A few years ago I got a call from an Army buddy. We did basic training together back in '66. After basic I went to an artillery unit and he went to an MP unit, both of us still on Ft Bragg. We stayed in touch on the base until my unit got alerted for overseas deployement.
Turns out he lives not too far away, and he stopped by unannounced while I was adding a second floor to my barn. I thought he was a building inspector as he carried an envelope with him, and I had not taken a permit to do the work.
We had nice chat on the deck over coffee as he had quit drinking years ago. The envelope contained a photo of us out on a field training exercize. He observed I could walk past him on the street and he would not recognize me. I thought the same of him. Amazing what 35 years can change.