BANGOR (AP) – A military camp in Kuwait was the site of a small family reunion for a soldier from Orrington.

Army Spc. Brad Davis, 23, was standing in a chow line at Camp Doha a couple of weeks ago when he spotted a Marine officer with a name patch that read “Caldwell.”

Acting on a hunch, Davis approached him and asked, “Are you John?”

Davis last saw Lt. Colonel John Caldwell, his second cousin, nearly a decade ago, before Davis moved from Orrington to Memphis, Tenn.

“They were thrilled,” Elizabeth Caldwell, the Marine’s mother, said from her home in Memphis. “John hadn’t seen Brad since he was about to start high school, and it was just really exciting.”

Davis, a Black Hawk mechanic with the 159th Medevac Company, had been stationed in Wiesbaden, Germany, since October. He was called to Kuwait about a month ago.

Caldwell was in the reserves in Nesbit, Miss., and serving as a local county supervisor when he was called up about three weeks ago.

Caldwell knew Davis might be at the camp and looked for him earlier without success.

Word got back to Davis that an officer was looking for him, but Davis didn’t know who it could be.

Caldwell remains at Camp Doha, where he recently surveyed damage at missile-impact sites in northern Kuwait.

Davis and his unit has since been sent to Iraq, but the cousins’ families are glad to know the men had some time together.

Ray Davis said it’s hard having his son at war.

“It was comforting to know he had family over there,” he said.

“When you’re that far from home, it’s good to see someone you know,” Elizabeth Caldwell said. “It really gives them a boost.”

AP-ES-04-03-03 1232EST

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