Local man reunites with shipmates after more than 50 years

Photo submitted This picture of the U.S.S. Hewell was taken in the early 1950s and hangs proudly above Adams desk at the Bootheel Regional Planning Commission office in Dexter. [Click to enlarge]

Willard Adams, Solid Waste director for the Bootheel Regional Planning Commission and former Bernie Mayor, spent 18 months aboard the Navy cargo ship U.S.S. Hewell AKL-14.

"This all started several months ago," Adams recollected as he shared the story of his reunion. "It was all thanks to the convenience of the Internet."

Photo submitted Five friends from long ago recently shared pictures from their time together on the U.S.S. Hewell. From left are Bob Pergande, Willard Adams, Mel Risenhoover, Jesse Pearson and Dennis Smith. [Click to enlarge]

After entering the name of his ship, Adams began finding forum posts by people he remembered from his time at sea.

He started sending emails back and forth, sharing stories and memories with about 10 members of the crew of 26 enlisted men.

Shortly thereafter, Adams and his wife, Myrtle, received a call from an old shipmate from Mississippi. He was soon to be passing through the area and wanted to meet for a dinner together at Sikeston.

The couples met and shared stories and after the visit, Myrtle suggested that they get more of the men together for a reunion.

"She did all of the work on this," he said. "She organized, ordered tickets and made sure everything was in order."

It was decided that the meeting would take place in Branson from Sept. 4-7, even though scheduling was quite difficult.

"Only five of the 10 I had spoken to were able to come, but it was still great," Willard said.

The five sailors and their wives joined together in Branson for the first time in more than 50 years in early September of this year.

Willard said that while the wives went off shopping together, the old shipmates sat around and reminisced of their days together.

Adams boarded the U.S.S. Hewell in October 1951 at a submarine base in Honolulu, beginning one of the most memorable journeys of his life.

During his tour, the ship made 34 trips into 'very hostile' waters, carrying cargo and ammunition to ground troops.

The ship would travel to Japan to load up before each trip back to Korea.

"Basically, we hadn't seen each other since Christmas Day, 1952," he said. "We really had a great time."

The U.S.S. Hewell even kept an interesting history on its way to be decommissioned.

On its trek back across the Pacific Ocean, Hewell stopped in Midway where the ship was used in the filming of a major motion picture.

Hewell was the ship, 'The U.S.S. Reluctant,' used in the Henry Fonda and Jack Lemmon classic, "Mr. Robinson".

"She was a movie star," Willard said with a smile.

The ship was officially decommissioned on March 15, 1955 bringing to an end, an era that for a few men, holds some of the best and worst memories of their lives.

cnoles@dailystatesman.com