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Navy Commencement 1992 5/27/92 [OA 7574] [2]
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Navy Commencement 1992 5/27/92 [OA 7574] [2]
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George H.W. Bush Presidential Records
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Speechwriting, White House Office of
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Speech File Backup Files
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Folder Title:
Navy Commencement 1992 5/27/92 [OA 7574] [2]
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26
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5
6
FACT CHECK
McGroarty/Bunton
May 21, 1992
11:15 a.m.
[NAVY]
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: NAVAL ACADEMY COMMENCEMENT
ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND
MAY 27, 1992
[Acknowledgements.] Members of the Navy faculty, families,
friends, the Brigade -- and of course the Class of 1992: thank
you all for this warm welcome. //
W.P. game! 1991
[[Since I took office, I've given the commencement speech at
A.F.-
Mayz9,1911 the Coast Guard Academy, at Air force and West Point. I know
CG-
May24,
some will say, "He saved the best for last." // Actually, I
1989
just wanted to salute the Class that finally captured the Army
mules. ]]
I understand many of you will go on from here to Pensacola
for flight training. Not too long ago, I visited Pensacola
myself, and toured that marvelous museum of aviation. In fact, I
PENSACOLA REMARKS
was told the museum was making plans to add to their collection
pa
of "vintage" planes one of the ones I flew: an old Avenger,
March 7,1992 1,
hauled up from the bottom of Lake Michigan. [[Let me say for the
record: I'm not the one who put it there. // I left two in the
Pacific -- but none in the Great Lakes. //]]
As President, I've made it my mission to preserve three
legacies of concern to all Americans. I spoke at Southern
Methodist about the new economic realities -- about the
opportunities we'll have in the century ahead. At Notre Dame, my
focus was the family -- the first lessons in faith and character
that learned at home. Today, I want to speak about the great
"on your watch"
2
mission you've taken up as your own: preserving freedom, /
keeping the peace.
You [take up your command] at a watershed moment -- as old
order gives way to new. Think of the changes that have taken
place since you first came to Annapolis four short years ago, for
world. Europe was a continent divided -- East from West. From
Central America to the Horn of Africa to Afghanistan and
Southeast Asia, the U.S. faced Soviet expansionism. And history
had never seen a communist "domino" fall in democracy's
direction.
Today, the Wall / the Warsaw Pact / the Soviet empire --
even the Soviet Union itself -- all are gone, swept away by the
most powerful idea known to man: the undeniable desire of every
individual to be free.
We must recognize these events for what they were: An
indication of our ideals -- a testament to faith -- but also, a
victory for the men and women who fought for freedom. Because
this triumph didn't just happen. Imperial communism didn't just
fall -- it was pushed. //
Your generation will be the first to enjoy the fruits of
that victory. Today, the threat of nuclear war is more distant
than at any time in the past four decades. We are working now
with the new nations of the old Soviet empire -- with Russia and
Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Byelarus -- to make good on the great
promise of the START Treaty we signed just a year ago. As
Commander-in-Chief, I think back often to the day I did what so
3
many of my predecessors must have longed to do: to give the
order for our nuclear forces to stand down from alert. //
This triumph means new opportunities for global prosperity -
- a new commitment to free trade and free enterprise. From South
America to southern Africa to the Far East, free market reform is
now sweeping away the dead hand of state socialism. Capitalism
is recognized the world over as the engine of prosperity and
social progress -- an nations are reorganizing themselves to
unleash the limitless potential of the individual. //
For years, the Western world feared the have-not nations
would rally around a scheme called the new international economic
order, to redistribute the world's wealth. The trend we see
today runs toward the free market -- toward a new world economy
based on creating wealth by allowing enterprising individuals to
reap the fruits of their labors. //
Governments can help foster free enterprise -- or put
obstacles in its path. There should be no question what course
we must take. The U.S. must remain a forceful advocate for free
trade: Here in our own hemisphere, as we work toward a trade
agreement linking the U.S., Canada, and Mexico -- in South
America, through the Enterprise for the Americas initiative --
and in the global economy, through GATT and the Uruguay Round.
But the promise of new prosperity must not blind us to the
challenges of new economic realities. We must guard against
healthy economic competition degenerating into open economic
conflict. Many of our key security partners are our toughest
4
economic competitors. Nations that lack the confidence to
compete will be tempted to seek refuge behind the walls of
protectionism -- to group themselves into warring trade blocs.
We did not end the Cold War to make the world safe for trade
wars. We must fight the protectionist impulse here at home --
and we must work with our partners for trade that is free, fair
and open. //
Beyond this economic challenge, we must not be blind to the
dangers that remain. Yes, since the day you came to Annapolis,
we've made great gains for freedom. But we have not yet entered
an era of perpetual peace. //
As old threats recede -- new ones emerge. By the year 2000,
NSC".
as many as [xx] nations may possess both weapons of mass
destruction and the ballistic missiles to deliver them. Many of
these regimes will be ruled by leaders more rash than rational -
- less likely to be dissuaded from outlaw acts by theories of
deterrence than by nations with the means and will to frustrate
their aggressive aims. //
And with the end of East-West stand-off, ideology has given
way to ethnicity as a key factor for conflict. / Ancient
hatreds -- ethnic rivalries frozen in time -- threaten to revive
themselves and reignite. We see it now in the war-ravaged
Balkans -- in tensions within and among some of the new nations
of the old Soviet empire. For all the overwhelmingly hopeful
aspects of the new nationalism we see in the world -- for all the
proud history and heritage we see reclaimed -- for all the
5
captive nations now free: we must stand for the principles that
make nationalism a positive force. //
We will face new challenges in the realm of diplomacy:
Where in the past we have established formal alliances -- the
future may require us to turn more often to coalitions, built to
respond to the needs of the moment. We saw a glimpse of that
future in the Persian Gulf. Such a world puts a premium on
nations certain of their interests, faithful to their ideals --
and on leaders ready to act. //
We will face a challenge that takes us beyond containment -
- to a key role in helping forge a democratic peace. In the
weeks ahead, Congress will be considering the question of aid to
promote democratic reform in Russia and the other Commonwealth
States. For all the pressure to focus our energies on needs here
at home -- for all that we must and will do to open new
opportunities to every American -- we cannot fail in this
critical mission. //
When we think of the world you and your children will
inherit, no single factor shapes their future more than this:
whether the lands of the old Soviet empire move forward into
democracy -- or slide back into anarchy or authoritarianism. The
outcome of this great transition will effect everything: from
the amount government must devote to defense instead of domestic
needs -- to a future for our children free from fear.
Yes the aid I've requested from Congress is significant --
ASRECH
bit it is also a tiny fraction of the four trillion dollars this
aprila,92
(more than)
6
nation spent to wage and win the Cold War. We owe it to those
who began this task -- as well as those who will come after -- to
finish the great work we've begun. //
But if we hope to remain free and at peace in a world that
still holds dangers, we must maintain defenses adequate to the
task. This defense rests on four key elements:
First, we must maintain a strong strategic deterrent. Yes,
our nuclear forces can and will be smaller in the future. But
even in the aftermath of the Cold War, Russia retains its nuclear
arsenal. And we learned in Desert Storm about the progress Iraq
had made toward building a nuclear weapon of its own.
We must heed the lessons learned in the Gulf War, when a
single Scud missile took the lives of more Americans than any
other combat action. We cannot count on deterrence to stop a
madman with missiles. We must deploy a defense against ballistic
missile attack. //
Second, even in our new world, the fundamental facts of geo-
politics don't change: security means forward deployment. From
the forty years of Cold War to the forty days of Desert Storm,
forward deployed forces have helped America keep danger from its
shores. The future will be no different.
Third, the nature of the challenges we are likely to face
will put a premium on rapid response. We live in a day when
clear and present dangers are few -- when new threats can emerge
with little or no warning. Throughout history, our ability to
project power has helped us keep the peace -- and, if need be, to
7
win the war. There is no substitute for forces that are trained,
equipped and ready.
Fourth, even as we reduce our armed forces, we must retain
the capability to reconstitute our forces to meet any future
threat that may arise. Production lines for planes, tanks, ships
and subs can't be turned on and off like a water faucet. We've
got to keep our technological edge -- keep our R&D focused on the
next generation of weapons you'll need to succeed.
I want to turn now to a final challenge -- one that will be
familiar to you after four years of study. It begins with this
fundamental fact: the crucial connection in any democracy
between military strength and moral support. We've seen the
power of this connection in Desert Storm; we've felt its lack in
Vietnam. The message must be clear: America is safest at home
when we stand as a force for stability in the world.
0743.C47
In many respects, this may be the greatest chal
The Second World War
Because the history of this century reveals the deep
Winston Churchill
urge in the American character -- a desire to see in
won victory a sign that America's work in the world
Such an urge is not unusual in democracies. It
found in nations more interested in the comforts of
conquests abroad. But it can be devastating in a WC
still holds dangers -- that still poses threats to C
and ideals.
(noton title page)
Winston Churchill made this point in the subtitle to the
last volume in his epic history of World War Two. He called it:
Friump ht + Tragedy: title qvsl6
I
Quote" (there of Volume.)
8
"How the great democracies triumphed -- and so were able to
life
resume the follies which had so nearly cost them their lives.
More than once this century, America has proved its mettle.
More than once, we've come late to conflict -- and turned back
mortal threats to freedom. But as a nation, we have yet to prove
that we can lead when there is no enemy on the doorstep. We have
proved and proved again: we can win the war. Now we must wage
the peace.
And we will do it with your help.
I began today by speaking about the great victory of freedom
in the world as vindication of the American ideal. I know there
are some who may think there's something presumptuous about that
claim -- something boastful. But it is not -- for one simple
reason: Democracy isn't our creation -- democracy is our
inheritance. / We can't take credit for democracy, but we can
take the precious gift of freedom / preserve it / and pass it on
-- as my generation does to you, and you, too, will do one day.
And perhaps - provided we seize the opportunities now open to us
-- we can secure the new world of freedom that has always been
our aim. //
Once again, thank you all for this warm welcome.
Congratulations to the Navy Class of '92 -- and may God bless the
United States of America.
# # #
McGroarty/Bunton
May 20, 1992
12:30 p.m.
[NAVY]
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: NAVAL ACADEMY COMMENCEMENT
ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND
MAY 27, 1992
[Acknowledgements.] Members of the Navy faculty, families,
the Brigade
friends -- and of course the Class of 1992: thank you all for
this warm welcome. //
[[Since I took office, I've given the commencement speech at
the Coast Guard Academy, at Air force and West Point. I know
some will say, "He saved the best for last." // Actually, I
just wanted to salute the Class that finally captured the Army
mules. ]]
I understand many of you will go on from here to Pensacola
for flight training. Not too long ago, I visited Pensacola
myself, and toured that marvelous museum of aviation. In fact, I
was told the museum was making plans to add to their collection
of "vintage" planes one of the ones I flew: an old Avenger,
hauled up from the bottom of Lake Michigan. [[Let me say for the
record: I'm not the one who put it there. // I left two in the
Pacific -- but none in the Great Lakes. //]]
As President, I've made it my mission to preserve three
legacies of concern to all Americans. I spoke at Southern
Methodist about the new economic realities -- about the
opportunities we'll have in the century ahead. At Notre Dame, my
focus was the family -- the first lessons in faith and character
that come at home. Today, I want to speak about the great
2
mission you've taken up as your own: preserving freedom, /
keeping the peace.
You [take up your command] at a watershed moment -- as old
order gives way to new. Think of the changes that have taken
place since you first came to Annapolis four short years ago, for
plebe summer back in 1988. That was a different era -- another
world. Europe was a continent divided -- East from West. From
Central America to the Horn of Africa to Afghanistan and
Southeast Asia, the U.S. faced Soviet expansionism. And history
had never seen a communist "domino" fall in democracy's
direction.
Today, the Wall / the Warsaw Pact / the Soviet empire --
even the Soviet Union itself -- all are gone, swept away by the
most powerful idea known to man: the undeniable desire of every
individual to be free.
We must recognize these events for what they were: A
miracle -- a testament to faith -- but also, a victory for the
men and women who fought for freedom. Because this triumph
didn't just happen. Imperial communism didn't just fall -- it
was pushed. //
Your generation will be the first to enjoy the fruits of
that victory. Today, the threat of nuclear war is more distant
than at any time in the past four decades. We are working now
with the new nations of the old Soviet empire -- with Russia and
Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Byelarus -- to make good on the great
promise of the START Treaty we signed just a year ago. As
3
Commander-in-Chief, I think back often to the day I did what so
many of my predecessors must have longed to do: to give the
order for our nuclear forces to stand down from alert. //
This triumph means new opportunities for global prosperity -
- a new commitment to free trade and free enterprise. From South
America to southern Africa to the Far East, free market reform is
now sweeping away the dead hand of state socialism. Capitalism
is recognized the world over as the engine of prosperity and
social progress -- and nations are reorganizing themselves to
unleash the limitless potential of the individual.
//
For years, the Western world feared the have-not nations
would rally around a scheme called the new international economic
order, to redistribute the world's wealth. The trend we see
today runs toward the free market -- toward a new world economy
based on creating wealth by allowing enterprising individuals to
reap the fruits of their labors. //
Governments can help foster free enterprise -- or put
obstacles in its path. There should be no question what course
we must take. The U.S. must remain a forceful advocate for free
trade: Here in our own hemisphere, as we work toward a trade
agreement linking the U.S., Canada, and Mexico
in South
America, through the Enterprise for the Americas initiative --
and in the global economy, through GATT and the Uruguay Round.
