A gathering of personnel from the former US Naval Air Base will travel to the Island to reminisce on glory days, just short of 20 years since the East End facility was handed over to Bermuda.

So far, 30 people have signed up for this September’s reunion at the Grotto Bay Hotel. Some of them, such as Ed Falato, go back long enough to remember when the hotel was built.

“It’s paradise — when they say Bermuda is another world, it really is,” Mr Falato said.

As the driver for the Base’s Commanding Officer H.G. Rich, Mr Falato got to see “more of the Island than anybody else” during his tenure at the facility, from 1971 to 1974.

“We all love Bermuda; it’s in our blood — it’s part of us,” he said. “I even have a Bermuda flag on my wall.”

For Mr Falato’s fond recollections of local hospitality, balmy weather and bright seas combine with memories of a significant era in the Island’s history.

“The Captain and I were at a reception at Government House on the night that Governor Richard Sharples and Captain Hugh Sayer were shot,” Mr Falato recalled of the 1973 murders that rocked the Island.

“We left that night, and by the time we got back to the Base, we heard that he had been assassinated.”

For the US Navy and Marine Corps veterans of the US Base, most of whom know one another only via Facebook, the gathering from September 5 to 13 will be their first chance to meet one another in person.

Mr Falato said the group would be happy to visit schools or meet with local groups keen to hear about the bygone days of the Base.

Aside from touring the old property, the group hope to visit Nonsuch Island — along with much-loved locations patronised by Base personnel, such as the Swizzle Inn and the Black Horse Tavern.

Asked what had sealed Bermuda in his memories, Mr Falato replied: “The people. The weather was nice, the scenery and the water were fantastic, and Bermuda has the greatest people.

“It was the best three and a half years of my life — it was an adventure that we all lived. I can’t wait to be back.”