Cape Cod Military Museum

[Walt's Daughter]

Taken from Captain John Fallon's memories - 36th Combat Engineer

 

Seahorse Soldiers by Captain John Fallon – 36^th Combat Engineer

During the 1930’s the various branches of the military thought they had their assignments straightened out.  Among other things the Marines were charged with making assault landings from the sea.  This seemed straightforward enough but as a probable war seemed imminent the army brass realize that a really big landing in Europe could not be handled by the marines with their limited manpower.  The decision was made to organize train and equip an engineer amphibian command made up of brigades of boat regiments and shore regiments.

Planning went ahead and the command was based in Camp Edwards Massachusetts under general Daniel Noce.  This went ahead for a while and soldiers were trained in small boat handling as well as beach maintenance.  The first brigade was in England in the second in the Pacific and when the third brigade of the command was being formed the navy called a halt to the project claiming the landing as their turf.  However naming them engineer special brigades mollified the navy.  The third and fourth went to the Pacific and before the landing in Normandy the fifth and six brigades were formed in England from existing regiments to participate in the landings.

Several engineer regiments were destined to be part of the command and were converted to combat regiments.  At that time engineer regiments were being gradually converted two groups but several of them maintain their regimental structure to almost the very end of the war with the theater commander having the option of timing.  Among the regiments being organized was the 36^th engineer combat regiment.  It was organized and Plattsburgh barracks on 1 June, 1941.  It was a three battalion regiment and remained so during the war.  The seahorse shoulder patch and the regimental crest were approved in the men wore then proudly.  The seahorse represented the amphibious landings that were planned and the motto “rugged” is from an aphorism recited by many engineer soldiers at that time in barracks and barrooms.