But the promise of new prosperity must not blind us to the
challenges of new economic realities. We must guard against
healthy economic competition degenerating into open economic
4
conflict. Many of our key security partners are our toughest
economic competitors. Nations that lack the confidence to
compete will be tempted to seek refuge behind the walls of
protectionism -- to group themselves into warring trade blocs.
We did not end the Cold War to make the world safe for trade
wars. We must fight the protectionist impulse here at home --
and we must work with our partners for trade that is free, fair
and open. //
Beyond this economic challenge, we must not be blind to the
dangers that remain. Yes, since the day you came to Annapolis,
we've made great gains for freedom. But we have not yet entered
an era of perpetual peace. //
As old threats recede -- new ones emerge. By the year 2000,
as many as [xx] nations may possess both weapons of mass
destruction and the ballistic missiles to deliver them. Many of
these regimes will be ruled by leaders more rash than rational -
- less likely to be dissuaded from outlaw acts by theories of
deterrence than by nations with the means and will to frustrate
their aggressive aims. / /
And with the end of East-West stand-off, ideology has given
way to ethnicity as a key factor for conflict. / Ancient
hatreds -- ethnic rivalries frozen in time -- threaten to revive
themselves and reignite. We see it now in the war-ravaged
Balkans -- in tensions within and among some of the new nations
of the old Soviet empire. For all the overwhelmingly hopeful
aspects of the new nationalism we see in the world -- for all the
5
proud history and heritage we see reclaimed -- for all the
captive nations now free: we must stand for the principles that
make nationalism a positive force. //
We will face new challenges in the realm of diplomacy:
Where in the past we have established formal alliances -- the
future may require us turn more often to coalitions, built to
respond to the needs of the moment. We saw a glimpse of that
future in the Persian Gulf. Such a world puts a premium on
nations certain of their interests, faithful to their ideals --
and on leaders ready to act. //
We will face a challenge that takes us beyond containment -
- to a key role in helping forge a democratic peace. In the
weeks ahead, Congress will be considering the question of aid to
promote democratic reform in Russia and the other Commonwealth
States. For all the pressure to focus our energies on needs here
at home -- for all that we must and will do to open new
opportunities to every American -- we cannot fail in this
critical mission. //
When we think of the world you and your children will
inherit, no single factor shapes their future more than this:
whether the lands of the old Soviet empire move forward into
democracy -- or slide back into anarchy or authoritarianism. The
outcome of this great transition will effect everything: from
the amount government must devote to defense instead of domestic
needs -- to a future for our children free from fear.
6
Yes, the aid I've requested from the Congress is significant
-- but it is also a tiny fraction of the four trillion dollars
this nation spent to wage and win the Cold War. We owe it to
those who began this task -- as well as those who will come after
-- to finish the great work we've begun. //
But if we hope to remain free and at peace in a world that
still holds dangers, we must maintain defenses adequate to the
task. This defense rests on four key elements:
First, we must maintain a strong strategic deterrent. Yes,
our nuclear forces can and will be smaller in the future. But
even in the aftermath of the Cold War, Russia retains its nuclear
arsenal. And we learned in Desert Storm about the progress Iraq
had made toward building a nuclear weapon of its own.
We must heed the lessons learned in the Gulf War, when a
single Scud missile took the lives of more Americans than any
other combat action. We cannot count on deterrence to stop a
madman with missiles. We must deploy a defense against ballistic
missile attack. //
Second, even in our new world, the fundamental facts of geo-
politics don't change: security means forward deployment. From
the forty years of Cold War to the forty days of Desert Storm,
forward deployed forces have helped America keep danger far from
its shores. The future will be no different.
Third, the nature of the challenges we are likely to face
will put a premium on rapid response. We live in a day when
clear and present dangers are few -- when new threats can emerge
7
with little or no warning. Throughout history, our ability to
project power has helped us keep the peace -- and, if need be, to
win the war. There is no substitute for forces that are trained,
equipped and ready.
Fourth, even as we reduce our armed forces, we must retain
the capability to reconstitute our forces to meet any future
threat that may arise. Production lines for planes, tanks, ships
and subs can't be turned on and off like a water faucet. We've
got to keep our technological edge -- keep our R&D focused on the
next generation of weapons you'll need to succeed.
Q I want to
turn now to a final challenge -- one that will be familiar to you
after four years of study. It begins with this fundamental fact:
the crucial connection in any democracy between military strength
and moral support. We've seen the power of this connection in
Desert Storm; we've felt its lack in Vietnam. The message must
be clear: America is safest at home when we stand as a force for
stability in the world.
In many respects, this may be the greatest challenge of all.
Because the history of this century reveals the deep isolationist
urge in the American character -- a desire to see in every hard-
won victory a sign that America's work in the world is done. //
Such an urge is not unusual in democracies. It's a trait
found in nations more interested in the comforts of home than
conquests abroad. But it can be devastating in a world that
still holds dangers -- that still poses threats to our interests
and ideals.
8
Winston Churchill made this point in the subtitle to the
last volume in his epic history of World War Two. He called it:
"How the great democracies triumphed -- and so were able to
resume the follies which had so nearly cost them their lives."
More than once this century, America has proved its mettle.
More than once, we've come late to conflict -- and turned back
mortal threats to freedom. But as a nation, we have yet to prove
that we can lead when there is no enemy on the doorstep. We have
proved and proved again: we can win the war. Now we must wage
the peace.
And we will do it with your help.
I began today by speaking about the great victory of freedom
in the world as vindication of the American ideal. I know there
are some who may think there's something presumptuous about that
claim -- something boastful. But it is not -- for one simple
reason: Democracy isn't our creation -- democracy is our
inheritance. / We can't take credit for democracy, but we can
take the precious gift of freedom / preserve it / and pass it on
-- as my generation does to you, and you, too, will do one day.
And perhaps -- provided we seize the opportunities now open to us
-- we can secure the new world of freedom that has always been
our aim. //
Once again, thank you all for this warm welcome.
Congratulations to the Navy Class of '92 -- and may God bless the
United States of America.
# # #
MAY-18-1992 15:17 FROM ACDEAN
TO
72024566218 P.01
U.S. Naval Academy
Telecopy Cover Sheet
BEAT Army!
Telecopy To:
bennie Bunton
Prendential Spechwriting
Phone: 202 456 7750
FAX No: 202-456-6218
Total Pages (including cover sheet): 50
From:
Office of the Academic Dean and Provost
United States Naval Academy
POC: W. Haling
Phone No: 410 267 2401
Fax: Comm (410) 267-2788 or Autovon 281-2788
MAY-18-1992 15:18 FROM ACDEAN
TO
72024566218 P.02
GOOD GOUGE:
An Investigation into the
Origins of Naval Academy Slang
Conducted on Historical and
Etymological Principles
Researched and Written by the Students of HE-111,
Rhetoric and Introduction to Literature,
Sections 2501 and 2601
Fall 1981
Compiled and Edited by Michael P. Parker,
Assistant Professor of English
Annapolis
April 1982
MAY-18-1992 15:18 FROM ACDEAN
TO
72024566218 P.03
TABLE OF CONTENTS
FOREWORD
iv
STUDENTS ENROLLED IN HE-111
V
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
vi
KEY TO PHONEMIC SYMBOLS
vii
INTRODUCTION
viii
GLOSSARY
1
Bilge
2
Brace
4
Brick
5
Drag
7
Fry
9
Geek
11
Gouge
13
Grease
15
Gungy
16
Haze
17
Ho Chi Minh Trail
18
Jimmylegs
19
Kaydet
20
Midshipman
21
Plebe
23
Rack
25
Ream
27
Sandblower
29
Spoon
30
ii
MAY-18-1992 15:18 FROM ACDEAN
TO
72024566218 P.04
Squared Away
32
Woop
33
Zoomie
34
BIBLIOGRAPHY
35
iii
MAY-18-1992 15:19 FROM ACDEAN
TO
72024566218 P.05
GLOSSARY
MAY-18-1992 15:19 FROM ACDEAN
TO
72024566218 P.06
BILGE (bIlj), vt., 1. obs. To fail (an examination). 2. To
make another look bad; to cut the ground out from another's feet.
vi. bilge out, to fail out of the Academy--n. 1. Nonsense;
worthless talk (from bilge-water). 2. The act of making another
look bad; hence, bilger, one who makes another look bad. 3.
Comb. forms good bilge an exclamation used when one person does
something to annoy or harm another; Bilger's Gate, pedestrian
gateway leading to Maryland Avenue; mids who failed out of the
Academy would turn in their dismissal papers at the guardhouse
next to it. According to the still honored tradition, any
midshipman who uses this gate will bilge out of the Academy.
Bilge, which originally meant "the bottom of a ship's hull,"
first appeared in English in the early sixteenth century. The
origin of the word is in some dispute: according to the Oxford
English Dictionary (OED), bilge derives from the Old French
boulge, "the bottom of a ship," which in turn comes from the
Latin bulga, "a leathern knapsack or handbag." According to
Sandahl, however, the word is a borrowing from the Norse; it
comes from belgr, again meaning "skin, bag," and is related to
the modern English word belly. In either case, bilge soon
assumed a verbal meaning in addition to the substantive one: by
1557 it had acquired the transitive sense of "to stave in a
ship's bottom, causing her to spring a leak"; and by 1728 it also
possessed an intransitive meaning, "to suffer fracture in the
bilge." Needless to say, damage to the bilge often resulted in
the sinking of the ship.
At the Academy, bilge has assumed a special figurative
significance. Plebes are reminded constantly by upperclass not
to bilge their classmates. In this sense the word means "to make
another look bad." The relation to the transitive verb form of
the word is not hard to see. This current usage of bilge, though
quite common, has appeared only recently at the Academy. Before
1969 the primary meaning of bilge was to fail an exam or course,
or to fail out of the Academy. The word is used in this sense in
the 1881 Fag-Ends and in subsequent glossaries throughout the
early twentieth century. The 1941 Guide to the Academy gives the
definition in its most colorful form: "to be assigned to the
U.S.S. Outside." Bilger's Gate takes its name from the word in
this sense. Today, however, bilge is rarely used with this
meaning; when it is, the verb is usually passive, as in "He was
bilged out of the Academy." In the 1969 Reef Points both defini-
tions of the word, "to fail" and "to make someone look bad, were
given. Tn the 1970 Reef Points, the older sense of "to fail" was
dropped and only the newer sense has appeared in subsequent
editions.
The noun bilge meaning "nonsense; worthless talk" is a
shortened form of bilge-water, "the water that collects in the
bilge of a ship through leakage or otherwise, and becomes
2
MAY-18-1992 15:20 FROM ACDEAN
TO
72024566218 P.07
disgustingly foul and noxious." In W. E. Wilson's "Madeline
among the Midshipmen," a professor's account of teaching English
at the Academy during World War II, the captain who is Chairman
of the Lit Detail labels Shelley's poetry bilge and orders it
dropped from the curriculum. Currently, however, bilge is rarely
used in this sense at the Academy although it is still employed
in the fleet.
For the new midshipman at the Academy, the best way to avoid
trouble and extra work is to steer clear of bilgers, bilges, and
bilging. If, however, one should encounter any of the above, the
only way to survive is to set to work and bail oneself out.
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BRACE (bres), n. 1. A stiff military posture. 2. comb. form
take a brace, obs., to endeavor to study--vi. To assume an
extremely stiff and straight position of attention--vt. To make
someone assume such a position.
As a noun, brace derives from the Old French brace or brache,
meaning "the two arms." The noun was soon employed verbally: in
its earliest uses, according to the OED, the verb brace was
synonymous with embrace, meaning "to put the arms around." In
time the verb acquired new, figurative meanings: "to encompass or
surround" and eventually "to clasp, fasten up Lightly, gird, or
support." By 1736 the poet Thomas Gray could write of bracing
parts of the body--nerves, sinews, etc. to give them tone or
firmness in preparation for some challenge or task. The phrase
brace up used in this sense is recorded as early as 1740; the
Academy definition of brace is a logical extension of the stan-
dard meaning.
Brace up may actually derive, however, from a nautical
command. On a sailing ship, to brace up means "to put the yards
into a more oblique position," i.e., to pull in the braces to
bring in the sails during strong winds. The brace practiced by
plebes at the Academy may be related metaphorically to the
sailing command: the plebe brings his chin into the chest in
preparation for stormy weather ahead.
The word brace and the position it describes have been
employed at the Academy since the nineteenth century. The 1894
Lucky Bag glossary defines brace up as "to stand erect. " A more
recent definition provides greater detail: "to assume an ex-
tremely stiff and straight position of attention, to expand your
chest, tuck your elbows into your sides, and pull your shoulders
back." The expressed aim of bracing up a plebe is to improve his
posture and to teach him how to withstand pain. While plebes are
the primary practitioners of the art of bracing up, upperclass
are occasionally called upon to display their proficiency as
well. Thus, the advice given in the 1914-15 Reef Points still
holds good: "Get a brace while you are a plebe and keep it."
The 1894 Lucky Bag also records the expression take a brace
as meaning "to endeavor to study"; obviously, hitting the books
produced as much pain back then as it does now. In recent years
to take a brace has been supplanted by the expression to take a
strain, which means to expend effort in any endeavor, academic or
otherwise.
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BRICK (brIk), II. 1. A homely escort; an ugly girl. 2. Comb.
form brick party, a ceremony in which plebes present a brick on
a pillow to an upperclassman who has appeared in public with a
homely escort--vt. obs. To arrange a date for someone with an
ugly girl.
