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The largely overlooked environmental scars left by the war, coupled with relatively positive representations of urban ruins, made large-scale demolition seem both possible and palatable. 3 “We Build! S. military has long incorporated engineering and construction into its mandate. The army deployed engineers during the Revolutionary War and formally established the Corps of Engineers in 1802. Later that century, the corps added civil projects to its responsibilities, constructing coastal fortifications and mapping the American West.

Minorities received few of the ensuing construction jobs, and when they did get them, these jobs were typically the lowest-paying, nonunionized, manual-labor positions. White men operating construction equipment did double violence as they destroyed the postwar neighborhoods of so many poor—and often black—residents. As African American workers rose up against this discrimination during the 1960s and 1970s, both in opposition to the bulldozer and in support of affirmative action employment, they brought the Civil Rights movement and Black Power to the construction site.

4 The navy prepared for World War II by building up its coastal and Pacific bases. American companies, including Turner Construction and Morrison-Knudsen, relocated their workers and hired local laborers to execute this work. Once the United States entered the war, these private contractors proved inappropriate for the expanded task. Navy leaders worried that civilian crews lacked the tight coordination, fast tempo, and strict discipline necessary to function productively under fire. In the event of an attack, they would be physically unprepared to fight back and legally prohibited from doing so.