LOL: I haven’t seen that for many years, but had a copy of it tacked over my cot in Viet Nam.
As to recruiting older guys initially, basically the Seabees were wartime civilian construction workers who were given commissions and rank in order for them to be able to carry weapons and get some military training. This was for their own protection, since they were doing construction in combat areas without benefit of combat training. Also, they were not really subject to military discipline and order and could quit at any time. So it was to the government’s benefit to create the military force.
Sorry to resurrect this thread but for I only just remembered to look it up again after I had posted. I just wanted to put down for the record that while my uncle would would take a stab at the marines as always being the first as ‘bullshit’ he did it in a jovial way and you could tell there was no disrespect there. I always chalked it up to friendly rivalry.
To drive this home I will recount that to this day my uncle is still carrying a piece of a bomb in him dropped by a Japanese Zero. Lying injured after the attack waiting for help he was staring all the while at his dead buddy (a Marine) who had been standing next to him and had caught most of the brunt of the bomb thus ‘saving’ my uncle (had he not been there my uncle would have caught the shrapnel instead and certainly would have died).