The 1981-82 Reef Points defines brick as "a homely escort; a date
who should have stayed at home." This unusual use of the word,
which seems to be peculiar to the Academy, has lent itself to at
least two ingenious popular etymologies. The more plausible is
that the expression derives from the British slang meaning "a
good fellow, one whom one approves for his genuine good qual-
ities." Brick in this sense would be parallel to the American
commonplace of the girl who has plenty of "personality," i.e.,
personality and nothing else. The second popular etymology,
slightly less savory, is of a metaphorical cast. In the cadence
song "Hey Bobbareba," still used at the Academy to teach fourth
class their right feet from their left, one of the verses runs,
I wish all the ladies were bricks in a pile
And I was a mason, I'd lay them in style.
Neither of these etymologies, however, seems to be the true one.
Brick as used at the Academy is actually a shortened form of the
expression gold brick which, in its widest sense, means "some-
thing that looks valuable on the surface but is sham beneath" or
"anything worthless passed off as valuable." Gold brick first
appears in the glossary in the 1902 Lucky Bag, where it is
defined as "a girl who isn't pretty and can't dance or talk."
The phrase must have been fairly new to the Academy in 1902:
while it appears in a short story in the 1901 Lucky Baq, it is
included in none of the earlier glossaries. Gold brick appears
with only slight variations in definition in the 1903-1905
glossaries; in the following year, however, the format of Lucky
Bag was revised and the glossary dropped.
The first reference to brick in the sense of a girl lacking
accomplishments occurs in the 3 June 1915 issue of The Log. By
1925 the word acquired the definition it would retain (with the
usual humorous variations) for the next fifty years: "the normal
expectancy in a blind drag. A femme [girl] who lacks all that
Miss America has."
In the past, midshipmen used a four-point grading system to
rate the blind drags of fellow mids. If a girl received a 4.0,
she was naturally a queen, but if she scored 2.5 or less, she was
labeled a brick. When this occurred, the unfortunate mid was
subjected to a brick party the next day. All the plebes in the
company formed a long winding line that proceeded through the
company area. At the end of the line, two plebes carried a brick
on a pillow. When they reached the room of their victim (always
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an upperclass, since plebes didn' and usually still don' rate
dragging), they threw the brick into his room. When the brick
hit the floor, a free-for-all followed: the usual culmination of
these festivities was a cold shower for the mid in question.
James Webb describes a brick party in his novel A Sense of Honor;
while the ceremony survived into the late 1960's and early
1970's, it has since largely died out.
With the admission of women to the Academy in 1976, brick
suddenly disappeared from Reef Points. After a two-year hiatus,
the word reappeared in the 1978-79 edition with a new, non-sexist
definition. Today, brick signifies a homely escort of either
sex; this resilience suggests that the word will continue as an
element of Academy slang for a long time to come.
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DRAG (draeg), vt. to escort--n, A person who is escorted; a date.
"What a drag!" "He took a drag from a cigarette." "Jack totaled
his car in a drag race. These sentences illustrate just a few
of the many uses of drag; yet, if one mentions the word at the
Naval Academy today, only one thought pops into a midshipman's
mind--a date.
Where does drag come from? According to the OED, the noun
drag derives from the Old English verb dragan and its primary
meaning is "something heavy that is used by being dragged along
the ground." Although midshipmen pride themselves on being
vigorous lovers, this definition hardly seems to describe what
happens to most (if not quite all) escorts who come with
midshipmen to Academy hops, or dances. Obviously, some inter-
mediary step must account for the difference between the common
meaning of the word and the Annapolis definition. Three phrases-
dragging time, drag-home, and drag an anchor-seem to have some
bearing on the Academy term. According to the English Dialect
Dictionary, dragging-time was a phrase used in Sussex, England,
to refer to "the twilight-time when young fellows at fairs pull
the wenches about." This phrase was first recorded in 1864,
though it is apparently much older. Drag-home, also recorded in
the English Dialect Dictionary, is a nineteenth-century Irish
term which means "the home-bringing of a bride." Finally, drag
an anchor is an American expression which means "to bring one's
wife.' It is listed in the 1942 American Thesaurus of Slang and
obviously derives from the nautical practice of dragging an
anchor to prevent a ship from drifting when the sails or rudder
is incapacitated.
The Naval Academy drag apparently derives from one of these
expressions, in all of which women are the objects being dragged;
perhaps it is a shortened form of drag an anchor. In any event,
drag in the Academy sense is first recorded in the 1897 Lucky
Bag glossary with the definition, "To drag a femme to a hop is to
escort her there.' Drag was soon also used as a noun to desig-
nate the person so escorted. Although The American Slang Dictio-
nary gives a date of "circa 1925" for drag, the Lucky Bag testi-
fies that the word was in current use over a quarter of a century
earlier. From Annapolis the term soon spread to West Point; the
student expression drag or stag, meaning "with a date
or. without,' first appears in the 1930's and seems to be derived
from the usage at the military academies. If so, drag is one of
the few words that the Academy contributed to, rather than
borrowed from, contemporary American slang.
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In 1939 midshipmen published the first of several editions
of The Drag's Handbook, a guide to Annapolis and the Academy
designed to obviate the need for visiting females to bombard
midshipmen with questions about the Academy's many peculiar
customs. One of these customs, incidentally, is for midshipmen
to salute another mid when he is dragging. The 1950 film The
West Point Story used drag several times, thus familiarizing
Americans all across the country with what was originally a Naval
Academy term.
The Academy is a school of great tradition. Once a word
enters a midshipman's vocabulary, it's there to stay; Annapolis
speech is a virtual compendium of fossilized nineteenth-century
slang. After 85 years of continued use, and after surviving the
admission future. of women to the Academy, drag seems guaranteed a long
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FRY (fraI), vt. 1. To assign demerits. 2. obs. To place on the
daily conduct report.--n. comb. form fry-trap, a situation in
which, demerits. no matter what action he takes, a midshipman will be given
The history of fry and related words meaning "to give demerits"
or "to put on the conduct report" is extraordinarily complex.
Fry may be a corruption of frap, the word it eventually replaced;
both are closely connected to pap, which means "conduct report"
or "the act of inflicting demerits."
In the late nineteenth century, the names of midshipmen who
were unsat (unsatisfactory) academically would be posted on a
sheet tacked to a tree outside New Quarters, the main dormitory.
If a mid's name was posted, he was said to have hit the tree.
The roster of those who failed their fall term examinations was
called the Christmas tree; the spring roster was the Maypole. In
midshipman slang of the 1890's, hit meant "to do a thing well" or
"Lo get on, as a team, the tree, the list." The second sense of
hit appears to be a logical development of the first; it still
survives today in the expression "to hit the big time. In the
phrase to hit the tree, hit assumes an ironic overtone; obvious-
ly, the mid whose name appears on the unsat list hasn't done very
well at all.
The 1894 Lucky Bag glossary lists a number of synonyms for
hit: biff, bat and, most importantly, frappe. Frappe, from the
French frapper, "to strike, hit," was soon shortened to frap. It
is one of a number of French borrowings that crop up in mid slang
of the period; others include fumez, "to smoke," and savoir or
savez, "one who is academically brilliant." Perhaps these words
represent the fruit of the midshipmen's studies in dago, the term
formerly used for foreign language courses at the Academy. In
any event, by 1898 the rhyming expression frap the pap had taken
its place alongside hit the tree to describe those who were unsat
in their conduct as opposed to their academic work. The origin
of pap, "daily conduct report," is in dispute. The 1931-32 Reef
Points states that pap is an acronym for publish and post, the
words printed at the top of the daily conduct report. The Reef
Points of 1932-33, however, offers an alternative etymology:
"Pap--Daily conduct report, from Frapper le papier.' Whatever
the origin of the phrase, the import is clear. As the 1907-08
Reef Points advises its readers, "A wise plebe standeth from
under [keeps out of trouble], but a touge [cocky] one frappeth
the pap."
During the course of the twentieth century, the distinction
between the verb frap and the noun pap became increasingly
blurred. As early as 1902 pap was defined as "to put on report";
in 1945-46 frap is glossed as "1. A conduct report. 2. To put
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on the report." In the 1947-48 Reef Points the two words have
become synonymous: same as frap."
It was in 1958 that fry first made its appearance in Reef
Points, with the definition "to frap. In the same year pap was
deleted from the glossary, only to return in the 1964-65 edition.
Frap was dropped from Reef Points in 1971-72 and the definition
of fry altered to "to pap"; frap survived in the definition of
pap until 1978-79. It now appears that frap has disappeared
permanently from midshipman parlance after a uscful life of some
85 years.
This rather confusing history of frap the pap is important
because it suggests the gradual deterioration of the metaphorical
structure underlying the expression and its eventual replacement
by a new one drawn from the culinary arts. In standard English,
one of the meanings of pap is "soft or semi-liquid food for
infants"; in the current Reef Points, pap is defined as "a
character builder; an unappreciated gift from above, with the
implication that demerits nourish tender plebes and help them
develop into strong upperclass. Pap in this sense echoes the now
obsolete expression pap with a hatchet, meaning "the administra-
tion of punishment under the guise of conferring a kindness or
benefit. The solicitous upperclass determines what sort of pap
his plebe needs by consulting the Cook Book--the Midshipman Held
Publications Administrative Conduct Section--i order to "match
the pap to the rap." The Cook Book prescribes the standard
punishment, usually in the form of demerits, for every conceiv-
able midshipman offense.
Fry itself relates to this gastronomic jargon only in a
general way: if the metaphor were consistent, one would fry the
pap, not its destined recipient. Although fry may be a phonetic
corruption of frap, it is more likely the term derives from the
verb fry, "to cook over direct heat in oil," either through a
modern slang meaning of the word, "to execute in an electric
chair," or from the expression "out of the frying pan into the
fire.' Whatever the origin of the verb, whenever a mid gets in
hot water he can also expect to be fried as an encore, thus
suffering a fate not dissimilar to that undergone by hash browns.
Fry-trap--": situation from which one can't escape without
being fried is a recent coinage that once again demonstrates
the verbal ingenuity of midshipmen--the same ingenuity that
produced frap the pap in the 1890's. With the admission of women
to the Academy, can the Venus fry-trap be far behind? The next
decade should tell.
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GEEK (gik), n. 1. One who studies in an excessively diligent
manner; a grind. 2. comb. forms geek glasses, Navy-issue,
black-rimmed eyeglasses; geek roster, Dean's list -- geek out,
vi. to study excessively; to cram for a test.
Midshipmen have developed many slang words to describe those who
work hard in their studics and get good grades; these include
savez (from the French savoir, "to know"), slash, cut, greaser,
and beep. Since the mid-1970's, however, midshipmen have adopted
a new word to describe their more academically inclined class-
mates--geek.
Geek derives from the word geck, which means "fool;
simpleton." According to the OED, geck is a borrowing from the
Low German geck or Dutch gek, which both signify someone who is
fooled or made the object of a Joke; the word first appeared in
Scottish dialects of English and entered the mainstream of the
language in the sixteenth century. Shakespeare uses geck twice:
in Twelfth Night, Malvolio complains that he has been made a
"most notorious gecke and gull" (V.i.351) and in Cymbeline
Sicilius speaks of becoming "the geeke and scorne o'th'others
villany" (V.iv.67). The latter example is important because it
employs the form geeke, which is otherwise unrecorded before the
nineteenth century; although Murray suggests the second e is a
misprint, it may represent a dialectal variant.
The first undisputed appearance of geek occurs in the 1870's
in the United States. In the earliest examples, geek, like geck,
simply means "fool"; in time, however, the word acquired a
specialized meaning. By the early twentieth century a geek was a
carnival performer whose act usually consisted of biting off the
head of a live chicken or a snake. The sense of the word was
gradually expanded to encompass all carnival freaks, especially
those who performed repulsive acts.
How geek acquired the present Academy meaning of "one who
studies excessively" is unclear. Although the sense of the word
is apparent--one can understand the implied comparison between
the excessively studious and carnival freaks--the precise source
is not. The most attractive conjecture is that of LT Richard F.
Frank, who suggests that geek was popularized by Firesign The-
ater, a recording group with a cult following in the early
1970's. In their album All Hail Marx and Lenin, the members of
Firesign Theater frequently use geek as a term of abuse. Geek
caught on at the Academy sometime between 1975 and 1978; it first
appeared in the 1980-81 edition of Reef Points.
As a noun, geek carries a pejorative connotation; a variety
of conceptions about the character of the studious (weak, unath-
letic, timid, pale) are conveyed by the word. To geek out,
however, is more positive, since it denotes merely a temporary
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condition through which most mids find they have to pass during
midterm or final exams.
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COUGE (gauy), n. 1. A solution to a problem as written up for
professors. 2. The answer, solution, or method of accomplishing
a test or related activity. 3. A list of necessary facts.
4. A person who cheats. 5. A person who takes advantage of
others. vi. 1. To cheat. 2. To obtain unauthorized assist-
ance. 3. To take advantage of all available resources. 4. To
take advantage of another to make oneself look better.--
a. 1. Excellent; superior. 2. Easy (as in a gouge class).
3. Lenient (as in a gouge prof.) ; hence, desirable.
Probably of Celtic origin, the word gouge originally meant "a
chisel with a concave blade used for cutting rounded grooves or
holes in wood." The OED records the first appearance of the noun
in English as occurring in the fifteenth century; within 100
years the verb form, meaning "to cut holes or grooves in wood,"
was also current. In American English gougc acquired the slang
meaning of "to cheat" or "a swindle"; both first appeared in the
mid-nineteenth century. This development of gouge parallels what
happened to that other cutting tool, the chiscl; chisel came to
mean "to cheat" earlier in the century in both England and
America.
