Obama's Great Uncle and the War (military, states, claim, European)

[LordBalfor]

There have been numerous references made to Obama's claim that his great uncle was present during the liberation of one of the German Concentration camps.

Someone out there (I can't find the post now) had noted that the only Charles W. Payne to serve in the military during WW II signed up for the navy - leading them to believe that Obama was lying about his great-uncle's service.

Well, had those posters bothered to do a LITTLE bit of investigation on their own, it would have soon become clear that Navy personel could very well have been present at such a liberation.

This is what I have found:

First off: I found this page:

MySpace

It lists some details about Charles W. Paynes wartime service in the Navy - notably that he served in the 3rd Special Seabees Construction Battalion.

Seabees are LAND-BASED Naval units who's job is building bridges (handy for crossing the Rhine for example), airstrips etc.

General history of the CB's (including their European, land-based service):
Seabee History: World War II

Secondly: From what I've gathered, the 3rd Naval Construction Battalion served in the Pacific from 1942 until 1944 - when it was returned to the states and the unit itself was disbanded in August of that year.

Battalion Beginning

Note that I'm not entirely sure this is the same "3rd Special SeaBees Construction Battalion" mentioned on MySpace - but I believe it is likely.

In any event, since the war was still full on in the summer of 1944, I would expect that those personal were transferred to other CB units - many of which were indeed serving in Europe building bridges etc (CB's played a HUGE part in crossing the Rhine).

So, while I cannot confirm that Obama's great uncle was indeed present when the camp was liberated, I see no evidence to deny the claim.

Ken