A special group of veterans are in Lockport this week to renew old acquaintances and reminisce about their service to our country.
The Mobile Construction Battalion of Seabees who served in Vietnam are having their semi-annual reunion this week, organized by Seabee Art “Day” McCollum and his wife Irene.
Thirty-seven members of the MCB53 Alumni Association and their guests arrived in Lockport on Tuesday and will spend the week visiting the area and enjoying events planned by the McCollums.
Art McCollum, known as “Day” by family and friends, went to work at Harrison Radiator out of high school. When the Vietnam War broke out, he feared he would get drafted and followed some friends who had joined the Navy. McCollum served as a Seabee in the Navy from 1968 to 1972. His service included eight months in Vietnam, from March to November 1969.
After the war McCollum returned to Harrison’s and retired from there after 32 years. He then went to work driving motor coach for Ridge Road Express, which became Grand Tours, and retired from there after 19 years.
Seabees were trained for combat as well as construction. When they weren’t fighting, they were building. Their motto is “We build, we fight.”
A memorial to the Seabees has been erected in the former Fisherman’s Park, now Raymond Klimek Veterans Park, on River Road in North Tonawanda. McCollum and his brother George, both Lockport natives and Seabees, were instrumental in raising money to build the memorial, which includes a bronze statue of an infantryman, a giant bulldozer and a wall of memorial bricks.
Information on the Seabees says the government sought enlistees who had a background in construction. Such was the case with the McCollum brothers, who both had been heavy equipment operators.
Art and Irene McCollum were at the last MCB53 Alumni Association reunion two years ago in Arlington, Va. At their final get-together they asked for someone to volunteer to host the next reunion.
“They said if nobody steps up, we won’t have one,” Art said. “So I said, ‘I’ll host it.’”
Plans include a catered dinner tonight at Art and Irene’s home, a visit to Lewiston, a canal cruise, a tour of the Erie Canal Discovery Center and the Tiffany windows at First Presbyterian Church across the street, a possible visit to Medina Railroad Museum, and a catered dinner Friday night at the McCollum residence. On Saturday while the men have a meeting, Irene McCollum plans to take their significant others to the Lockport Community Farmers Market and Olcott.
Friday night’s dinner will feature a special presentation by Bill Dickman, a combat photographer in Vietnam.
Saturday night’s final event is a banquet at Cammarata’s restaurant with special guest speaker Glenn Foley, a Lockport resident who served with the Seabees in Antarctica after the Korean War ended.
The MCB53 group was based in Davisville, R.I., and the last time Art and Irene McCollum visited its site it was closed. A museum and elementary school now occupy the site.
Alumni members in Lockport this week came from across the country, including Pennsylvania, Michigan, Colorado, the Carolinas, Kentucky and Tennessee.