In the sense of "to cheat," the first recorded use of
gouge at the Academy occurs in the 1881 Fag Ends, a collection of
songs and cartoons describing life at Annapolis. An alphabetical
poem on the Academy contains the following entry for the letter
"G":
G stands for "gouging,"
Which better than "cram"
May knock a high mark
On the hardest exam.
The quotation marks suggest that both gouging and cram were
regarded as slang words at the time the poem was composed. Gouge
was listed in the 1898 Lucky Bag glossary with the meanings "a
solution to a problem as written up for profs" and "to cheat";
the word appeared in Reef Points from 1905 through 1948 with
substantially the same definition. Park Benjamin suggests that
the word originated in a required "Moral Science" class in the
late nineteenth century in which, ironically, cheating seems to
have been endemic.
World War II brought great changes to the Academy: disci-
pline was tightened, leave periods reduced, and the curriculum
intensified. The Honor Concept, instituted after much debate in
the early 1950's, states simply that "A midshipman does not lie,
cheat or steal." In consequence, cheating became a much more
serious offense than it was heretofore. The atmosphere that led
to the institution of the Honor Concept apparently affected
Academy slang as well: the definition of gouge as to "cheat"
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disappeared from Reef Points and the word assumed the more
innocuous sense of "a list of necessary facts" or "essential
information." By 1981-82, gouge had all but shed its unsavory
aura; only in the little used verbal definition of "to take
advantage of another" does the trace of its carlier and primary
meaning-- to cheat"--remain.
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GREASE (gris), n. 1. obs. A sycophant; boot-licker; also
greaser, greasoir. 2. Semester evaluations of aptitude for the
service. 3. A good evaluation. 4. comb. forms grease re-
ports, written performance evaluations; grease man, the mid-
shipman receiving the highest marks for appearance at a formal
inspection. Applied to an article worn only at inspection
in order to preserve its appearance and thus gain the wearer a
good evaluation, as in grease shoes and grease cover; hence, best
or excellent.
According to the OED the earliest recorded use of grease in
English occurs in 1290 in the meaning of "the melted or rendered
fat of animals." The verb form, meaning "to smear or anoint with
grease" or, more generally, "to lubricate," appeared in the
fifteenth century. The word soon underwent several metaphorical
transformations. The phrase to grease the wheels, meaning to
make things run smoothly, seems to lie behind the expression to
grease one's palm or hand, which begins to crop up during the
early Renaissance. Then as today, the meaning of the expression
is "to bribe." In the nineteenth century, the noun form of the
word also assumed the sense of "money for a bribe"; in northern
English dialects, grease also meant "flattery or fawning."
The earliest recorded use of grease at the Academy seems
related to this dialectal meaning: the 1894 Lucky Bag glossary
defines grease as "a boot-licker." The 1903 Lucky Bag lists a
whole battery of grease-related terms. Grease is defined as
"boot licking" and greaser and greasoir as "a sycophant"; someone
who is "excessively greasy" might be termed slimy. In Reef
Points throughout the 1930's and 1940's, the greasoir was, rather
aptly, "someone who oils the wheels of his own progress. The
word continued to carry this negative connotation up until the
last fifteen years; in Reef Points during the 1970's, grease was
defined merely as "influence or aptitude for the service. The
older Academy meaning of grease lingers on in grease
man--the midshipman who ranks highest at an inspection, but in
the sense of "boot-licker" smack has now supplanted the earlier
term. The 1981-82 Reef Points defines smack as someone who is
"obsequious"; the word derives from the verb smack, "to kiss,"
and is undoubtedly a more genteel version of the term ass-kisser.
Although it has been in use for several years, smack first
appeared in Reef Points only in 1981-82.
Today, the senses of grease are generally positive. When a
mid does poorly academically, he can always strive to garner some.
good grease, or positive evaluations, from his professional
activities. Since standing in the company is calculated on the
basis of military aptitude and interest as well as grades, a
little grease at the right time has helped many a mid slide
through a rough semester.
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GUNGY (gun') a. Overly enthusiastic in matters pertaining to
the military, especially the Navy.
The word gungy has its origin in the phrase gung ho, which came
into English during the Second World War. Gung ho derives from
the Chinese words kung, meaning "work," and hau, "together."
The phrase was coined by COL Evans Fordyce Carlson, an American,
as a slogan for the Second Marine Raider Division which he
commanded in China; Carlson took the phrase from the name of a
Chinese Industrial Cooperative Society.
It is probable that gung ho was carried back to the
continental United States by Marines who had used the phrase
in the war. It was soon accepted into American English and
appeared in Funk and Wagnalls New Practical Standard Dictionary
in 1955 with the definition "a motto meaning 'work together.
Gung ho soon began to be used adjectivally: in 1959 it was
employed in the sense of "in favor of" and by 1968 had acquired
the current meaning of "enthusiastic" or "zealous."
Although there is no documentation available, it seems
reasonable to assume that gung ho was brought directly to the
Academy by Marine instructors after the war. The phrase was soon
shortened to the form gungy. According to LCDR John Harty,
gungy was in common use by 1964 and it is probable that the form
was current earlier. The first printed definition of gungy--
"psyched up for the Navy"--appeared in the 1970-71 edition of
Reef Points; this definition has remained unchanged in subsequent
editions.
The transformation of gung ho into gungy is straightforward.
The -y is a standard adjectival suffix in English; since gung
ho lacks any suffix that would identify what part of speech it
is, the addition of the -Y is understandable. Midshipmen also
have the predilection for shortening words and phrases in
everyday use: compare trous for "trousers" and recon raids
for "reconnaissance raids." The sense of gungy is usually
pejorative.
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HAZE (hez), vt. To subject to cruel horseplay, usually in
connection with a college initiation rite; to bully--hazing, n.
Brutal initiation rites formerly practiced at the Academy.
The word haze derives from the Old French word haser, which meant
"to insult or to anger." The first recorded use of haze in
English occurs in 1678; at that time and throughout the eigh-
teenth century the word meant "to frighten or scare, especially
with a loud noise." According to the OED, however, the word soon
began to assume more sinister overtones. In the American and
British navies, haze came to signify "to punish by keeping at
disagreeable and unnecessary hard work; to harass with overwork."
In Two Years Before the Mast (1840), Richard Dana writes, "Let an
officer once say 'I'll haze you' and your fate is fixed. You
will be 'worked up' if you are not a better man than he is."
Haze soon shed its merely nautical sense and by 1850 was
current on American campuses in the meaning "to bully or maltreat
underclassmen, esp. freshmen." The worst cases of hazing oc-
curred at Ivy League schools, especially Harvard, Yale, and
Princeton. Oddly, hazing seems to have been totally absent from
the Academy during its first twenty-five years of existence. The
first recorded instance occurred in 1871, when upperclassmen
mistreated students of the entering class. In 1874, the entire
third class was deprived of their summer leave due to another
outbreak of hazing. Academy authorities intervened to stem the
trend by establishing the present system of companies, platoons,
and squads, in which upperclassmen were given responsibility for
the performance and treatment of underclassmen. The concomitant
shift of loyalties from class to company soon made the number of
hazing incidents negligible. Congress outlawed hazing at the
military academies by official act in 1903 and 1906. The editors
of the 1901 Lucky Bag, however, suggest that the problem may
merely have gone underground: instead of providing a definition
for hazing, the glossary merely directs, "Ask any officer, from
ensign to admiral, they will surely know the meaning."
Although reports of hazing continue to surface from time to
time at the Academy, the number is very small; the fashion for
tormenting plebes (at least physically) has disappeared. Most
mids today agree that the threat of hazing is a thing of the
past.
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HO CHI MINH TRAIL (ho di mIn' trel) n. Long, concrete underground
utility tunnels at the Academy that carry heat and water pipes to
academic buildings, used by midshipmen for recon raids.
The Ho Chi Minh Trail at the Academy is named after the supply
route used by Viet Cong guerrillas during the Vietnam War.
Stretching from North Vietnam through Laos and Cambodia into
South Vietnam, the trail bore the name of the communist leader of
North Vietnam.
Midshipmen began to apply the name Ho Chi Minh Trail to the
Academy utility tunnels around 1974 toward the end of the Vietnam
War; the first recorded written use of the term occurs in a 1978
edition of The Log. Before the mid-1970's, the tunnels were
popularly known as the Catacombs, a reference to the early
Christian burial places in Rome. Midshipmen use the tunnels to
carry out recon (reconnaissance) raids, or pranks, during the
academic year. The Trail allows easy access to most of the
buildings in the Yard while obviating the dangers of being caught
in an out-of-bounds area after hours. Use of the Trail peaks
during Army Week, when mids crowd its corridors en route to
hanging sheet posters, painting monuments, and spiriting cannon
from one end of the Yard to another. Some of the more notorious
stories involving the Trail include its use to gain access to the
tow tank in Rickover Hall for a skinny-dipping party in the wee
morning hours; and its role in an attempt by a party of midship-
men to lock all the doors in Michelson Hall from the inside SO
that classes in the building would have to be canceled the
following morning. Alas for the intrepid mids, the attempt
failed.
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JIMMYLEGS (}Im' i lEgs), n. The Academy security force: a security
force patrolman.
Jimmylegs, the slang name for Academy security officers, first
appeared in Annapolis in the late nineteenth century. The 1881
Fag Ends refers to members of the security force as "the watch,"
but according LO Puleston, jimmylege was in use by 1898. The
etymology of jimmylegs is obscure. The word apparently derives
from the term jimmy, a shortened form of jimmy guard, a name
given to the guards at SL. James Palace in London. Jimmy guard
came into use in the early seventeenth century and there is some
dispute whether the name refers to the palace or to the first
Stuart monarch, James I (1603-25).
Jimmylegs is first recorded in the eighteenth century in a
rather different context from jimmy: it was the name applied to a
first mate on a ship in the merchant marine. In ensuing years,
the term was applied to the master-at-arms--the principal police
officer--on board a merchant ship. The connection between jimmy
and jimmylegs is logically clear--as Noel and Beach put it, both
words denominate "a sort of cop"--but the addition of the suffix
-legs is a puzzle. Patrolman H. A. Spies of the Academy Security
Force offers the following explanation. In the old days of
sailing ships, relates Mr. Spies, a certain first mate named
Jimmy was charged with patrolling the deck of his merchantman.
His shipmates below deck would keep close tabs on his comings and
goings through the open hatches. From that vantage point, all
they could see was the lower part of Jimmy's body; whenever he
strolled by, they would say to each other, "There goes Jimmy's
legs (or Jimmylegs) This tale may be apocryphal, but it does
account for the peculiar suffix.
The major responsibilities of the Academy's jimmylegs
include enforcing the Uniform Code of Military Justice and the
Maryland Criminal Code, investigating alarms, directing traffic,
and maintaining security not only at the Academy but also at the
Naval Station across the Severn and at the golf course. In
addition, they provide a "welcoming committee" for those mids a
bit tardy in returning to the Academy Saturday nights.
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KAYDET (ke dEt) , n. Cadet; a student at the United States Mili-
tary Academy at West Point.
Wentworth and Flexner define kaydet as a "slighting and/or
humorous misproununciation of standard cadet.' Although Puleston
claims kaydet was in use as early as 1898, the word does not
appear in the Lucky Bag glossary for that year. The earliest
written use of the word appears to be in The Lighthouse: The
Plebe's Bible (1929), in which kaydet is defined as "one who has
been equally foolish as a midshipman." Kaydet is entered in all
Reef Points slang glossaries from 1932-33 to the present day.
Perhaps the most amusing definition is that which appeared in
1943-44 and persisted, with the usual variations, until the carly
1960's: "Kaydet--supplier of grey bathrobes to midshipmen."
This definition alludes to the custom in which a losing athletic
beam forfeits some article of clothing marked with the school
insignia to the winners of the contest; obviously, midshipmen of
yesterday (and today) entertained no doubts about their superi-
ority to the West Point kaydets.
In recent years, kaydet has largely been superseded by woop
in Academy slang. During World War II, kaydet was also used to
refer to the training biplane employed by the Army Air Corps.
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MIDSHIPMAN (mId sIp mEn), n. A student at the United States
Naval Academy in training for commission as an ensign in the Navy
or as a second lieutenant in the Marine Corps.
The word midshipman first appeared in English in the seventeenth
century in the form midshipsman to designate those men who were
stationed "amidships," i.e., in the waist or middle portion of
the vessel, when on duty. By 1687, according to the OED, the
second $ had been dropped to give the current form of the word.
Midshipmen were originally boys, sometimes as young as seven or
eight, who were apprenticed to sea captains to learn the sailor's
trade. In the nineteenth century these boys were sometimes
called midshipmites, a humorous combination of midshipman and
mite that attests to their young age and small size. At worst,
these boys were severely abused; at best, their lot was a hard
one. A number of words and phrases testify to the low rank
midshipmen held aboard ship. Midshipman's nuts were broken
pieces of biscuit served as dessert. A midshipman's devil was
the lowest-ranking steward on ship and thus the one who was
forced to wait on the midshipmen. Midshipman's half-pay is
defined somewhat cryptically in the OED as "nothing a-day and
find yourself." Midshipman's butter is another name for the
avocado, the buttery pulp of which sailors sometimes used as a
substitute for dairy products not easily obtained or stored at
sea.
In the early days of the American Navy, midshipmen trained
aboard ship until they were eventually commissioned as ensigns.
