By Frank Dotson, Sr.
Several years ago, well, many years ago, there was a handful of young men who came together from several parts of the United States to build a Seabee Naval Base half-way around the world in Guam.
This was in 1973. Some of us came from Viet Nam; some from Diego Garzia (a little island in the Indian Ocean); some came from Boot Camp; some we were not sure where they came from. We were 18-21 years old. We knew a lot about nothing when it came to what adult life was all about. However, with some training, compassion, and other people in the same boat to talk to, we were all learning. Most of us spent 9-14 months eating, sleeping, working, and partying together. At the end of this time we were Brothers from Different Mothers, as we call each other.
Then it came to the end of the deployment with NMCB-1 (Naval Mobile Construction Battalion -One) , and we all went on to whatever. Some got out of the military; some stayed in and made other deployments. We all just went on living our lives the best we knew how. We had no idea we would all get together again someday.
That “someday” came about four years ago through social media. We have managed to get enough brothers together to having annual reunions. The 2017 Reunion was held here in Parsons, West Virginia. With the help of some local businesses, to name a few, Debbie Stevens and Little Andi’s Restaurant, it was a total success.
By sponsoring this event I got a chance to show off Tucker County at its finest, as well as surrounding attractions. When we were leaving the WWII Museum in Rowlesburg, we encountered a young group of visiting trainees from Camp Dawson. One of the Seabee wives told them, “Take a good look at these guys. This is what you will look like in 40 years!” All attending this (now) annual event enjoyed themselves so much and want to come back to Tucker County in the future.
This rock has all of our names on it and has been placed at the veterans’ memorial in Parsons as a symbol honoring those who served and as a celebration of old warriors getting together after 44 years.