Updated: Friday, 28 Oct 2011, 6:23 PM CDT
Published : Friday, 28 Oct 2011, 6:23 PM CDT

Cory Pippin, Fox10 TV, Pensacola, FL

PENSACOLA, Fla. (WALA) - Retired sailors and their families are gathering to remember a different time. The members of the USS Nimitz Association are holding a reunion this weekend.

It's being held in Pensacola for the first time in its 14 year history.

"Every year we look forward to this. Every year I look for my shipmates to come, especially the guys I served with. You know, we had good times and a few bad times, but the good times always exceed the bad times," said Ed Deats, Nimitz Association President.

The group, with help from the Pensacola NAS Honor Guard, held a memorial for those who served. Chaplain Peter Norris spoke at the ceremony.

Norris' British ship worked alongside the Nimitz, and he was asked to join the group years ago.

"I think under the misunderstanding that I was ex-American Navy, but when they found the truth, they decided I could join anyway, so I joined and never looked back. These guys are like family to me. We're like family," Norris said.

After the ceremony, the veterans took to the shore, casting a special wreath out into the water.

The wreath is a reminder of sailors who gave their lives and of members of the Association who have passed away since the last gathering and will never make it to another yearly reunion.

Retired Commander Bill Paschall founded the Nimitz Association in 1997.

"In 1968, in South Vietnam, I lost five of my troops, and I thought to myself, 'That's for you guys,'" said Bill Paschall, "In 14 years of our existence, we have lost 12 retired chief petty officers and two wives, so that's what all this is about."

The group will meet in Sacramento, California next year.

Click here for original article on Fox 10 Pensacola TV.