He wasted no time dropping out to join the Navy. Soon enough, he found himself assigned as a radar operator aboard the USS Alkaid, a converted merchant ship heading for the Pacific to serve as a troop and equipment transport.

Like most of the young crew of 200 or so, Bradshaw was new to the Navy, life on the sea and being away from home.

Over two years, he and the rest of the Alkaid crew completed 80-some missions, delivering everything from combat soldiers to soap to ports like New Zealand, Guadalcanal and Fiji.

Though the Alkaid wasn't a combat ship, it sailed in and out of combat zones and made all but one or two of the hauls unescorted in dangerous waters.

"We took 1,200 Marines to Iwo Jima," said Bradshaw, "and there were only 300 left from that unit when we came back to transport them out."

The 75-year-old Bradshaw, now retired and in Spotsylvania County, is hosting a special group this Memorial Day weekend: some 25 shipmates from the Alkaid.

They're in town to mark the 58th anniversary of the ship's commissioning and their arrival as 17- and 18-year-olds aboard the steel-decked vessel that became their home for two years.

I chatted with Bradshaw a few weeks back about the reunion and his time aboard the Alkaid, a Liberty Ship named for a star in Ursa Major.

As I listened to his stories of the war and life aboard a ship that was a steel sweatbox in summer, I was struck by the sense of brotherhood that underscored every tale.

My mind flashed back to the half-dozen or so columns I've done about military reunions over the years. The common denominator: nothing that follows ever creates the kind of bond that exists between those who serve together in wartime.

As shipmates of Bradshaw's began to arrive for this weekend's reunion, to include a cookout at his home and other festivities, I pulled a few aside to ask them about the connection they feel to their former shipmates.