The Sheraton Westport Plaza in St. Louis was the host hotel for the 2008 reunion, held September 25th through the 28th. At the invitation of the Mobile Construction Battalion 11 Association, our reunion was held in conjunction with theirs. The reason for the invitation? Our ship was named for a member of their battalion who received the Congressional Medal of Honor for valor in Vietnam, Marvin G. Shields.

We had eleven shipmates and ten wives in attendance:

Dick Gilbert 76-78 LT
Bill Morgan 71-74 RM2
*Mickey Kinney 70-75 BTC
Dave Trewin 73-74 RM2
Guy Cornett 71-74 RM2
Jim Wade 73-74 RM2
*Dave Thomas 70-75 STG2
Jerry Nie 71-73 HM3
Bob Canaan 72-74 RM3
Roger Kram 72-76 BT2
Steve Johnson 73-75 RM3

*Plank Owner

On Thursday evening, 14 of our attendees gathered with MCB-11 at their dinner reception. It was an interesting evening as we met several Seabees who served with Marvin Shields. We heard their stories about him being an average Joe who when called upon acted valiantly. They were proud to have served with him.

Friday was a busy day for ten of our folks as they toured St. Louis and St. Charles for most of the day with MCB-11. In the evening they joined the rest of our crew at the Welcome Reception. It was an evening full of stories from our days aboard the ship and where life has taken us since.

A tour to the Anheuser Busch brewery kept us busy for part of the day on Saturday. Just prior to our evening banquet, the voting members of the association (all 11) held the association’s business meeting where we discussed issues such as the association membership, dues, the location for the 2010 reunion, and new officers. Meeting minutes will be posted in the near future.

In the evening we enjoyed a great banquet together and had more opportunities to get to know one another.

Sunday morning, we gathered one last time before we headed home with our heads full of new memories and looking forward to the next time we would gather together in 2010.

Photos coming soon! Stay tuned!