The Pacific Campaign, Dam Division

"ON Sept. 1, 1945 — 65 years ago this week — I arrived in Leyte Gulf, the Philippines, aboard a Navy transport ship. Along with other newly commissioned ensigns in the Navy Civil Engineer Corps, I was prepared to join one of the Seabee battalions being mustered for an invasion of the Japanese mainland. However, as we had learned during our voyage across the Pacific, the A-bombs had been dropped and Japan had capitulated. As the fates would have it, the day after our arrival — Sept. 2, 1945 — a peace treaty was signed aboard the battleship Missouri in Tokyo Bay.

"The war was over. But we all agreed that it would take years — perhaps a generation — before our hatred of the enemy would diminish.

"I joined the 29th Naval Construction Battalion, whose postwar assignment saw us traveling to Truk (now called Chuuk), an atoll in the Caroline Islands that had served as headquarters for the Japanese fleet. This formidable base had been bombed into rubble, and now the Navy had decided that the main airstrip should be rebuilt, along with a basic military camp. Under a unique provision in the surrender agreement, 3,000 Japanese were to remain on Truk to perform the necessary construction, working under the direction of an American force. Our battalion was selected to be that American force."

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/04/opinion/04florman.html?ref=opinion

 

29TH BATTALION
Commissioned at Camp Allen. Va., on Oct. 4, 1942, the 29th arrived at Davisville, R. I.,
Nov. 5 of that year, alter a month's training at Camp Bradford. The first echelon embarked
overseas from Davisville on Nov. 23, followed by the second echelon, which left Dec. 8.
The entire Battalion reformed at Rosneath, Scotland on Dec. 14, 1342. For the next 21
months, the 29th sent out groups to various parts of the British Isles, including
Londonderry, Exeter, Plymouth, Fowey, London, Teignmouth and other areas. A
detachment of 95 men and four officers also was sent to France in August 1944. The
Battalion came back to the States the next month, arriving at Davisville Sept. 12, 1944.
The second tour of duty for the 29th began in Hueneme, where the Battalion arrived early
in December. From Dec. 15 to Jan. 13, a detachment of 250 men was on duty at San
Clemente Island, off the coast of California. The entire Battalion left the States Jan. 27,
1945, and arrived at Samar March 23. During the next five months, the 29th sent out
working parties to various areas on Samar and Leyte. When the war ended, the 29th was
still on duty in the Philippines. but was awaiting orders to transfer to China.