few of them say they served beyond the five-year commitment they signed up for when they enlisted.

Still, to a man, these veterans of dual-natured service to their country declare that the bond they forged in duty stations like Rota, Spain; Puerto Rico; Diego Garcia; Grenada, and home ports in California, Mississippi and Virginia is unbreakable, not diminished by the ravages of time or circumstance.

So every two years, Battalion 62 Seabees meet up at a designated location to talk about the years they spent together, to retell the stories from their (apparently) wild days of service and to memorialize the members who've fought their final battles.

"The first of the reunions I went to, I hadn't seen a lot of these guys in 30, 40 years," Ken Stigers, who now lives in Michigan, said. "But as soon as we started talking, we picked back up like everything was the day before. That bond makes us brothers in the truest sense of the word."

There's a simple enough reason for that, Seabee Brian Collins of Tifton, says.

"My wife (Ann) went with me to one of our reunions, and she said to me, 'That's the best group of guys ever,'" Collins said. "And they are. Few of us went to college — most, like me, signed up while we were still in high school and a lot of us had never even heard of the Seabees — but we developed a closeness that goes beyond any fraternity or sorority you see at college. There's an additional element when you know your life is on the line.

"We'd defended each other at the Navy bases, off base at clubs in the towns we were in or in any military-type situation. There's a comfort in knowing that you're with people who truly watch your back, just as you watch theirs."

Admiral Ben Moreell is recognized as the "founder" of the Seabees, but it was the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor that cinched the specialty forces' genesis. Civilian construction workers were used by the military through the 1930s, but a movement was started to recruit individuals with needed trade skills to provide those skills in a military setting. As it then stood, international law forbade civilian workers from resisting a military attack, under penalty of execution.

A pair of Naval captains — Carl Carlson and Walter Allen — started unwinding the red tape that would lead to the use of military personnel to perform construction tasks heretofore carried out by civilians. And with the attack on Pearl Harbor, the floodgates opened. The Navy wanted units that were flexible, adaptable and could be used in combat if necessary. Those first Seabees offered an unusual twist on recruitment: Age and physical standards were loosened, and tradesmen up to age 50 started enlisting for high-paying opportunities.

Early in the history of the Seabees, the average age of recruits was 37.

Unlike many of his comrades in Battalion 62, Dennis McDonald, a New Hampshire native and resident, said he enlisted with the goal of being in the Seabees. He was, it turned out, interested in following in the footsteps of his father.

"My dad had been in the Seabees, and he told it was an opportunity to get training for a future career," McDonald, who used the mechanical skills he learned during his five years in the Navy to get into the auto repair business, said. "College was not an alternative, so I had the opportunity to learn a trade, get some additional schooling and travel. I injured my back, though, and that's been with me since.

"As we look at the things that happen to the people we know — we had one of our brothers who last fall, just dropped dead, with no signs that anything was wrong — we realize there are no warnings in life. So when we started talking about getting the guys in 62 together, I was kind of elected to plan the locations of the reunion. We try to move them around so more people who may have tighter budgets don't have so far to travel. Our reunions are not a military function in any way, just a bunch of guys who served together."

Like Collins and Stigers, Daniel Hinchcliffe, who works in Maryland now and lives in Virginia, had no idea what the Seabees were when he signed on. Also, like several other members of Battalion 62, college was not an option for Hinchcliffe when he enlisted.

"I had mechanical skills, so I figured when I enlisted in the Navy I could work on engines," Hinchcliffe said. "I started driving when I was 8, and I had next-door neighbors who started introducing me to mechanics when I was 11. When I took the tests after enlisting, they told me I had perfect skills to be a ship's engineer. I had never even heard of the Seabees, and I told them I'd rather work on truck, car, other mechanical engines on an aircraft carrier. I don't think they liked that too much.

"My dad had told me after high school to either go to college or go to work. College was not for me, but I worked in a power plant in Pennsylvania and caught hell because my grandfather was the owner of the company I worked for. I joined the Navy, signed up for the five-year commitment but hurt my back four years in and have had problems the rest of my life."

Despite expressing disappointment with the medical treatment he received while in the Navy, Hinchcliffe says he's thankful for the years spent with his fellow Seabees.

"These guys are friends for life," he said. "We never really got in any battle-type situations, but we knew we all had each other's backs, whether it was in a bar fight or any other kind of fight. That cements friendships."

The members of Battalion 62 laugh when it's mentioned that there were rumors the group might have had a tendency to get rowdy at times.

"Yeah, there are a few things we probably don't want to talk about," Stigers said with a laugh.

"Oh, we partied," said Collins, who admits his climb up the Navy's ladder of rank was limited by his "attitude." "Our motto was 'We Build, We Fight,' and we took that literally. Things must have gotten pretty rough, because they decommissioned our battalion in Guam and sent all of us elsewhere."

"We used our rowdiness to get what we needed," Hinchcliffe added. "There was this thing everyone said: 'If you need something, the Seabees either have it already or they'll take it.' While we barely missed out on combat missions, this was a dangerous job. It kept us close."

Twelve Seabees from Battalion 62 — Stigers, McDonald, Hinchcliffe, Collins, John Haughey, Everett Plumadore, Jim Wisinski, Pete Irish ("the glue that holds us all together"), Mike Oris, Brad Bossung, Dale Payeur, and Kenber Kelly — made the group's most recent reunion in Franklin, Ky. And if the aforementioned quartet have any say, the gatherings will continue as long as there are surviving veterans.

"The Seabees was my college," Collins said. "I came out with a fraternity of brothers that will always be my brothers, and I was basically paid to go around the world.

"So, yeah, as long as we're able, you better believe we're going to continue to get together. As long as we can, we'll keep doing it."

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