Busloads of schoolchildren have replaced the bustle of men in uniform at Union Terminal, but in their minds' eye, they can reach back across six decades and remember the day, March 30, 1941, when they boarded a train and left for service — and eventually, war.

        About 100 men with the 51st Fleet Division, U.S. Naval Reserve, left that night for Norfolk, Va., for two months of training. Mary Rosenfelder was there to see her boyfriend and future husband, Victor Rosenfelder, off. She cried all the way home.

        They served aboard an ammunition ship, USS Kilauea; it was named, ominously, for a volcano. The ship carried 6,000 tons of explosives. Ask Tom Mara what it was like to serve aboard such a ship, and he answers by shaking his arms nervously.

World War II buddies Tom Mara, Victor Rosenfelder, Earl Kattwinkel and Edward Sauer and their wives have remained close for six decades. (Steven M. Herppich photo) | ZOOM |

        Gradually, the sailors dispersed to other ships and assignments, especially after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

        But a handful who served together have stayed in close touch. Mr. Mara, 80, of Green Township, and Mr. Rosenfelder, 83, of Mount Washington, remained together on board the Kilauea through the war. Edward Sauer, 79, of Wyoming, and Earl Kattwinkel, 80, of Mount Washington, eventually were transferred to other ships.

        But beginning in the early 1950s they began what has become a longtime friendship. Mr. Mara and his wife, Rose, have been married 53 years. Mr. Rosenfelder and his wife, Mary, 56 years. Mr. Sauer and his wife, Ruth, 56 years. Mr. Kattwinkel and his wife, Joan, 54 years.

        They live here and raised families here. Theirs is a friendship born of shared experience.

        “When you're on a ship it's like family,” Mr. Sauer said. “You live with the guys, you go on liberties together. It was pretty intense, it's relatively dangerous. There's bonding.”

        But it is not just about war stories and the glory of victory. It's about lasting friendship in a shifting society, where enduring relationships are all the more remarkable in a fast-forward age where people drift apart.

        They insist there is no magic to the reason the friendship has lasted this long.

        “We all got along good,” Mr. Sauer said.

        “We've all got the same sense of humor,” Mr. Kattwinkel said. “If we could needle each other, we'd do it. It's been like that for the last 60 years.”

        “It originally started with the wives,” Mr. Mara said. “They came up with the idea.”

About 100 men with the 51st Fleet Division, U.S. Naval Reserve, left Union Terminal the night of March 30, 1941, for training. | ZOOM |

        They started with five couples. A few years ago one of the couples, Al Finkbeiner and his wife, died within a year of each other. The four couples continue to meet once every three months. They go out for dinner, then return to one of their homes for dessert and a round of Trivial Pursuit. The difference between now and then is their get-togethers end about midnight instead of drifting into the early morning hours.

        “At first the men would sit in one group and talk about the Navy and the women would talk about the kids,” Mrs. Sauer said.

        But these days the talk is less and less about the Navy. They are not certain how many of the rest of the 100 who left together 60 years ago are still alive. They guess only 10 or so, not counting some who may have moved out of the area.

        The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs says the death rate for World War II veterans is 1,100 a day among the 5.5 million living veterans.

        One afternoon this week they all got together at the Museum Center at Union Terminal, sitting at a table in a rotunda surrounded by schoolchildren. They planned their next get-together for April 7 at the Rosenfelders. They talked amid echoes more youthful than the din of 60 years ago.

        “We just had a good rapport,” Mr. Kattwinkel said. “We still think the world of each other. There's nothing strange about it. It's as natural as apple pie.”
       

Retirement community could rise at site of fire
Builder betting on old-time style as newest trend
Crimes troubling Miami U.
Levee unfolds; excitement grows
60 years later, they're still going off to war
Killer's transfer request denied
N. Ky. abstinence program not expected to affect many
As NKU budget hits record, Votruba urges fiscal restraint
Panels to tell pair of stories
Baby sitter admits to molestation
Bill would add Butler juvenile judge
Butler trims on hold
Charter schools get break from Senate
Computers in Florence police cars prove their potential in first hour
Condemned man's lawyer appeals to Taft
Ky. pulls ad after lawyers complain
Language barriers grow with minorities
Man surrenders to police for Price Hill store robbery
Morgan Elementary names new principal
Police dog was 'always something special'
Report: UK should do more for gender equity
Sabo possible skipper for Florence team
Kentucky News Briefs
Tristate A.M. Report