BUFFALO, N.Y. – One gentleman from Little Rock, Arkansas, came all the way to Buffalo to see the U.S.S. Little Rock commissioning with his Navy friend from Buffalo of nearly fifty years.
"We met in 1969 by being placed back to back in a row of cadets at a Naval air station in Pensacola with a marine corps drill instruction yelling at us, telling us how to live our live for the next four months,” said Carmie Henry of Little Rock.
That Navy training started a nearly half-century friendship between he and Paul J Wilhelm Sr. of Buffalo
"Became true brothers during that time,” Wilhelm said.
Their active duty service took them separate ways, but when they entered the reserves they got back in touch.
"Christmas cards, and we've gone to Arkansas, and Carmie has come up to Buffalo,” Wilhelm said. “We've just kept in touch, and e-mails and computers have made it a lot easier over the years.”
Then they learned the U.S.S. Little Rock would be commissioned in Buffalo.
"I keep saying I came here for two reasons, but watching the commissioning of the U.S.S. Little Rock was number two,” Henry said, gesturing that his friend Wilhelm was reason number one.
The two friends attended the commissioning together along with Wilhelm's wife.
They said they felt pride for being a part of it and a little fear for the new crew embarking on a journey that could be dangerous.
Neither had attended a Navy ship commissioning before.
"All these years, and it's a first for both of us,” Wilhem said.
So Saturday’s commissioning marks a new milestone in a nearly half-century friendship that all started in the Navy.
“This is my pal,” Henry said of Wilhelm.