Page 50 - South Mississippi Living - July, 2017

SEABEES local love
story by Brian Lamar photos courtesy of NCBC and Carmen Engram
former commander’s wife describes life at NCBC
“Truthfully, I didn’t know much about this place. I asked Bob if he was being punished,” Capt. Engram’s wife Carmen said.
Early days on the base were much different from today. Facilities needed to be built, services for sailors and families needed to be established, and much of it was up to the Engrams and their daughters to pioneer their way back to a fully established base.
“At first, there wasn’t much here. We had a very tiny commissary. Once the battalions filled in, everything expanded,” she recalls. “Now there are so many
more buildings and people; the expanse of it is just wonderful.”
One of the first projects Capt. Engram asked his wife to help with was getting the chapel up and running. “We had a time getting a chaplain, so until one arrived, Bob filled in for the sermon and our four girls and I made up the first choir, which was something else since none of us could carry a tune,” Carmen said.
She mobilized a force of a dozen enlisted wives and reestablished what is now the Child Development Center.
“Seeing the base grow was like watching your child grow over the years. I sit back and think to myself sometimes, ‘how did you get so doggone big?’” Carmen said.
After only two years, Capt. Engram received orders to Vietnam in late 1968 and Carmen decided to stay in Gulfport. The captain returned and retired in 1970, taking a job as the Port of Gulfport director for eight years and then was appointed to serve on the State Gaming Commission.
Carmen Engram continues to live in Gulfport and enjoys community events along with serving as a faithful volunteer for several organizations, including the USO.
“I’ve stayed here because I fell in love with this place. Everyone is so warm and caring. The Southern states are wonderful in general, but this community is particularly good,” she said.
Capt. Robert Engram with wife Carmen “Queen Bee” Engram
When Capt. Robert Engram received orders
in his office in the Philippines to transfer
his family to Gulfport, it wasn’t as joyous an occasion as some assignments. The Engrams began their trip across the Pacific to reopen the Gulfport Naval Construction Battalion Center in October 1966. The base had been in a “janitorial” status with a reduced mission after World War II and the Korean War. Capt. Engram was slated to be the first commander of the newly reopened base.
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