“Billy got word to me that he thought Pete’s ship was anchored in Buckner Bay and that I should look him up,” Cotty said. “I did not find him on my first try, but on my second attempt, the harbormaster allowed me to board a Navy water-taxi. It carried me all around the bay until I found Pete’s ship.”

The two hadn’t seen each other for 18 months.

“He was definitely shocked when I came aboard his ship,” Cotty said. “However, we were both shocked when the officer of the deck called Pete to tell him someone else had come aboard to see him. Our older brother, Billy, arrived three minutes after me.”

The brothers had lunch and spent the rest of the day together.

“It was a very special time,” Cotty said.

Billy, who had won naval combat campaign stars in both the Atlantic and Pacific Theaters, told his brothers he had hitch-hiked from his ship’s pier across the bay, over to the pier nearest Pete’s ship.

“I know you won’t believe this,” he said, “but our Seabee cousin from Burlington picked me up and gave me a ride over here.”

Cotty was later assigned to the four-man crew of the harbormaster’s personal landing craft-control boat.