Both informative and engaging, Adopted Land, Beloved Land: The Peña-Lara Story depicts the author’s family history, while also telling the story of how a Mexican family successfully assimilated into the United States, adopting the American way of life, though never loosing sight of their Hispanic heritage. Having no choice but to flee what was then a war-ravaged Mexico during the Mexican Revolution, author Christopher Peña’s paternal grandparents and four of his uncles crossed the border at Laredo in 1915. Once in the States, four additional children were born, including his father - totaling seven boys and a girl. Six of the boys went on to serve during the Second World War, including one who was wounded at Iwo Jima. Adopted Land, Beloved Land: The Peña-Lara Story chronicles Peña’s father’s roots in Mexico starting in the 1860s, the Mexican Revolution, life in Monterrey, history of and family life in Laredo, the military service of the six boys during the Second World War, and the post-war years of the family, ending in 2009.

Over 500 total pages ... Contains the following publications: 1. HISTORY OF THE SEABEES COMMAND HISTORIAN NAVAL FACILITIES ENGINEERING COMMAND (1996) 2. Seabees in World War II Through 2012 (2012) 3. Utilization of Advanced Journeyman Training in the U. S. Naval Construction Force (1997) 4. U.S. NAVY SEABEES AS A STABILITY ASSET (2009) 5. Effects of National Strategic Policy on the Military Engineer Force Structure from 1919 through 1991 (2009) 6. SEABEES: NATIONAL INSTRUMENT OF POWER PROJECTION (2013) INTRODUCTION: INTRODUCTION The Seabees of the United States Navy were born in the dark days following Pearl Harbor when the task of building victory from defeat seemed almost insurmountable. The Seabees were created in answer to a crucial demand for builders who could fight. Using sailors to build shore-based facilities; however, was not a new idea. Ancient Egyptians, Phoenicians, Greeks, and Romans did it. In more recent times, from the earliest days ofthe United States Navy, sailors who were handy with tools occasionally did minor construction chores at land bases. After the 7 December 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and the United States entry into the war, the use of civilian labor in war zones became impractical. Under international law civilians were not permitted to resist enemy military attack. Resistance meant summary execution as guerrillas. The need for a militarized Naval Construction Force to build advance bases in the war zone was self-evident. Therefore, Rear Admiral Ben Moreell determined to activate, organize, and man Navy construction units. On 28 December 1941, he requested specific authority to carry out this decision, and on 5 January 1942, he gained authority from the Bureau of Navigation to recruit men from the construction trades for assignment to a Naval Construction Regiment composed of three Naval Construction Battalions. This is the actual beginning of the renowned Seabees, who obtained their designation from the initial letters of Construction Battalion. Admiral Moreell personally furnished them with their official motto: Construimus, Batuimus -- "We Build, We Fight."

After discovering additional information pertaining to his paternal side of the family, author Christopher G. Pea revised his original book to provide the reader with a richly detailed account of each member of the Pea-Lara family, along with their respective spouses. Both highly informative and engaging, The Pea-Lara Story: Revisited retraces the familys roots that began in New Spain (Mexico), including the military exploits of the familys patriarch, Lt. Col. Jos Emeterio Pozas, who served under Spain and Mexico. In addition, the story includes an account of the familys life in Monterrey, Nuevo Len, Mexico, the Pea-Laras forced evacuation of the city during the height of the 1910-1920 Mexican Revolution, the familys assimilation into the United States, including the military service of six of the Pea-Lara sons during the Second World War and, finally, the familys postwar years. It is a family chronicle that includes almost two centuries of history telling. The Pena-Lara Story: Revisited provides the reader with a wealth of new and detailed information about the familys origins, some of which was recently discovered during an exhaustive search through Mexican Civil and Church archival records, as well as many United States civil and religious documents. This information now enlightens and contradicts long-held beliefs about the origins and lives of the Pea-Lara lineage.