Regarding SEABEES & SEABEE trucks:
You know the SEABEES motto is CAN DO! , but at times we thought it should be MAKE d0. The Marines always complained that the other military services got the better equipment. Well the SEABEES got the stuff that the Marines didn't want.
I even remember when they gave us old reject 81mm mortar ammo. They figured being "only" SEABEES, we didn't have much use for it anyway. Then they had to call on us to save their butts (700 rounds), & their attitude changed.
SEABEES had to make it work, & we did.
I recall an Army jeep that somehow "fell" down a mountain. SEABEES recovered it within an hour, & had it up & running the next day. It of course somehow got a SEABEE logo on it right away, so the Army wouldn't mistake it for one of theirs...........
There was a large military junkyard around DaNang. It was kinda like SEABEE heaven! Imagine a hundred acres of stuff, & you could have anything you wanted.
Colors? We got IH trucks in VietNam that were painted bright orange. We scrounged up paint from the Marines, Army, Air Force, & probably the viet cong. As long as it came out "green" we used it.
As to the question why do the SEABEES put their logo on their trucks? PRIDE!
Eric Wendt
MCB 62
VietNam 1966-1968