BEAUMONT - By Megan Dillard - It's been more than 60 years since the end of World War II.
For many, it's something taught in textbooks.
For others, the memories of that time are still very real.
KFDM spent the afternoon with a group of Navy veterans who travelled from all over the country for an annual reunion.
These men all served aboard the U.S.S. Midway, an aircraft carrier that first deployed in the 1940s.
One retired officer explained, life on an aircraft carrier is like a community at sea.
Now, years later, these men still consider themselves family.
A group of old men, greeting one another, just like they do every year.
"Let's all go over here, we can meet everybody else."
They don't move as quickly as they used to..
"Well now we can sit around and talk about sea stories."
But the memories of their time at sea are sharp as ever.
"I spent six years total on the Midway."
Each of these sailors served on the U.S.S. Midway, an aircraft carrier that first deployed in the 1940s.
"I can go through all that without getting shook up about it."
Some memories are difficult, others bring laughter.
"I'm starving, I'm starving!"
As they eat, they think back.
"Now I don't remember a chow line aboard ship being this good."
"Those were the days, right?"
Retired Lt. Commander Ray Scent led many of these men.
"I think there were a lot of times they'd like to have thrown me over the side!"
He spent nearly 30 years in the Navy.
"Don't you move! He pushed my shoulders in, then boom. Six feet!"
Today, he still considers these sailors his family.
"Here I am, with the men that served with me years and years ago. What's the heart and soul? It's these guys."
Sharing memories from decades ago and plans to keep making new ones.
"Hope to do it again next year. Oh we will!"
This is the ninth year these veterans have gathered in Beaumont.
The veterans range in age from the early seventies to late eighties.
The men say they were honored to share their stories of sacrifice, history, and patriotism.
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