During World War II the U.S. Navy's Construction Battalions—better known as the Seabees—ranged far and wide, building the bases, airfields, docks, bridges and other installations that contributed so enormously to the final Allied victory.

"Many of the things the Seabees were told to do had never been done before," writes Admiral Moreel, wartime chief of the Navy's Civil Engineers. "This didn't stop them from building cities in the jungle, roads on the sides of mountains—and ice cream freezers powered by the hot winds of the South Pacific.

"The Seabees of World War II tells how the Bobcats, the first unit sent overseas, struggled against unimaginable odds to build a fueling station at faraway Borabora—and takes the reader to the other side of the globe where Seabees floated two artificial harbors across the English Channel for the invasion of Normandy." One of their proudest mottoes was: "The difficult we do immediately. The impossible takes a little longer."

Here is the stirring story of the men whose ingenuity, bravery, and perseverance earned them their famous "Can Do" reputation. Illustrated with more than 60 official U.S. Navy photographs.

From the dust jacket