We Build...We Fight: 50 Years Of Navy Seabees

From the makers of The Unsinkable Delta Queen and The Signs & Rhymes of Burma Shave (reviewed in our March 1990 and our July-August 1991 issues, respectively), We Build...We Fight: 50 Years of Navy Seabees was co-produced by the Seabee 50th Anniversary Committee, and interweaves the story of the U.S. Naval Construction Battalions ("Seabees")--from their inception on January 5, 1942 to their recent activities in the Persian Gulf war--with footage from anniversary celebrations held throughout 1992. U.S. Navy archival footage is used in conjunction with interviews from retired Seabees to recount the Seabees' involvement in WWII, Korea, and Vietnam, while also offering anecdotes about the design of the "fighting bee" mascot, a tribute to Congressional Medal of Honor winner Marvin Shields, and clips from the John Wayne epic The Fighting Seabees. During the anniversary highlights, management guru Tom Peters recalls his days as a Seabee. All in all, We Build...We Fight does a good job of telling the Seabee tale, but the narrative is occasionally interrupted for congratulatory anniversary speeches that both dilute the focus of the central story and could only be of interest to fellow Seabees. Still, interested active and retired military, in general, will appreciate this. Recommended. (Available from: Sentimental Productions, 1400 State Ave., P.O. Box 4005, Cincinnati, OH 45204; (513) 244-6542.)