Martha E. Keller

Brownie: Mascot of the Seventy-fifth Naval Construction Battalion Martha E. Keller

When Roy Althouse rescued a little dog at Camp Hueneme in California in 1943, it was the beginning of a wonderful story-one that has finally been told by his daughter. During their enlistment in the Navy Seabees, Althouse and his fellow members of the Seventy-Fifth Naval Construction Battalion all came to love the dog known as "Brownie" He was smuggled aboard the USS Del Brasil and traveled with his master to nine different islands in the South Pacific. Brownie became the official mascot of the Seventy-Fifth, and at each island Althouse kept a record of his stay in a small notebook. His letters home were often filled with the antics of his beloved Brownie while also providing a glimpse of what life was like for a Seabee during the war. Against all odds, Brownie returned to the United States to live out his life with his best friend in a little town called Bucyrus. Their story is one of adventure, friendship, and love that spanned across oceans and time.