Staff Reports
The groundbreaking ceremony for the new U.S. Navy Seabee Museum was Aug. 25 at the museum site at Port Hueneme, Calif.
Donald Bently was the guest of retired U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Benjamin F. Montoya, CEC, and was one of two WWII Seabee veterans in attendance at the groundbreaking.
There was a dinner the night before held at the Four Seasons Hotel in Westlake Village, Calif., to celebrate the new museum.
Special guests attending the groundbreaking included Chief of Civil Engineers and Commander, Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Navy Rear Adm. Greg Shear, CEC, along with the Director of the Naval History and Heritage Command, retired Rear Adm. Jay DeLoach.
Bently's service and his contributions were acknowledged at both the evening dinner and at the groundbreaking. Bently embarked from Port Hueneme in 1942 as a young 18-year-old Seabee.
Bently mentioned that he was the only one who was present from his Seabee 1038 Detachment.
He said he presumes all others to be deceased or otherwise missing. Bently has committed to a matching financial grant for this important project.
