Approximately 50 Navy veterans, spouses and friends from around the country gathered in Hampton Roads 20-24 Sep to attend the 23rd American Association of Naval Hospital Corpsmen (AAONHC) annual reunion.

The veterans represented a very wide range of service periods dating from recent conflicts in Southwest Asia and the Middle East to World War 2. The oldest veteran logged in at ninety-two years old and, amazingly enough, was able to don his service dress pharmacist's mate second class uniform for the formal dinner reception on Saturday evening.

Two days of local tours was highlighted with a combined TSCHR and VFA-31 sponsored tour of the USS George H. W. Bush (CVN-77) and the NAS Oceana Flight Line. Although the carrier tour was cut short due to sortie preparations for Hurricane Maria, the extra time afforded the association members time to attend not only tour the flight line but to receive a VFA-31 post-deployment presentation by Lt. Cmdr. James McMillan in the Tomcatters' squadron spaces. As with any event where veterans and active duty gather, trading stories and comparing notes made the encounter an absolute delight for all involved.

"The highlight of the tour was the flight line," said HM1 John Dailey, AAONHC member and native of Jackson, Arkansas who served in the late 70's and early 80's. "The camaraderie and fellowship, never gets old."

Dailey's remarks were in response to a young VFA-31 Sailor who approached Dailey to thank him for his service.

"It's absolutely incredible how well our Sailors and veterans were able to communicate across seven decades of U.S. Naval operations and history. It's obvious that although the ships and aircraft have changed, the heart and soul of the men and women that put on the uniform remains the same," said Jim McMillan, TSCHR Executive Director.

At least twenty U.S. warships have been named after Navy corpsman killed in action, with nine of those Sailors having received the Medal of Honor.
TSCHR provides student management, quota control, and professional development for Sailors, Marines, Soldiers and Airmen from the U.S. Armed Forces and 18 allied nations.

For more information on Training Support Center Hampton Roads, visit the TSCHR website: https://www.netc.navy.mil/centers/tsc_hr/.



For more information, visit http://www.navy.mil, http://www.facebook.com/usnavy, or http://www.twitter.com/usnavy.

For more news from Training Support Center Hampton Roads, visit www.navy.mil/.