For nearly 20 former soldiers and sailors, the last three days have been a remembrance of Hope.

About 51 people, including 19 former crew members and their spouses and children, gathered at the Eola Hotel Monday through today for the 22nd annual reunion of the World War II Navy-Army hospital ship U.S.S. Hope.

During its first year of service alone, the U.S.S. Hope traveled more than 50,000 miles transporting 8,080 wounded in the Pacific. That’s not including its 300-plus crew members and 569 passengers, including some crew members from other hospital ships in the region.

Due to sheer numbers, those who served on the U.S.S. Hope as far back at its 1944 commissioning didn’t have much of a chance to grow close to others outside their divisions.

&uot;What the reunion does is give us a chance to get acquainted&uot; and reminisce with others who have similar war experiences, said reunion association President David Myers of Mount Pleasant, Texas.

Some of the memories former crew members shared during this year’s reunion can be laughed at now, such as the time the Hope narrowly dodged a bomb launched by a Japanese bomber.

&uot;The (captain) ordered (the crew) to make a hard right turn,&uot; said Texas Nelson, a ship’s service crew member from 1944 to 1946. &uot;We just did miss it.&uot;

Natchez resident Noel Fuller, who served as a fireman in the Hope’s engine room and was instrumental in getting the reunion to Natchez this year, recalled another story with a laugh.

&uot;Typhoons blew our mail away once,&uot; Fuller said. &uot;It was several months before we got any mail.&uot;

Other memories they would rather forget, such as the memory of the many burials at sea the crew had to perform.

Still others stand out as poignant ones &045;&045; for example, Christmas 1944, when the Hope’s crew picked up four Army cargo plane crew members stranded on the high seas near New Guinea.

Former Hope crew member Ed Sharkey, a reunion attendee, later penned a short story about the night, saying that &uot;time will never dim the memory of this hallowed night for any of those who experienced it.&uot;

The group’s activities while in Natchez have included a business meeting, a Natchez tour and a meal at the Fullers’ home. A banquet will be held at the Eola tonight.