The Fighting Seabee
The Navy needed fighters
And they needed engineers,
So they organized the Seabees to
pin back Nippee's ears,
They took welders, riggers, boilermen,
cooks and bakers too;
They signed them in the Navy, which
was the thing to do.
With Tommy guns and rifle, we Seabees
learned to shoot;
We used a big machete knife, and other
things to boot.
They taught us how to march and drill,
They taught us how to dress;
We learned Commando tactics and
we bucked the line at mess.
We learned the Navy lingo; we called it
"deck" and "swab";
We learned just how to "knock it off"
like any other gob.
They taught us all these many things
in thirteen weeks or less,
And what they didn't teach us, the rest
we had to guess.
We finished out our training and
we sailed to Island X,
We had all our equipment stowed
below and on the decks.
The japs they held the island when
at last it hove in sight;
We knew that they were ready, so we got
prepared to fight.
We landed under heavy fire, and
there was plenty hell,
It kept us busy most the day, just
dodging every shell.
We soon had wiped the Nippees out
and then we went to work,
Each Seabee did his duty - not a one
was seen to shirk.
We built a mighty landing field,
a barracks and a dock,
About a hundred miles of road we made
from solid rock.
We got things finally squared away,
'twas pretty to be seen,
Then we went back to the beachhead,
where we saw our first Marines.
They had followed in behind us,
though they said they got there first;
We had everything completely fixed,
they could even quench their thirst.
From the Halls of Montezuma, to the
shores of Tripoli
It used to be the Leathernecks, now
it's all Seabees.
And when we reach the Pearly Gates and
stand at Heaven's scene,
There'll be a Seabee waiting there
to greet the first Marine.