With the founding of the Academy in 1845, however, it became
possible for a midshipman to enter the Navy directly from civil-
ian life, although most of the early graduates had already served
at sea before coming to Annapolis. The Academy was, in a sense,
a sort of naval finishing school at which young sea-dogs could
complement their nautical experience with the sort of supervised
book-learning that was nearly impossible to obtain at sea.
Students at the Naval Academy were called midshipmen until 1870,
when Congress changed their title to Cadet-midshipmen for regular
students and Cadet-engineers for two-year students. In 1882
Congress struck again, designating all students Naval Cadets.
Finally, in 1902, Congress restored the original title of
Midshipmen and it has remained unchanged since.
The common abbreviation for midshipman is mid, the term
which midshipmen generally use to designate themselves and their
classmates. The diminutive middy, however, is never heard within
the Yard. As the 1981-82 Reef Points acerbically defines it,
middy is "an odious term sometimes used synonymously with mid by
mothers and newspapers."
Midshipmen have lent their name to two articles of clothing
and to one member of the animal kingdom. A middy blouse is "any
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of various loose blouses with a sailor collar, as worn by sail-
ors, children, and young girls." In the nineteenth century
midshipmen aboard ship were sometimes called reefers because one
of their duties was, according to the OED, to "attend in the tops
of the masts during the operation of taking in reefs." The warm,
close-fitting coat worn during this process was known as a
reefing jacket or, as it is called in the Navy today, a reefer.
Finally, the midshipman is a fish that derives its name from the
round luminous bodies along its belly, like the buttons on a
midshipman's coat. Having a fish named after one is certainly an
honor of which no woop can boast!
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PLEBE (plib), n. A midshipman fourth class; a freshman.
According to the Dictionary of American Slang, plebe was first
used in the 1850's to refer to any college freshman. This broad
use of the word disappeared by 1920, and its application thereaf-
ter has been limited to only those freshmen at the United States
Naval Academy and the United States Military Academy.
Plebe derives from two Latin words, plebs and plebeius.
Plebs is a collective noun referring to the Roman common people
as opposed to the Patricians or aristocrats; by extension, plebs
was used to name the commonalty of any other nation. Plebeius is
an adjective, meaning "belonging to the plebs," that was also
used substantively to refer to a single member of the plebs.
Both Latin words have come into English with little change in
meaning: Plebs became the English plebe and plebeius became the
English plebeian. When it first appeared in English in the
sixteenth century, plebeian was a noun designating a member of
the Roman plebs or any person not of noble or privileged rank.
By the seventeenth century, according to the OED, plebeian was
also used adjectivally to mean "of low birth or rank; of or
pertaining to the common people." Plebeian soon broadened in
meaning to describe the qualities associated with the lower
classes: "commonplace, undistinguished; vulgar or vulgar-look-
ing, low, ill-bred, coarse, mean, base, ignoble." Plebe, from
its introduction into English in the early seventeenth century
until about 1850, continued to mean "the common people" as a
whole. The new sense of the word, "a college freshman, is
apparently a shortened form of plebeian even though it has the
same spelling as the older collective noun.
The use of plebe to refer to Naval Academy freshmen carries
with it the idea that the fourth class are the very lowest group
of beings in the officer corps. The 1898 Lucky Bag glossary
conveys this attitude to perfection in its brief definition of
plebe: "That insignificant being, the Fourth Classman." This
definition has persisted with minor variations for over eighty
years; the most recent Reef Points tells us that a plebe is "that
insignificant thing that gets all the sympathy and chow from
home."
Although most fourth class tolerate the name plebe, few
appreciate it and the sensitive civilian will not use the term
indiscriminately. At the Academy a fourth class is sometimes
referred to by the alternate form pleber; the addition of the
final r is apparently in imitation of the many nouns denominating
persons in English that end with that letter--compare farmer,
officer, or sailor. At West Point during the 1880's the word
plebeskin was a slang term for civilian clothes, which plebes
wore before donning their uniforms; there is no evidence, howev-
er, that this word was ever used at the Naval Academy.
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At the Air Force Academy, a fourth-class cadet is called a
doolie. Doolie derives from the Greek doulos, "slave, bondsman,"
and is modeled on plebe. When the Air Force Academy opened in
1954, its founders apparently wanted to give the institution a
set of traditions that were similar but not identical to those at
West Point and Annapolis. Hence, instead of appropriating plebe
outright, they turned to the other groat classical language,
Greek, to find a word roughly equivalent in meaning. The debt to
the other service academies nevertheless remains clear. Doolie
is defined in the 1980-81 Contrails, the Colorado Springs version
of Reef Points, as "that insignificant thing whose rank is
measured in negative units"; the first words betray the influence
of the definition of plebe used at Annapolis since 1898.
When a midshipman fourth class enters the Academy, he finds
that many demands and heavy duties are placed upon his shoulders.
He is expected to function within his rank in a manner that shows
he can measure up to the high standards of the Academy and the
U.S. Navy. He must work hard to learn his rates, study effi-
ciently, and perform the duties expected of him in the hope that
when his freshman year is over, he truly will have earned the
right to graduate from his position as the common, working-class,
insignificant creature within the framework of Academy life--the
plebe.
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RACK (raek), n. 1. A bed. 2. comb. forms rack-monster, a
midshipman who spends most of his time sleeping; a personifica-
tion of the sleepiness that attacks midshipmen when study-
ing. rack out. To sleep; to lie in one's bed, especially
during the day.
In the early days of sail the rack was an instrument of torture.
But mention the word rack to a midshipman today and he won't
shriek in terror; instead, he'll close his eyes and smile at the
thought of resting in his rack, or bed. To understand how rack
acquired the slang meaning of "bed," it is necessary to explore
its relationship to two other slang words, sack and hay.
The first recorded uses of rack date from the fourteenth
century. According to the OED, the word soon acquired a variety
of meanings, including "an instrument of torture," "bars used to
support a spit or other cooking utensil," and, most pertinent to
this discussion, "a frame made
to hold fodder for horses and
cattle." By the eighteenth century this last sense had given
rise to a special verb form: to rack up meant to fill a stable
rack with hay or straw before leaving the horses for the night.
Rack in the sense of "bed," which first appeared in American
naval slang during World War II, may well derive from the stable
rack. According to this etymology, the development of rack would
be related to the expression hit the hay, first recorded in
American English about 1910. Since the hay and a rack of hay are
both places where one could sleep the night, a connection is
quite possible.
There is yet another possible etymology for rack. In his
Dictionary of Armed Forces Slang, Eric Partridge suggests that
rack is a derivative of the phrase barrack ranger, which in early
World War II was applied to a seaman who had not yet been as-
signed to a ship. A barrack ranger spent most of his days
loafing or sleeping until he received word of his assignment.
Thus, rack may be a shortened form of barrack, that place where
sailors, like fish out of water, have nothing better to do than
spend the day in bed.
In A Dictionary of American Slang, Wentworth and Flexner
define rack as the naval equivalent of the Army's sack. While
both words came into common use during the 1940's, Partridge
suggests in his Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English
that sack in the sense of "bed" dates back to at least 1828; sack
was slang for the hammocks used by sailors in the Royal Navy,
probably because the hammocks were made of sack-cloth. Sack,
moreover, is not peculiar to the Army. The word was first
recorded in the 1943-44 Reef Points with the definition "bed or
bunk" and only disappeared in the 1968-69 edition. Between 1963
and 1980 the word pad, variously defined as "abbreviation for the
blue trampoline" and "hunting ground for Z's," also appeared in
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Reef Points. "Blue trampoline" refers to the tautness of the
sheets (proverbially one could bounce a dime off them) and to the
regulation blue bedspread, emblazoned with the Academy seal, that
still tricks out every mid's rack today. According to LCDR John
Harty, USN, and LT Walter J. Donovan, USN, however, pad lagged
far behind rack in everyday use during the 1960's and early
1970's. Midn. Alison McCrary recalls hearing the word pad during
her plebe summer in 1979 but not since. Oddly, rack only entered
Reef Points in 1980-81 though, as a discussion of the verb forms
will demonstrate, the word has been in use much longer.
The verb phrases describing diurnal dormition at the Academy
have followed an even more complex pattern. To caulk off meant
"to sleep, especially during the daytime" from the early 1930's
until 1943, when it was replaced by flake out, with the same
definition, in the Reef Points of that year. Rack out--"to
utilize one's sack between reveille and taps' first appeared in
1951. It is noteworthy that the mid utilized his sack rather
than his rack until 1970-71; this definition suggests that the
verb form rack out is older than the noun. The definition of
rack out remained constant between 1970-71 and 1980-81, when rack
out was dropped from the glossary in favor of rack.
To the casual observer, few words seem as engrained in a
midshipman's vocabulary as rack. But in relation to the Acade-
my's 137-year history, the word is actually new. The changing
fortunes of the various words for "bed" and "to sleep," moreover,
suggest the 1980's may bring with them a totally new set of
expressions. But it's a sure bet that the rack-monster--that
irresistible desire to sleep that attacks even the most confirmed
geek--will continue to stalk the shafts of Bancroft during study
hour, whatever name it bears.
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REAM (rim), vt. 1. To yell at (someone) in an abusive way; to
admonish severely. Also vi. ream on or ream out. 2. obs. To
place on report. 3. comb. form ream, steam, and dry clean, to
admonish in the most severe manner possible; to degrade utterly.
Against a wall stands a plebe at attention, body braced, eyes
wide open. Hovering in front of him like a vulture is an
upperclass, usually a firstie or a second class. He screams
loudly at the plebe, shouting things such as, "Can't you do
anything right, Mister?" and "You're starting to piss me off."
Meekly, the braced-up plebe answers with one of his five basic
reponses: "Yes, sir"; "No, sir"; "No excuse, sir"; "I'll find
out, sir"; or "Aye aye, sir." His inquisition complete, the
upperclass saunters down the shaft with a self-satisfied snicker
playing across his face. He has just reamed on the hapless
plebe.
The origin and history of ream is a puzzle: it is listed in
none of the many glossaries of Academy slang that have appeared
over the years. And when the researcher turns to the OED, his
confusion increases: the dictionary lists four verbal and three
nominal definitions for ream and countless others for the related
forms reem, reme, and rime. It is relatively easy to eliminate
"a measure of paper, "cream," "to pull apart," "to stretch," and
"to foam" from consideration. The most promising definition is
that for ream sb. 1, which derives from the Old English word
hream. This word means "clamour, outery, shouting" or "great
sorrow, distress, or trouble. The definition seems to describe
to a tee the plight of the reamed-on plebe and the actions of his
persecutor until one reads the small print: "not found after C.
1250." The related verb reme to cry, call out, shout" pre-
sents a similar problem: its last recorded use is in a
Lancashire dialect in 1674. How could this word surface at the
Academy 300 years later? Is ream an unrecorded survival of Old
English that Murray overlooked?
Unfortunately for the philologist, the answer is no. The
final OED definition of ream- "to enlarge or widen (a hole) with
an instrument" is undoubtedly the source of the Academy meaning;
Wentworth and Flexner's Dictionary of American Slang holds the
key to the puzzle. According to Wentworth and Flexner, ream has
two slang meanings: "1. Lit. and fig., to poke something up
another's rectum. 2. To take advantage of, cheat, or swindle
another." The connection between "to enlarge or widen a hole"
and "to sodomize" requires no explanation. The relation between
the latter and "to cheat," though less clear, parallels the
development of the verb screw: originally meaning "to attach" or
"to press as with a screw, the word has subsequently acquired
the meaning "to cheat, extort" and, more recently, "to have
sexual intercourse." It is worth observing how many English
words for tools--screw, chisel, gouge--have assumed the verbal
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meaning "to cheat." The American Thesaurus of Slang adds one
final phase to the slang development of ream: in the military,
"to report a delinquency." Again, one can cite a parallel
meaning of screw--screw over, to undermine someone or to get him
in real trouble. Since placing a midshipman on report is usually
preceded (and followed) by a volley of verbal abuse, it is not
hard to see how ream has acquired its current Academy meaning.
It is perhaps no coincidence that ream is an everyday word
in Annapolis but not at West Point, since the earliest modern
uses of the word are nautical. The OED states that reeming is a
shipbuilding term that refers to "opening the seams of the planks
with iron wedges, called reeming irons, in order that the oakum
used in caulking may be more readily admitted." Perhaps ream has
been primarily a naval term throughout its various stages of
development, though the evidence to support this conjecture is
lacking.
Undoubtedly because of its vulgar slang meaning, ream has
never been listed in any glossary of Academy slang. CAPT Randell
H. Prothro, USN (Ret.), reports that the word was used as early
as 1941 at the Academy in the sense of "to put on report" and "to
chastize verbally." The alternative form ream on seems to be a
recent development: CAPT Prothro states that his classmates in
the 1940's used the verb without the preposition and LCDR John
Harty observes that the preferred expression in the 1960's was
ream out. The rhyming triplet ream, steam, and dry-clean also
dates back to World war 11; though still used today, it is rare.
Perhaps each verb in the locution once carried a special meaning;
if so, these have been lost and the phrase now simply means "to
yell at with extra severity."
It is ironic that, in a rather circuitous fashion, ream has
acquired at the Academy nearly the same meaning that its early
English homonym possessed: "to yell.' When a midshipman reads
Beowulf, hream is one word that needs no gloss.
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SANDBLOWER (saend' blo ar), n. A short person.
