Seabee 71 in Chu Lai - by David H Lyman (Paperback)

About the Book

"Hoping to stay out of Vietnam, David Lyman joined the U.S. Naval Reserve to avoid the draft. By the summer of 1967 he found himself with a SeaBee unit on a beach in Chu Lai. A reporter in civilian life, he was assigned to Military Construction Battalion 71 as a photojournalist, documenting the lives of the hard-working and harder-drinking U.S. Navy SeaBees as they engineered the infrastucture of war-roads, runways, heliports and base camps for troops on the edges of the conflict. He was also shot at, almost blown up by a road mine, spent nights in a mortar pit as rockets bombarded a nearby Marine runway, and rode along on convoys through Viet Cong territory to photograph villages outside "The Wire." The stories and photographs Lyman published as editor of the battalion's newspaper, The Transit, form the basis of his memoir."--

Book Synopsis

 Hoping to stay out of Vietnam, David Lyman joined the U.S. Naval Reserve to avoid the draft. By summer 1967 he was with a SeaBee unit on a beach in Chu Lai. A reporter in civilian life, Lyman was assigned to Military Construction Battalion 71 as a photojournalist. He documented the lives of the hard-working and hard-drinking SeaBees as they engineered roads, runways, heliports and base camps for the troops.

The author was shot at, almost blown up by a road mine, and spent nights in a mortar pit as rockets bombarded a nearby Marine runway. He rode on convoys through Viet Cong territory to photograph villages outside "The Wire." The stories and photographs Lyman published as editor of the battalion's newspaper, The Transit, form the basis of this memoir.

Review Quotes

"A compelling and chronological retelling of [Lyman's] memories"-Sightings.

"The book is a compelling, chronological retelling of [Lyman's] memories, supplemented by still-living shipmates and their family members."-United States Navy Public Affairs Association

"This well-researched and well-written story of his seven-month in-country tour chronicles the projects, people, and adventures of his unit. Lyman draws deeply from his notes he took at the time, as well from the many photos he took to construct a compact book that centers on the story of what the Seabees built and maintained in support of the U.S. war effort. This is a refreshing offering...quite readable and provides another perspective on the Vietnam War"-The VVA Veteran

"Through Lyman, we realize the uniqueness of Navy Seabees and their contributions to the war effort in Vietnam. ... Lyman's memoir is unique among memoirs of military service. ...highly recommended"- Army University Press

About the Author

David H. Lyman is a writer, photographer and entrepreneur. He left the Navy to become a newspaper and magazine editor. In 1973, he founded The Maine Photographic Workshops, and built his summer school into an international conservatory for the world's photographers, filmmakers, writers and media producers. It is located in Rockport, Maine, and continues today as MaineMedia.edu.