They call it a family reunion.

Every year, members of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team from around the state gather to catch up, talk story, share a meal and some memories, and mourn the deaths of their comrades — some who died on World War II battlefields, others who died over the preceding year.

Yesterday, some 600 people -442nd veterans and their families -came to celebrate the 66th anniversary of the formation of the combat team. The gathering is meant to pay tribute to 442nd veterans who fought as part of the Japanese-American unit at a time when their loyalty to the United States was questioned. The reunion is also designed to make sure the 442nd isn't forgotten as its members die.

Bill Thompson, president of the 442nd Veterans Club, said it's important for the veterans to come together once a year, reconnecting and remembering, crying and laughing. It's even more important these days, he said, since the vets are now in their 80s and 90s.

"I think they all look forward to this event," he said. "Every year we welcome friends back because every year people drop off along the way."

Kenny Shimabukuro, a 91-year-old 442nd veteran, said the annual gathering also brings lots of old memories to the surface -even memories he would rather forget. "You try to erase" the bad, he said. But everything comes back — and quickly -when he gets in the same room with war buddies.

Yesterday, Shimabukuro fought back tears as he recalled his World War II service.

Even 60 years later, he said, the memories of his time with the 442nd are crystal clear.

He can remember the exact day he was injured on a battlefield in France — "Nov. 8," he says, showing off a spry smile. He took shrapnel to the back, which landed him in a hospital in England for five months. The injury, he said, came just hours before he was supposed to get a reprieve from the front.

Eileen Sakai, president of the Sons and Daughters of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, said the veterans consider their annual banquet something of a family reunion. "They're like brothers," she said.

The gathering yesterday in the Hilton Hawaiian Village's Coral Ballroom included a keynote speech by Superior Court Judge Vincent Okamoto, of California, who fought in the Vietnam War and was born in an internment camp during World War II. He said the 442nd "never quit." When Okamoto was sent to Vietnam, "I felt I could not betray that standard."

Kevin Ueunten, a Punahou School Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps cadet, was at the banquet with other JROTC members and said the stories of the 442nd veterans need to be told before they're lost forever.

"If it wasn't for that generation's sacrifices, the lifestyle we have today wouldn't be possible," said the 17-year-old, who wants to join the Air Force. "It inspires me to want to follow in their footsteps."