Sandblower first came into use at the Naval Academy sometime
between the years 1905 and 1932. In the 1932-33 Reef Points,
sandblower is defined as "a shorty; a member of the fourth
platoon.' The definition in the 1938-39 Reef Points helpfully
adds that the fourth platoon "contains the short chaps." This
definition has remained substantially the same over the past
forty years; the current edition of Reef Points declares that a
sandblower is "any short person; hc who walks at low altitudos."
The circumstances behind sandblower date back to 1865, when
Vice Admiral David D. Porter was installed as Superintendent of
the Naval Academy. Among the many changes Porter instituted was
the adoption of infantry drill. The average midshipman was loath
to take on the duties of a "sojer," but he eventually accepted
his fate. By the time midshipmen were sufficiently resigned to
the drill routine to joke about it, the practice of marching
according to height had been established. The tallest midshipmen
were placed at the head of the company in the first platoon while
the shortest men, comprising the fourth platoon, brought up the
rear. As the midshipmen marched, they raised a veritable dust
storm with their feet. By the time the first three platoons had
passed the reviewing stand, the dust had become so thick that the
men in the rear had to blow it away from their faces in order to
breathe. Hence their eventual nickname--sandblowers.
As these gasping shorties went into the fleet, they carried
the word with them as a nickname for any short person. In the
aviation branch of the Navy, sandblower was also applied to a
"low-level flight, or an aircraft designed for same. This
nickname, according to Noel and Beach, stems from the tendency of
the aircraft's exhaust system to blow sand, dirt, and debris
astern. Sandblower, therefore, seems to be one of the few slang
terms to move from the Academy to the fleet rather than vice
versa.
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SPOON (spun), vt. (Of an upperclassman) To address an
underclassman, especially a plebe, by his first name; to befriend
an underclassman. Also vi., spoon on--n. obs. An upperclassmen
who drops all intimations of seniority with an underclassman.
In Old English spoon was a noun meaning "a thin piece of wood; a
chip, splinter, or shiver." By 1340, according to the OED, this
definition had been narrowed to designate a thin piece of wood
used for eating and it is in this sense that we usually employ
the word spoon today: "a utensil consisting essentially of a
straight handle with an enlarged and hollowed end-piece (the
bowl) used for conveying soft food or liquid to the mouth.' By
the end of the eighteenth century, however, spoon had assumed
some rather puzzling slang meanings. In colloquial speech, a
spoon was "a shallow, foolish, or simple person; a simpleton,
ninny, goose"; at Cambridge University, the student who ranked
last in each class in the list of mathematical honors was desig-
nated the spoon. The connection between "a simpleton" and "an
eating utensi1" is difficult to comprehend, but the definition of
the related adjective spoony in the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar
Tongue provides an interesting clue: "craving for something;
longing for sweets." Perhaps the slang spoon originally referred
to someone who thought only about food to the exclusion of all
else, or to someone who was foolishly obsessed with his appe-
tites. By the 1830's, spoon in the sense of "a simpleton" had
given rise to another, more specific definition: "a sweetheart."
The adjectival and verbal forms of the word clarify the relation-
ship. The OED defines spoony as "sentimentally or foolishly
amorous" and the verbal form as "to make love, esp. in a senti-
mental or silly fashion."
The Naval Academy usage of spoon dates from at least 1894.
The Lucky Bag glossary of that year counsels, "To spoon on a
plebe is to befriend him. To spoon an inanimate object is to
admire it, like it, etc. To spoon on a girl needs no explana-
tion." It is probable that the Academy meaning of spoon, "to
befriend a plebe," is a humorous extension of the common slang
meaning "to make love, esp. in a sentimental fashion." In the
formerly all-male environment of the Academy, midshipmen often
used terms of endearment jocularly to describe their relation-
ships with one another; one still sometimes hears a mid refer to
his roommate as his wife. By 1899 spoon had also assumed a
substantive form at the Academy an upperclassman who dispenses
with all the perquisites of rank in his relations with an under-
classman.
In the early years of this century spooning followed a very
precise ritual. The upperclassman who wished to befriend someone
junior in rank would shake the underclassman's hand; afterwards,
they would refer to each other on a first-name basis and the
upperclassman could no longer ask the underclassman rates. The
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handshake was sacred and, once given, the upperclassman could not
renege on the tradition and try to reassert his authority.
Crafty plebes would mull around the fringes of sports events and
wait for their upperclassmen to score a touchdown or hit a homer.
The plebes would then join the crowd of well-wishers and hope
that in the jubilant confusion the upperclassmen would accept the
handshakes they proffered. This practice became so commonplace
as to constitute an abuse of the seniority system and the author-
ities took appropriate action. New Regulation 2102.1 of the
Academy Regulations states, "The act of shaking hands with
upperclassmen does not necessarily constitute the cancellation of
rates between classes." With the enactment of this regulation,
spooning became loss important to plebes since it conferred no
extra benefits. Today, to spoon a plebe merely means to call him
by his first name. Yet, after enduring the hardships of plebe
summer, it is a singular fourth class who doesn't fecl a surge of
pride when a firstie calls him "Bob" or "Joe" after eight weeks
of "Mr. Smith." At the Academy today, to be spooned is still a
sign that you've made it.
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SQUARED AWAY (skwerd a we'), a. 1. Neat, clean, tidy. 2. Well
organized. 3. (Of a midshipman) Well organized; professional
in appearance, bearing, and behavior.
Like ream, squared away is a term that has never been listed in
any official Academy glossary. The only standard dictionary to
list the phrase is the new Oxford American Dictionary, which
defines it as "tidied up." Squared away has at least three
plausible origins. It may derive from the sailing command to
square away, which means "to bring the helm to right angles to
the keel and let the ship run before the wind." A squared away
ship, then, would be one sailing at top speed with a minimum of
effort.
Closer in sense to the Academy use of squared away, however,
is the very similar command square off. According to Granville
in Sea Slang of the Twentieth Century, to square off means "to
make things shipshape and generally tidy. To straighten, as in
the order 'Square off your caps. Finally, Bradford's Mariner's
Dictionary lists square up--"arrange all gear in an orderly
fashion. What all three of these expressions have in common is
the verb square in the sense of "to arrange, adjust, render fit
or exact"; according to the OED, square has carried this meaning
since the end of the sixteenth century.
According to CAPT Randell Prothro, squared away was current
at the Academy in the early 1940's in the sense of "organized."
The absence of the phrase from the "Advice to Plebes" sections of
the earliest Reef Points argues that squared away was not used
much earlier than the 1940's since the antithesis of the prover-
bial touge, or cocky, plebe would surely be a squared away one.
The omission of the term from later Reef Points glossaries is
less understandable, though perhaps the sense seemed so obvious
that an entry would be superfluous. MAJ Laurence W. Mazzeno,
USA, reports that squared away is also used in the Army and has
been since at least the late 1960's.
To describe a classmate as squared away is perhaps the
highest compliment that one mid can bestow upon another. A
squared away midshipman is one who embodies the best of Academy
ideals: physically, mentally, and spiritually, he or she has it
all together.
32
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72024566218 P.37
WOOP (wup) n. A student at the United States Military Academy at
West Point.
According to popular legend, woop originates from the 1939 film
classic The Wizard of Oz. Midshipmen relate with relish how
Victor Fleming, director of the film, hired the West Point
gymnastics team to play the part of the flying monkeys who whisk
Dorothy and Toto off to the castle of the Wicked Witch of the
West. As every child knows, the monkeys possess a rather ru-
dimentary vocabulary, restricted to the single cry, "Woop";
midshipmen viewed these monkeys as emblematic of the intellectual
and linguistic capacities of their brothers-in-arms and thus
applied the name woop, drawn from the cry, to any and every West
Point cadet.
Appealing though it may be, this elymology raises several
difficulties. First of all, the credits of The Wizard of Oz make
no mention of the West Point gymnasts. If the cadets did per-
form, one would expect them to be named in the proper place,
right after the Singer Midgets who played the Munchkins. Second,
if the nickname woop does derive from the film, why did it take
twenty-five years for the word to appear in Reef Points?
Marie Capps, Head of the Division of Manuscripts at the USMA
Library, was able to throw some light on this subject. The
Wizard of Oz legend has circulated for a long time, she states,
but it is just that--a legend. Despite the similarities between
their uniforms, no cadets played monkeys in the film, and the
U.S. Military Academy waives all credit for terrifying helpless
little children for the past forty years. Woop is actually a
shortened form of woo-poo, a term for cadets that has been
employed at West Point since at least the 1940's. Woo-poo itself
appears to be a vocalized version of WP, the acronym for West
Point.
Woo-poo first appeared in the 1964-65 Reef Points with the
definition, "The Army's answer (?) to a midshipman.' The nick-
name was superseded in 1978-79 by the shortened form woop.
Although cadets use woo-poo to refer to themselves, woop is never
heard within the walls of "that isolated government institution
which overlooks the Hudson.' Like the older kaydet, which it has
replaced in midshipman slang, woop carries largely pejorative
connotations.
33
MAY-18-1992 15:38 FROM ACDEAN
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72024566218 P.38
ZOOMIE (zu' mi), n. A student at the United States Air Force
Academy in Colorado Springs.
According to the Shorter OED, zoom first appeared in English in
1886 with the meaning "To make a continuous low-pitched buzzing
sound"; the word is apparently echoic in origin. During World
War I zoom acquired an aeronautical sense as well: "to rise very
steeply after flying horizontally at a low level." It was only
with World War II, however, that zoomie appeared; Marjorie Taylor
in The Language of World War II states that zoomies is the
"nickname of fliers in the Aleutians" and cites its use in a 1943
magazine article.
Although the Air Force Academy was founded in 1954, zoomie
first appears in the 1970-71 Reef Points; there is no other entry
for Air Force cadets before that datc. During the past ten years
the humorous definition of zoomie has remained unchanged: "Air
Force Cadet; one of our collegiate buddies who lives at the
government play school in Colorado Springs and wears a blue bus
driver cap.
34
MAY-18-1992 15:38 FROM ACDEAN
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72024566218 P.39
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Adams, Ramon F. Western Words: A Dictionary of the American
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The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language. Ed.
William Morris. New York: Heritage Publishing Company,
1969.
Ansted, A. A Dictionary of Sea Terms. Glasgow: Brown, Son, &
Ferguson, 1917; rpt. 1947.
Banning, Kendal. Annapolis Today. Rev. A. Stuart Pitt. 6th ed.
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"Baum, Frank Lyman." The World Book Encyclopedia. Chicago:
World Book-Childcraft, 1980.
Baumer, William H. West Point: Moulder of Men. New York: D.
Appleton-Century, 1942.
Benjamin, Park. The United States Naval Academy. New York:
G. P. Putnam, 1900.
Berrey, Lester V., and Melvin van den Bark. The American
Thesaurus of Slang. New York: Thomas Crowell, 1947.
Bluejacket's Manual. Ed. Bill Bearden and Bill Wertzen. 20th
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Bourne, Frank C. A History of the Romans. Boston: D. C. Heath
and Company, 1966.
Bradford, Gershom. The Mariner's Dictionary. New York: Barre,
1952.
Cassell's Latin Dictionary. Ed. J. R. V. Merchant and Joseph F.
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Chase, George Davis. "Sea Terms Come Ashore." University of
Maine Studies, Second Series. Orono, Maine: University
Press, 1942.
The Classical Greek Dictionary. Ed. George Berry. Chicago:
Follett, 1956.
Colcord, Joanna Carver. Sea Language Comes Ashore. New York:
Cornell Maritime Press, 1945.
Course, A. G. Dictionary of Nautical Terms. London: Arco
Publications, 1962.
A Dictionary of American Slang. Ed. Harold Wentworth and Stuart
B. Flexner. 2nd ed. New York: Crowell, 1975.
The Drag's Handbook. Ed. Cary Hall, et al. Annapolis: The
Log, 1939.
1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. Ed. Robert Cromie.
Northfield, Illinois: Digest Books, 1971.
Encyclopedia Britannica. 11th ed. 29 vols. New York: The
University Press, 1911.
Engeman, Jack. West Point: The Life of a Cadet. New York:
Lothrop, Lee, and Shepard, 1956.
English Dialect Dictionary. Ed. Joseph Wright. 6 vols.
Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1898; rpt. 1970.
English-Norwegian Dictionary. Ed. T. Gleditsch et al.
London: George Allen and Unwin, 1950.
Fag-Ends from the Naval Academy: A Collection of Naval Poems,
Songs and Autographs, Chronologically Arranged. 2nd ed.
New York: Homer Lee Bank Note Company, 1881.
Falconer, William. Falconer's Marine Dictionary. London, 1780;
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rpt. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1976.
Funk and Wagnalls New Practical Standard Dictionary of the
English Language. Ed. Charles Earle Funk. 2 vols. New
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Granville, Wilfred. A Dictionary of Sailors' Slang. London:
Andre Deutsch, 1962.
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Sea Slang of the Twentieth Century. New York.
Philosophical Library, 1950.
A Guide to the United States Naval Academy. Comp. Writers
Program, Maryland, WPA. New York: Devin-Adair Company,
1941.
Hammersly, L. R. A Naval Encyclopedia: Comprising a Dictionary
of Nautical Words and Phrases. Philadelphia: L. R.
Hammersly, 1881.
Harper's Latin Dictionary. Ed. E. A. Andrews; Rev. Charlton T.
Lewis and C. Short. New York: American BOOK Company, 1879.
Jane's Dictionary of Naval Terms. Ed. Joseph Palmer. London:
McDonald and Jane's, 1975.
Junk: A Collection of Songs and Poems by Cadets at the United
States Naval Academy. Comp. G. F. Gibbs. Washington,
D.C.: The Patentee Publishing Company, 1889.
