The Seabees of Iwo Jima Lecture

WHAT: Part of the Navy Memorial’s “Year of the Seabees and Civil Engineer Corps” Exhibit.  
              Ms. Kuebler’s lecture provides a detailed look at the important and role the Seabees played during 
              the Battle of Iwo Jima. 

WHEN: Thursday, February 18th, 2010, 12:00 Noon

WHERE: United States Navy Memorial
                Naval Heritage Center
                701 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
                Washington, D.C. 20004
                www.navymemorial.org

COST: Free and open to the public.

CONTACT: 202-380-0723.

The 1945 battle of Iwo Jima, the bloodiest campaign in Marine Corps history, is perhaps best remembered by the famous Joe Rosenthal photograph of Marines raising the flag on Mount Suribachi. While much has been written about the horrors and heroics of the battle, little has been told about the role of the Navy’s Seabees in the development of the island into an advance base to further the US efforts in the victory over the Japanese Empire.

The talk will highlight the role of the Seabees in the assault phase of the battle, the building of the roads, airstrips and necessary structures in the support of Operation Detachment.  The 45-minute-long PowerPoint presentation will feature numerous photographs of Iwo Jima from 1945 as well as images showing how the island looks today.

Presenter Diane L. Kuebler is the daughter of Iwo Jima Seabee veteran AO Kuebler, 2/C Machinist Mate. She is employed at the Massachusetts General Hospital as a cytotechnologist. Ms. Kuebler has traveled to the Pacific battlefields of Guam, Saipan, Tinian, Peleliu and Iwo Jima and has visited everywhere her father served with the 31st Naval Construction Battalion during WWII. She has conducted extensive research and interviews with Seabee and Marine veterans and given numerous presentations on the Seabees at Iwo Jima.  Ms. Kuebler is also a living history reenactor, portraying a WWII Navy Wave at various historical events and parades throughout the Northeast.