Should you try to reconnect with past friends at the risk of ruining the good memories you had of them?

I have had some great friends in life. I have lost contact with most through moving to other towns, etc. I would like to re-connect with some of them, but I am curious if it would just ruin the memory of the past friendship. In the Navy when I was younger I had some amazing friends, but I wonder if it was just the shared experiences we were involved in. If I contacted them now to renew friendship, would the difference in circumstances now result in pain and the ruination of the good memories I had? Should I leave the relationships in the past and just keep the positive images of my past friends as they are? We come from very different backgrounds and lifestyles, so I think I may have put more into the memory of our friendships than they did. If I were to call them now, some 18 years later, would they be like, “Who the hell are you? Get a life and leave me alone!” Is it worth destoying the positive images of happy times we had to say hello to people who live across the country and have not tried to contact me? I am hoping Gail is reading to give me her wise words. Thanks everyone!