Another year, another reunion ended. I saw shipmates and friends (but I repeat myself) for the first time in 43+ years.
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| Seen while browsing in Fredericksburg, TX after the Nimitz Museum of the Pacific War. |
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| It just struck my fancy, but seems like good advice to those who would critique. :) |
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| Sign in a store window. |
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| An old Spanish mission outside San Antonio. |
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| The Alamo: an old Spanish mission inside San Antonio, and the seat of Texas liberty. |
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| A random scene from the river cruise... |
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| My shipmate Russ H., with whom I shared an apartment in Elefsis, Greece. We last met in April 1975. |
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| A four-foot-long handmade model of the USS William M. Wood as it was when I sailed on her. |
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| All the shipmates from the various years of the Wood at the Saturday night banquet. I'm the tallish goomer in the back row, left. |
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And the five shipmates who served together, minus Russ H., who had returned home earlier.
(Me, Ron R., Jim G., John M., and Jerry C.) |
More, later, after I've caught up on sleep.
6 comments:
Looks like wonderful memories.
I thank God you returned home safely.
I saw the Alamo back in late '73 or perhaps early '74. During a trip in Basic, I want to say. But it may have been a trip during my assignment at Kelly. Great history there.
Sounds like a great time!
Linda, it was wonderful, amazing, fun, and heartbreaking to hear of how many sailors I knew personally who are no longer with us. Even though the "Elefsis crew" is the youngest of the bunch, many of our comtemporaries are long gone.
Ed, it was indeed, and I'm kicking myself over how many reunions I missed before I found this group.
Bittersweet. I understand.
But you have more to look forward to now, perhaps.
There's a special bond that forms between shipmates that non-sailors have a hard time understanding.
When you work on the ship you're traveling on, it's a completely different universe from when you ride on the ship as a passenger, and I think that's where the disconnect happens.
I spent 86 weeks at sea with Boeing, and my workmates/shipmates from that time are in a totally different category of people from my other friends. The only other people in that category are my friends from the Iowa, which I'm sure you understand.
Catching up with shipmates is always a special occasion.
Jim, you get it. Thank you. Catching up after 43 years is even more special than you realize. The years disappear as I see the years gone by with one eye, and see my friends as they were with the other.
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