Peter Herrmann said he wasn’t all that emotional, as he presided over a Veterans Day ceremony Wednesday. But after National Guard chaplain David Berube offered an invocation, after taps echoed through VFW Post 9261 in Oak Bluffs, and after Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School sophomore Emily Hewson sang the national anthem, the emotion came.

Surrounded by Island veterans, many in uniform, Mr. Herrmann, said it was a special day for him.

“I have two shipmates . . . .” he said, pausing, and then pausing again to gather his composure, “that I haven’t seen for 50 years.”

The two shipmates, George Blakeney of Sarataoga, N.Y., and Jim (Woody) Woodside, of Bridgeton, N.J., traveled all the way to Martha’s Vineyard this week to reunite with Mr. Herrmann, quartermaster of the local post.

Ceremony was held indoors at the VFW hall this year as a northeaster lashed the Island. — Steve Myrick

“Four hundred sixty miles, and it was my pleasure,” Mr. Woodside said.

The three Navy veterans served during the Viet Nam War aboard the U.S.S. Kitty Hawk. They were all communications electricians, keeping the ship’s vital communication network up and running in support of the combat aircraft operating from the massive carrier.

“I hadn’t seen Pete since 1967,” Mr. Blakeney said. “With Woody’s help, we connected and planned this day out. It’s been a long time.”

The annual Veterans Day ceremony was forced indoors and plans for the annual parade were shelved because of a northeast storm that lashed the Island, cancelling ferries. Mr. Herrmann recalled a day aboard his ship when the weather forced a change of plans. There was a typhoon forecast in the Pacific.

“They sent all the escort ships back, but we rode it out,” Mr. Herrmann said. “From the flight deck to the ocean, it was 90 feet. I can remember seeing splashing coming over the top of the flight deck.”

Mr. Herrmann and Mr. Blakeney did two tours aboard the U.S.S. Kitty Hawk. Mr. Woodside signed up for a third tour. Mr. Blakeney and the Mr. Woodside bonded because they both grew up in New Jersey, and they made fast friends with a Mr. Herrmann, a young man from Oak Bluffs.

“We were all dedicated and we all helped each other, no matter what the job was,” Mr. Woodside said. “And we had a good time when we went ashore.”

Those gathered at the VFW hall Wednesday were there to honor the service and sacrifice of Island veterans. The reunited Navy buddies were young and green way back then, and they didn’t see their duty as much of a sacrifice. Now the reminders are never far from their minds.

“I was a teenager. I was 17 when I went in,” Mr. Blakeny said. “We were good friends, we got along with everybody. We worked together, we played together. Luckily we made it. We lost a few shipmates along the way.”