Huie does equal justice to the historic actions of the Seabees on D-Day at Omaha Beach, where they manned fifteen hundred vehicles during the first wave of landings at Normandy. He provides fascinating accounts of the creation and testing of various pierheads, floating steel bridges, and "Rhino" ferries. His narrative of Seabee accomplishments is heavily laced with colorful stories of moonshining, brawling, and carousing juxtaposed with compassionate stories of the children in the prisoner of war camps. His enthusiasm for the Seabees gained instant acceptance when this book was first published in 1945 and is often cited as inspiring succeeding generations to rise to the same spirit of devotion and loyalty to their task.