Kendall, Park, and Johnny Viney. A Dictionary of Army and Navy
Slang. New York: M. S. Mill Company, 1941.
Klein, Ernest, ed. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of
the English Language. 2 vols. New York: Elsevier, 1966.
The Lighthouse: The Plebe's Bible. Annapolis: United States
Naval Academy, 1929.
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The Log. Magazine of the Brigade of Midshipmen. Annapolis:
United States Naval Academy, 1913-
Lovette, Leland P. Naval Ceremonies, Customs, and Traditions.
Rev, William Mack and Royal Connell. 5th ed. Annapolis:
United States Naval Institute Press, 1980.
Lucas, Jim G. Combat Correspondent. New York: Reynal and
Hitchcock, 1944.
The Lucky Bag. Yearbook of the Brigade of Midshipmen.
Annapolis: United States Naval Academy, 1894-
Matthew, Mitford M., ed. A Dictionary of Americanisms on
Historical Principles. Chicago: University of Chicago
Press, 1951.
McEwen, W. A., and A. H. Lewis. Encyclopedia of Nautical
Knowledge. Cambridge, Maryland: Cornell Maritime Press,
1953.
McHugh, William B. "A Discriminative Study of the Sea Language
Found in Twelve Selected Modern American Novels." Master's
Thesis San Diego State College 1959.
The Middle English Dictionary. Ed. Hans Kurath. Ann Arbor:
University of Michigan Press, 1952-
Midshipman Held Publications. United States Naval Academy
Regulations, Part II. Annapolis: United States Naval
Academy, 1981.
The Mission of the U.S. Naval Academy: The Drag's Handbook.
Annapolis: The Log, 1974.
Morris, William, and Mary Morris. Morris Dictionary of Word and
Phrase Origins. New York: Harper and Row, 1977.
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Ninetieth Anniversary of the United States Naval Academy,
1845-1935. Ed. J. A. Mihalovic and George R. Luckett.
Annapolis: United States Naval Institute Press, 1935.
Noel, John V., Jr., and Edward L. Beach. Naval Terms Dictionary.
4th ed. Annapolis: United States Naval Institute Press,
1974.
Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary of Current English. Ed. A.
S. Hornby. 3rd ed. New York: Oxford University Press,
1974.
Oxford American Dictionary. Ed. Eugene Ehrlich et al. Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 1980.
The Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. Ed. C. T. Onions et
al. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1966.
The Oxford Dictionary of Modern Greek. Ed. J. T. Pring.
Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1965.
The Oxford English Dictionary. Ed. James A. H. Murray et al.
13 vols. New York: Oxford University Press, 1933.
The Oxford English Dictionary: Supplement. Ed. R. W.
Burchfield. 3 vols. New York: Oxford University Press,
1972-
Paasch, Heinrich. Dictionary of Naval Terms. 4th ed. London:
George Phillip and Sons, 1908.
Partridge, Eric. Dictionary of Forces Slang: 1939-1945.
London: Secker and Warburg, 1948.
A Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English.
7th ed. New York: Macmillan, 1971.
.
Slang: Today and Yesterday. 3rd ed. London:
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Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1950.
Puleston, W. D. Annapolis: Gangway to the Quarterdeck. New
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The Random House College Dictionary. Ed. Jess Stein et al. New
York: Random House, 1975.
The Random House Dictionary of the English Language. Ed. Jess
Stein. New York: Random House, 1966.
Reef Points: The Annual Handbook of the Brigade of Midshipmen.
Annapolis: United States Naval Academy, 1905-
Ruffner, Frederick G., JI., and Robert C. Thomas, eds. Code
Names Dictionary: A Guide to Code Names, Slang, Nicknames,
Journalisms, and Similar Terms. Detroit: Gale Research
Company, 1963.
Sandahl, Bertil. Middle English Sea Terms. Cambridge: Harvard
University Press, 1951.
Seagoing Lingo: A Briny Edition of Webster. Annapolis: The
Capital-Gazette Press, C. 1925.
Shakespeare, William. The Complete Signet Classic Shakespeare.
Ed. Sylvan Barnet. New York: Harcourt Brace, 1972.
Sheppard, Edgar. Memorials of St. James Palace. 2 vols.
London: Longmans, Green, and Company, 1894.
The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary. Rev. C. T. Onions. 3rd
ed. 2 vols. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1973.
Skeat, Walter W. Etymological Dictionary of the English
Language. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1882; rpt.
1974.
.
A Glossary of Tudor and Stuart Words. Oxford, 1914;
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rpt. New York: Burt Franklin, 1968.
Smyth, William H. Sailor's Word-Book: An Alphabetical Digest of
Nautical Terms. London: Blackie, 1867.
Solcy, James R. Historical Sketch of the United States Naval
Academy. Washngton, D.C.: United States Government
Printing Office, 1876.
Sophocles, E. A. Greck Lexicon of the Roman and Byzantine
Periods. New York: Scribners, 1893.
Springer, Otto. Langenscheidt New Muret-Sanders Encyclopedic
Dictionary of the English and German Languages. 2nd ed.
New York: McGraw Hill, 1969.
Sweetman, Jack. The United States Naval Academy: An Illustrated
History. Annapolis: United States Naval Institute Press,
1979.
Taylor, A. Marjorie. The Language of World War II:
Abbreviations, Slogans, Titles, and Other Terms and Phrases.
New York: H. W. Wilson, 1948.
Webster's American Military Biographies. Springfield,
Massachusetts: G. and C. Merriam Company, 1978.
Webster's Collegiate Thesaurus. Springfield, Massachusetts: G.
and C. Merriam Company, 1976.
Webster's New World Dictionary of the American Language. Ed.
David B. Guralnik. 2nd ed. Cleveland: World, 1974.
Wells, Gerald. Naval Customs and Traditions. London: P. Allan,
1930.
41
Sections
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MAY 24, 1992
-SUNDAY G
3 Ex-Soviet States
To Give Up A-Arms
Agreement Signed in Lisbon Clears Way
For START Ratification, New Negotiations
most awesome array of long-range
By Don Oberdorfer
nuclear weapons, as the Soviet
Washington Post Staff Writer
Union, the nation that created and
LISBON, May 23-Ukraine, Ka-
held them during the decades of the
zakhstan and Belarus, three states
Cold War, splintered into more than a
of the former Soviet Union that
dozen parts.
have nuclear arms on their territo-
The agreement signed today "is
ry, formally agreed with the United
one of the most important interna-
States and Russia today to give up
tional documents that have been
those weapons by the end of the
worked on in recent times [reflect-
decade and not to seek nuclear
ing] contemporary political reality
arms again.
and the fact that new independent
In a wordless, austere ceremony in
states have appeared on the inter-
the barroom of a Lisbon hotel, Sec-
national stage," said a written state-
retary of State James A. Baker III
ment issued by Russian Foreign
and officials of Russia and the three
Minister Andrei Kozyrev, whose
other nuclear-armed former Soviet
nation will be the only former So-
republics signed a protocol, or legal
viet state entitled to retain nuclear
supplement, to the 1991 Strategic
weapons in the long term. Baker, in
Arms Reduction Treaty (START),
a separate written statement, called
pledging to carry out its terms.
the signing the reflection of "a new
They thus laid the groundwork
era in political relations among our
for ratification of the landmark
respective nations."
START treaty and for permitting
The ceremony took less than six
negotiations to go ahead between
minutes from the time the five dip-
the United States and Russia for
lomats walked into the Winter Gar-
BY HARPREET SINGH FOR THE WASHINGTON POST
deeper cutbacks in nuclear arms.
den Room of Lisbon's Hotel Ritz, sat
he calls village life "useless, finished."
The full significance of the occa-
side by side at a long table and waited
sion, which took months of difficult
uncomfortably as each signed all five
negotiation to arrange, went far be-
copies of the accord, which was writ-
in a Village
yond the pale legalism of the six-page
ten in five languages.
documents the diplomats signed. To-
After all had signed, applause
day's ceremony was a hard-won mile-
rang out from the several dozen in-
stone in a mostly invisible, yet in-
vited guests. The signers, all for-
United Nations-sponsored conference dubbed
tense diplomatic struggle to maintain
eign ministers of their countries ex-
he Earth Summit and aimed at developing
control over the world's largest and
See START, A44, Col. 1
trategies to protect the world's atmosphere
the
Mars.
officers of crew/
Michael John PAO
(301-267-2291) (410-267-3133) FAX
like
Submarine uss. Annapolis 688 class
just commissional
NAVY COMMENCEMENT
H -410-267-7247
* 25 Aug.
88 FIRST DAY OF CLASS (WHEN FRESH)
SummeR POOOT CAMP.
PEAD POST FROM THAT PAY
88
INT'L PAGE
of
PLEBE SUMMER
THOS HAREN GOVT'S ARENT IN POWER ANYMORS
(Jnks. long)
6 July A88
4
PLANS
To PENNSACOLA FLIGHT TRAIN
G
SIZE OF CLASS/ COMPARED TO PAST CLASSES
BOB HOPE BLDE. DED.
nonorary graduate (past Arnold
faront bar (port-o-call)
Naval academy
410-267-6100 general #
Michael Johns
ptole armp 4 males names)
last year Gen. Schwartzkopt-
during class 4'42 years there did Navy heat Amy in Antball all4yrs.?
President Jimmy Carter
Roger Staubanch playedon that field
64 Capt. of team / Center KS
Adm. Lynch
64 gr. Stawingh won the Heisman
Supervatined School
M
I like people who eat well before they
Combat today requires
a moral
fight. It is a good sign.
cohension, a unity more binding than at
Maurice de Saxe, 1696-1750
any other time. If one does not wish the
bonds to break, he must make them elastic
The human heart is the starting point in all
in order to strengthen them.
matters pertaining to war.
Ardant du Picq, 1821-1870, Battle
Maurice de Saxe: Mes Rêveries, 1732
Studies
A battle is lost less through the loss of
The men thought that victory was chained
men than by discouragement.
to my standard. Men who go into a fight
Frederick The Great: Instructions
under the influence of such feelings are
for His Generals, xx, 1747
next to invincible, and are generally victors
before it begins.
Let us therefore animate and encourage
John S. Mosby: War Reminiscences,
each other, and show the whole world, that
vii, 1887
a Freeman contending for Liberty on his
own ground is superior to any slavish mer-
The [French] people had always concen-
cenary on earth.
trated on material questions. They thought
George Washington: General Order
to the Conținental Army, 2 July 1776
that the offensive power of the enemy
would be broken by the defensive action
Morale makes up three quarters of the
of new and terrible weapons. In that way
game: the relative balance of man-power
they ruined the spirit of their army. That
accounts only for the remaining quarter.
is what chiefly weighed in the scale.
Colmar von der Goltz: of the French
Napoleon I, 1769-1821, Correspond-
defeat after 1870
ence.
In war the moral is to the material as
Battles are beyond all else struggles of
three to one.
morale. Defeat is inevitable as soon as
Napoleon I, 1769-1821
the hope of conquering ceases to exist.
Success comes not to him who has suffered
In war, everything depends on morale; and
the least but to him whose will is firmest
morale and public opinion comprise the
and morale strongest.
better part of reality.
French Army Field Regulations, 1913
Napoleon I, 1769-1821. Pensees
Moral forces may take a back seat at Com-
One fights well when his heart is light.
mittees of Imperial Defense or in War
Napoleon I: To General Gaspard
Offices; at the front they are put where
Gourgaud, St. Helena, 17 February
Joab put Uriah.
1816
Sir Ian Hamilton: The Soul and
Body of an Army, x, 1921
A cherished cause and a general who
inspires confidence by previous success are
The unfailing formula for production of
powerful means of electrifying an army
morale is patriotism, self-respect, dis-
and are conducive to victory.
cipline, and self-confidence within a
Jomini: Précis de l'Art de la Guerre,
military unit, joined with fair treatment
1838
and merited appreciation from without.
It cannot be produced by pampering or
It is the morale of armies, as well as of
coddling an army, and is not necessarily
nations, more than anything else, which
destroyed by hardship, danger, or even
makes victories and their results decisive.
calamity
It will quickly wither and
Jomini: Précis de l'Art de la Guerre,
die if soldiers come to believe themselves
1838
the victims of indifference or injustice on
the part of their government, or of
No system of tactics can lead to victory
ignorance, personal ambition, or in-
when the morale of an army is bad.
eptitude on the part of their leaders.
Jomini: Précis de Art de la Guerre,
Douglas MacArthur: Annual
1838
Report, Chief of Staff, U.S. Army,
1933
Universal suffrage, furloughs, and whiskey
have ruined us.
Morale is a state of mind. It is steadfast-
Braxton Bragg: After Shiloh, 1862
ness and courage and hope. It is confidence
196
ROBERT DEBS HEINL, JR.
COLONEL, U.S. MARINE CORPS, RETIRED
DICTIONARY
OF
MILITARY
AND
NAVAL
QUOTATIONS
UNITED STATES NAVAL INSTITUTE
ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND
32
LOOKING FORWARD
that marriage was years away. My training days were drawing to a
close at the Naval Air Station in Charlestown, Rhode Island. In the
fall of 1943 I was assigned to VT-51, a torpedo squadron being
readied for active duty in the Pacific.
Eight months after V-J Day, Life magazine ran a story, "Home
to Chichi Jima," telling of the war-crimes trial of two Japanese
officers charged with executing American fliers shot down over the
Bonin Islands and "even more revolting, of practicing cannibalism
on them."
