“We Build, We Fight” has been the motto of the U. S. Navy’s Construction Force, known as the “Seabees,” for more than 75 years.
Petty Officer 3rd Class Sara Buckley, a 2011 Plainfield Central High School graduate and native of Plainfield, builds and fights around the world as a member of naval construction battalion center located in Gulfport, Mississippi.
Buckley is serving as a Navy builder, who is responsible for construction, concrete, carpentry and masonry.
The jobs of many of today’s Seabees remained unchanged since World War II, when the Seabees paved the 10,000-mile road to victory for the allies in the Pacific and in Europe, according to Lara Godbille, director of the U. S. Navy Seabee Museum.
For more than 75 years Seabees have served in all American conflicts. They have also supported humanitarian efforts using their construction skills to help communities around the world. They aid following earthquakes, hurricanes and other natural disasters.
Serving in the Navy is a continuing tradition of military service for Buckley, who has military ties with family members who have previously served. Buckley is honored to carry on that family tradition.
“My father was in the Navy,” Buckley said in a news release. "He worked on submarines."