1. Admiral Ben Moreell was the chief of the US Navy's Bureau of Yards and Docks and of the Civil Engineer Corps.
20 Facts About Ben Moreell
1. 2.
Ben Moreell was a distinguished naval officer, an engineer, an industrial giant and a national spokesman.
3.
Ben Moreell was born into a Jewish family on September 14,1892, in Salt Lake City, Utah.
4.
Ben Moreell's family settled in St Louis, Missouri, where he graduated from St Louis's Central High School at the top of his class and was awarded a four-year scholarship to Washington University in St Louis at age 16.
5.
Ben Moreell was sent as a lieutenant commander to the Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussees in Paris to study European military engineering design and construction practices.
6.
On December 1,1937, President Franklin D Roosevelt selected Commander Moreell to be the Chief of the Bureau of Yards and Docks and the Chief of Civil Engineers of the Navy.
7.
Ben Moreell proposed the construction of two giant drydocks at Pearl Harbor and initiated naval construction projects on Midway Atoll and Wake Island, long before Japanese bombs began to fall on December 7,1941.
8.
Ben Moreell believed a militarized Naval Construction Force to build advance bases in the war zone would fulfill this need.
9.
Ben Moreell coined the Seabees motto: Construimus, Batuimus.
10.
In 1945, Ben Moreell became the Chief of the Navy's Material Division, and at the request of Vice President Truman, he negotiated a settlement to the national strike of oil refinery workers.
11.
Ben Moreell became the third Jewish American to become a four star admiral.
12.
Ben Moreell wrote articles for The Freeman, a publication of the Foundation for Economic Education, a group that advocates free markets and a libertarian philosophy.
13.
Ben Moreell served as chairman of the Task Force on Water Resources and Power of the Second Hoover Commission, directing a 26-man committee from November 1953 through June 1955.
14.
Ben Moreell was instrumental in organizing Americans for Constitutional Action, a conservative national nonpartisan political action organization.
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Ben Moreell was a member of the board of visitors and chairman of the board in 1955.
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Ben Moreell's life was punctuated by accomplishments, awards, and well-earned recognition.
17.
Ben Moreell received 12 honorary doctoral degrees, was elected to the National Academy of Engineering, and was named one of the 10 men who contributed most to the advancement of construction methods in the United States between 1925 and 1975.
18.
In 1957 Ben Moreell was awarded The John Fritz Medal, referred to as the highest award in the engineering profession, the award is presented each year for scientific or industrial achievement in any field of pure or applied science.
19.
The Society of American Military Engineers Ben Moreell Medal is named in honor of Ben Moreell.
20.
Ben Moreell was one of the founders along with Dr Samuel Moor Shoemaker, rector of Calvary Episcopal Church in Shadyside, of The Pittsburgh Experiment, a Christian interdenominational ministry that provides spiritual resources to business, professional and working people.