The Book:
SEABEE71
IN CHU LAI
A 350 page memoir of a Navy Journalist's 14 months with the Seabees.
Photographs and text copyright © 1967 and 2019 by David H. Lyman
Prologue
Where and when . . . Growing up in A War . . . Joining The Seabees . . . Life in The Combat Zone . . . Research . . . . .
1 All This To Avoid the Draft?
What The Hell Am I Doing Here? . . . . The Summer off1967 . . . I’m Getting Ahead of myself . . . The Entire Nation Is Up in Arms! . . . . November 22, 1963 . . . Do You Remember Where You Were? . . . The Year 1964 . . .
2 Off to Sea, With a Camera
A two-week Reserve Training cruise . . . The photograph that changed my life . . . . Chu Lai, Vietnam? . . . . I received my orders for active duty . . . I’m Going To Vietnam! . . . . The Games Boys Play . . . .
3 I’m going to be Seabee
My First Day as a Seabee . . . . The Seabees - We Can Do! . . . A Brief History of The Seabees . . . The Seabees Arrive in Vietnam . . . . Life in the Seabees . . . . Our Unit’s Structure . . . . Instant Petty Officers (IPOs) . . . My Buddies . . . The Plan Of The Day . . . Office Technology . . . The Mimeograph Machine . . . The March to Town . . . .
4 Training for Combat Duty
Welcome to Mudville . . . Down and Dirty With The Marines . . . . Playing War Games . . . .
5 Waiting to Deploy
Cinderella Liberty . . . . The First Edition of The Transit . . . . The Transit Comes to Life . . . . Getting Laid . . . Off We Go to War . . .
6 Hello Vietnam!
The First Taste of Combat . . . Arriving in Vietnam . . . Our Camp on The Beach . . . My Public Affairs Office . . . . Building a War . . . . The Skipper’s Outlines The Work . . . What Lay Ahead for This Seabee Outfit . . . . A Little History of Chu Lai . . . .
7 Life In This Bee Hive
Our Weekly Routine . . . Day After Day, Week After Week . . . . Our Beach Village on The South China Sea . . . The Navy’s Chow . . . Our Daily Ration of Grog . . . The Social Clubs . . . . The South China Sea . . . Sliding Into Oblivion . . . Our Military General Store . . . . “Good Morning, Vietnam!” . . . . We Never Knew How Bad It Was . . . . High Stakes Poker . . . A Letter Home from Vietnam
8 The Battalion
The Companies . . . Charlie Company . . . The Fleet-bee Company . . . The Men of Seventy-On . . . . The Fighting Seabees . . . “I’m Missing an Ear.” . . . . The Screw-Ups . . . The Officers of Seventy-One . . . The Officer’s Wardroom . . . . “A Compendium of Coughlinese Definitions.” . . . . The Battalion’s Sports Report . . . Take Me Out to The Ball Game . . . . The Nose Broom Competition . . . . The Inter-Company Basketball League . . . Hedging Your Bets . . . . Track and Field . . . A Rash Idea . . .
9 The ‘Bees Get To Work
It All Starts With Engineering . . . . The Quang Ngai Express . . . . The Convoy to Quang Ngai . . . . What’s in A Laugh? . . . . This Photographer Tags Along . . . Seabees Built While the War Goes On . . . Learning to Drive A Dozer - At Night! . . . . The Stone Men of Seventy-One . . . . The Viet Cong Helped Our Operation . . . . Old Flintstone, Still Running, After All These Years. . . . . Power’s Towers . . . . Photography in The Combat Zone . . . . We Got Ourselves Another Convoy . . . . Keeping the Marine A-4 Jets Flying . . . . Rebuilding the Main Runway . . . . Finding Water in A Desert . . . . Getting Wet with Our Underwater Team . . . Playing with Our Tinker Toys