The veterans were the guests of the National Park Service and the USS Constitution Museum. They were treated to a tour of the Navy Yard, including Pier 8, Mason's launchpoint, and the World War II ship USS Cassin Young, a Fletcher class "DD" (destroyer) the men found similar to their "DE" (destroyer escort.) 

And May 20th was proclaimed USS Mason Day by the City of Boston and by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

The USS Constitution honored their predecessors by having them each engrave their names on a copper sheet, which was later permanently affixed to the hull of "Old Ironsides."

Fifty years earlier, these men literally had to fight their way into this same shipyard. Now, they were honored guests, recognized for how Proudly They Served.

 

Joseph "Jack" Davis (left) was reunited with his shipmates for the first time in fifty years at the Boston reunion. Here he reenacts the famous "signature" photo. The frigate USS McInerny provides the backdrop with a sailor from today's navy that Davis met and invited to join him for the shot. While Mason crew members were engaged in reunion activities, many of their family members went on a cruise of Boston Harbor on the McInerny as guests of the US Navy.