Juan Carlo / Star staff
Seabee Justin Wright takes a break during construction
of the Maybe Johnson bridge for this weekend's
Seabees Day at the Seabee Center at Port Hueneme.
Posted on 09/25/2003 10:17:19 PM PDT by concentric circles
Navy Seabee Giovanni Perichi says "The Star-Spangled Banner" means a lot more to him now than it did before he served in Iraq.
"Bombs bursting in the air -- I lived it," said the 24-year-old New Yorker, a construction electrician 3rd class for the Battalion 4 Seabees. "I have much more respect for the words."
Builder 2nd Class Alejandro Gonzales says his experience in Iraq makes him even more proud to be a Seabee.
"We just didn't go in and break things. We rebuilt Iraq," said Gonzales, 21, of Phoenix. "It means more to me to be a Seabee."
Perichi and Gonzales are among some 1,400 Seabees from Naval Base Ventura County who served in the Middle East during the war in Iraq. They have all returned home in time to celebrate the 17th annual Seabee Days this Saturday and Sunday.
"Seabee Days is really important to Seabees," said Capt. Jim Cowell, commander of the Thirty-First Seabee Readiness Group. "It's really our chance to show what we do day in and day out, not only to the local community but to our families."
Seabee Days will feature demonstrations of Seabee construction skills; displays of construction equipment, weapons and field camp mockups; and a variety of other activities and entertainment. Limited tours will be available aboard the USS Stethem, an Arleigh Burke guided missile AEGIS destroyer.
The event kicks off Saturday with a full-dress military parade featuring more than 700 Seabees marching onto the Parade Field.
The Seabees support other troops with their building and mechanical skills. They were formed during World War II, when using civilians to do construction work in war zones became impractical. Men were recruited into the Navy from the construction trades and trained to fight.
By the end of World War II, 325,000 men with knowledge of more than 60 skilled trades had enlisted in the Seabees. In the early 1970s, women were allowed to join as well. Today there about 3,000 Seabees, half based in Port Hueneme and the other half in Gulfport, Miss.
The Seabees have been active in all major conflicts since World War II and in many peacetime activities, building base camps, roads and bridges, rehabilitating barracks and providing disaster relief.
In 1986, Capt. Dorwin C. Black, Port Hueneme's commanding officer at the time, decided to start Seabee Days as a way for the community to get better-acquainted with the Seabees. In 1991, Seabee Days was canceled because of Operation Desert Storm in Iraq. The next year, the Seabees celebrated their 50th anniversary and expanded the event to two days.
The festival gives visitors the chance to ask Seabees questions about how they do their work and the dangers they face. Perichi, for example, said he was nearly hit by a rocket-propelled grenade while helping to escort a group of Marines from a checkpoint between Kabala and Baghdad. He said Iraqi soldiers appeared out of nowhere, and someone launched the grenade at the Americans.
"All I saw was white smoke," said Perichi. "It landed 25 to 30 feet away from me."
Perichi said a Marine lieutenant ordered him and the other Americans to open fire. "The time frame of that firefight was probably five minutes," said Perichi. "It was actually an eternity. That's something I don't want to experience again."
Once major hostilities ended, the Seabees got to work rebuilding bombed-out bridges, repairing roads, building showers for Marines and fixing up schools.
Gonzales said the Seabees built about 300 new desks for Iraqi schoolchildren. "There were probably more. It sure felt like more," said Gonzales. "We sanded them down and painted them. We made shelves for (the kids). We painted and painted and painted. There was a lot of work going on."
Perichi and Gonzales said they think about the troops still in Iraq, especially the friends they made there.
Cowell said some Seabees from the Gulfport, Miss., base are still in Iraq, loading ships with equipment to bring back home.
He said he believes Seabee Days will have a special meaning this year because of the war.
"They're very proud of what they've done because they've been challenged," said Cowell. "We have a base here that's very proud of the contributions they've made.
"Most everybody's back, and now we're celebrating their success."
Seabee Justin Wright takes a break during construction
of the Maybe Johnson bridge for this weekend's
Seabees Day at the Seabee Center at Port Hueneme.
Tear 'em down and build 'em up, boys. Seabees kick ass.
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