I read the piece as a Yale freshman, not long out of the Navy.
It brought back memories of the worst hours I spent during the
war.
The date was September 2, 1944. It was the second day of
concentrated air strikes on the Bonins by our squadron, VT-51,
operating off the San Jacinto, one of eight fast carriers in Vice Admi-
ral Marc Mitscher's Task Force 58. My aviator's log book for that
day reads: Crash Landing in Sea-Near Bonin Is.-Enemy action.
Under the column for Passengers were the names Delaney and Lt.
(jg) White. Jack Delaney was the young radioman/tail gunner on my
Grumman Avenger torpedo bomber. William G. (Ted) White was
]
the squadron's gunnery officer, filling in that day for Leo Nadeau,
our regular turret gunner.
VT-51 had an air complement of twenty-six F6F Hellcats and
nine TBM Avengers. The quick, mobile Hellcat fighter kept the
I
skies clear of enemy aircraft. The Avenger had earned a reputation
as the biggest, best single-engine bomber around, used for torpedo
b
runs, glide bombing, antisub patrols, and providing air cover dur-
ing amphibious landings. The TBM carried a three-man crew-
aviator, turret gunner, and radioman/tail gunner, or "stinger,"
d
along with a 2,000-pound bomb payload.
n
d
The target for that day was a radio communications center on
Chichi Jima, one of three islands in the Bonin chain. The others
o
St
were Haha Jima and the best-remembered Pacific island of World
d
War Two, Iwo Jima. The day before, Delaney, Nadeau, and I had
S(
C(
de
LOOKING FORWARD
WHATEVER BROUGHT You TO TEXAS?
33
days were drawing to a
flown a mission targeting gun emplacements on Chichi. We
stown, Rhode Island. In the
knocked some out, but not enough. The Japanese who were dug in
a torpedo squadron being
on the island still had a potent antiaircraft reserve.
Delaney, Nadeau, and I had been together since VT-51 was
first attached to the San Jacinto, back in the States.
We'd flown missions over Wake Island, Palau, Guam, and Sai-
agazine ran a story, "Home
pan, and survived a fair number of close calls, including a ditching
imes trial of two Japanese
operation when our plane sprang a leak while still carrying four
fliers shot down over the
depth charges intended for enemy subs. How do you put a TBM
of practicing cannibalism
Avenger into the water with four 500-pound bombs in its belly?
Very carefully, with adrenaline running, a prayer on your lips, and
not long out of the Navy.
your fingers crossed.
hours I spent during the
In flight training at Corpus Christi and along the East Coast,
It was the second day of
we were taught to gauge wind velocity and the height of waves.
by our squadron, VT-51,
Given winds at about fifteen knots and a fair chop on the sea, I
fast carriers in Vice Admi-
trimmed the nose of the plane as high as possible without risking a
aviator's log book for that
stall. We landed tailfirst and were able to scramble onto the wing,
Is.-Enemy action.
inflate our safety raft, and start paddling, just as the plane went
the names Delaney and Lt.
down.
dioman/tail gunner on my
We felt lucky. Within seconds we felt even luckier, when the
lliam G. (Ted) White was
plane's torpedoes detonated after their safety devices gave way to
that day for Leo Nadeau,
undersea pressure. Then, about thirty minutes later, came a happy
ending: the destroyer U.S.S. Bronson sighted our raft and picked us
enty-six F6F Hellcats and
up.
Hellcat fighter kept the
had earned a reputation
around, used for torpedo
Like most TBM Avenger pilots, I liked the teamwork and ca-
providing air cover dur-
maraderie that went with being part of a three-man crew. I became
ied a three-man crew—
attached to my plane, nicknaming it "Barbara."
il gunner, or "stinger,"
The TBM Avenger wasn't fast-the unofficial Navy line de-
scribed it as "low and slow." As Leo Nadeau once put it, the TBM
mmunications center on
"could fall faster than it could fly." Cruising speed was about 140
Bonin chain. The others
knots, brought down to less then 95 knots for a carrier landing. But
Pacific island of World
it was sturdy and stable. Sturdy and stable enough to allow for
ney, Nadeau, and I had
pilot error on even a bad landing. From the start, back during flight
E300
79
B81
WH
LOOKING
FORWARD
George Bush
with Victor Gold
Doubleday
NEW YORK
1987
05/19/92 13:50
301 267 3133
USNA PAO
5
001
U. S.
NAVAL
ACADEMY
EX
TRIDENS
SCIENTIA
From: Mike John
Public Affairs Office
U.S. Naval Academy
121 Blake Road
Annapolis, Maryland 21402
Phone (410) 267-2291 (Autovon 281-2291)
Tele(ax Number (410) 267-3133 (Autovon 281-3133)
Page one of 13 pages
Attention:
Jeannie Buntow
202)456-6218
Extended Page 1.1
Here far is the information we have So
more to follow.
05/19/92
13:51
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002
TRIDENT
Serving the Annapolis-arca Navy community
Vol. 1, No. 37
Annapolis, Maryland
September 13, 1991
Academy honors Persian Gulf warriors
By Trident Staff
A football field is place of battle. And, from
bombs launched to wide receivers to blitzes run on
quarterbacks, gridiron discussions use the
terminology of great wars. America's football heroes
sometimes sacrifice their bodies to overcome their
opponent.
Last Saturday at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial
Stadium, the Naval Academy recognized real heroes
- heroes who made the ultimate sacrifice. The
academy dedicated a plaque in honor of the more
than 100 Americans who died during the Persian
Gulf buildup and subsequent war. The words
"Desert Storm" are, painted on the facade of
Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium along with
DESERT STORM
42 other battles in which American lives were lost.
The Desert Storm nameplate was unveiled by
Midshipmen 4th Class Harry Gardner and Gene
Coryell II. They are veterans of the Desert Storm
Operation.
Naval Academy Superintendent Rear Adm.
USNA photo by PHI Alex Hicks
Thomas C. Lynch welcomed a crowd of 22,661 to
Operation Desert Storm veterans Midshipmen 4th
Navy's football season opener against Ball State. It
Class Harry Gardner and Gene Coryell III unveiled
was an evening which encouraged American support
the newest battle nameplate at Navy-Marine Corps
for the armed services and honored military
Memorial Stadium last Saturday night during half-
personnel, both past and present.
time of the Navy-Ball State football game.
"The names of battles and campaigns proudly
inscribed in this stadium are a constant reminder
that America and her ideals have and will bc
challenged by others; that it takes courage to carry
the day; and that it takes proud professionals-willing
to make the ultimate sacrifice, if needed, to keep the
peace and insure the freedoms each of us holds so
dear," said Lynch.
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003
U.S. Navy photo
An aircraft handler pauses beneath an A-6 aboard the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga as the sun rises
on another day of intensive air operations during Desert Storm.
Battles remembered
Desert Storm added to a long list of battle nameplates on the facade of Navy-Marine Corps
Memorial Stadium:
Blue Side (West)
Gold Side (East)
Southern France
Anzio
Marianas
Tarawa
Belleau Wood
Chatcau Thierry
Kwajalein
Sicily
Pearl Harbor
Java Sea
Philippine Sea
North Africa
Wake
Coral Sea
Peleliu
Leyte Gulf
Midway
Savo Island
Lingayen Gulf
Iwo Jima
Eastern Solomons
Santa Cruz Islands
Okinawa
Salerno
Guadalcanal
New Georgia
Normandy
Inchon
Bougainville
Rabaul
Chosin Reservem
Battle of the Atlantic
Cape Gloucester
Holl-n-
Mekong Det
Thus Thien
Market Time
Quang Nam
Quang Tri
Yankee Station
Quang Tin
Quang Ngar
Desert Storm
UNITED STATES NAVAL ACADEMY
MIDSHIPMEN SERVICE SELECTION INFORMATION
05/19/92
CLASS OF 1990
CLASS OF 1991
CLASS OF 1992
TOTAL SELECTING
1004
952
1016
13:52
Male
Female
Male
Female
Male
Female
USMC
91
2
93
3
138
3
NAVY UNRESTRICTED LINE (URL)
GENERAL URL
1
35
SURFACE WARFARE
1
27
6
34
301 3133 267
(conventional)
239
9
(nuclear power)
256
5
37
273
10
--
URL/ENGINEERING DUTY OPTION
41
:
4
19
--
0
URL/OCEANOGRAPHY OPTION
4
1
--
1
--
1
SUBMARINE WARFARE
4
1
135
3
1
--
SPECIAL WARFARE
101
:
20
92
--
--
SPECIAL OPERATIONS
19
--
5
10
--
--
NAVAL FLIGHT OFFICER
6
1
109
9
5
1
PILOT
99
5
223
109
5
10
325
195
15
216
14
19
USNA PAO
RESTRICTED LINE/STAFF CORPS
325
AVIATION MAINTENANCE DUTY
19
344
TOMALTO
--
1
CRYPTOLOGY
--
1
PENSACOLA
-
4
--
4
INTELLIGENCE
1
1
2
1
2
2
4
1
≈ the-third of graduating class
OCEANOGRAPHY
3
--
3
2
MEDICAL CORPS
1
1
--
8
1
--
SUPPLY
8
:
22
15
--
17
CIVIL ENGINEERING CORPS
26
14
3
19
7
13
7
4
4
6
INTER-SERVICE TRANSFER
USAF
4
--
6
--
5
2
004
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182
100 YEARS OF ARMY-NAVY FOOTBALL
halfback Donny Parcells scored. Army missed
hard for me to believe all this has happened,"
the conversion and the score at halftime was
he said, wiping the burnt cork from under his
15-6.
eyes. "It will take awhile for me to get used to
Army tried a fake kick after a drive to open
all this."
the second half, but the play boomeranged and
Although pro football scouts traditionally
Navy recovered the ball on their 35-yard line.
have ignored players on the service teams be-
On the very next play the Middies' fine full-
cause of their military commitments, several of
back, Nick Markoff, took off for the far side-
them were already vitally interested in Roger
lines, outran a couple of Army defenders, then
Staubach.
jumped high into the air for a Staubach pass
With Hardin having announced he would
that easily was thrown at least 60 yards. Once
switch over to 4 more wide-open passing of-
Nick had the ball safely tucked under his arm,
fense in 1963, Staubach, who had the height
he had to run only 10 more yards for another
and potential to play pro football, figured to
Navy score. The play covered some 65 yards
attract even more interest in his next two sea-
and brought the three thousand Middies and
sons at the Academy.
the crowd of more than 100,000 to their feet
"Right now, it looks like I'm going to be in
with a roar that could be heard back at Annap-
the Navy for quite a while," he said. "But who
olis. Now Navy had a 22-6 lead.
knows: I kind of like the idea of playing pro-
In the fourth period, Navy drove downfield
fessionally, the challenge of proving I'm as good
for 90 yards and another score. Two Staubach
as some quarterback from Miami or Michigan.
passes, one to end Dave Sjuggernud for 50
It's certainly something I'm going to think
yards, another to halfback Johnny Sai for 10
about."
yards, brought the ball to the Army 2-yard line.
But if the Army and Paul Dietzel had had
Then Staubach knifed through tackle for the
their way, Staubach shouldn't waste time
touchdown.
thinking. He should turn pro immediately. And
Army wasn't ready to throw in the towel just
Army and Dictzel would be willing to give him
yet. With Lewis directing their attack, the Ca-
a thirty-two-gun salute and best wishes on his
dets drove downfield, completing five straight
way.
passes. The fifth pass, to halfback Johnny Sey-
mour, was good for an Army touchdown. Then
Army scored on a 2-point conversion, and the
President John F. Kennedy was assassinated on
score was 28-14 with less than five minutes re-
November 22, 1963, and the Army-Navy game,
maining to play in the game.
scheduled to be played the next weekend, was
Army continued their passing attack and
postponed. It was then rescheduled for Decem-
reached the Navy 10-yard line, but just when
ber 7 at the request of the President's widow.
it seemed the Cadets would mount another
The pregame ceremonies of this sixty-fourth
drive, Navy intercepted a pass. Then Ron
meeting of the two service rivals were appro-
Klemick, who had come in for an exhausted
priately simple and dignified. An honor guard
Staubach, passed to end Jim Campbell for an-
of two hundred Cadets and Midshipmen in al-
other touchdown. Navy missed the conversion,
ternate rows marched to the center of the field
but by that time it was Navy 34, Army 14.
after the two teams had warmed up. The Na-
In the dressing room after the game, Terry
tional Anthem was played, and a minute of
Shore, a reporter for the Minneapolis Star,
silence was asked for by Cadet Richard Chil-
asked Wayne Hardin if he felt there was a
coat, first captain of the Corps, and first cap-
turning point in the game. Hardin looked at
tain of the Middies, Walter Kesler. Then the
Staubach, grinned, and said, "Yep. When he
honor guard marched off the field. There were
showed up on the field."
no floats, no signs, 10 taunting skits as were
Extended Page
5.1
nw caunting SAICS as WOME
Staubach laughed easily. "It's still really
usually part of the game's anticipation. Just
006
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THE YEARS OF JOLLY ROGER: 1962-64
183
two traditional features were in evidence: the
things looked good for the blue-and-gold Ca-
impressive parade into the field by the two stu-
dets. Dick Heydt placekicked the extra point,
dent bodies, and the hat-waving roaring pro-
and many of the 100,000 onlookers were say-
duced by both rooting sections.
ing, "Maybe we're going to see a ball game
The year before, President Kennedy had
after all."
tossed the coin at midfield. This time, no dig-
The same watchers knew for sure a few min-
nitary took part in the tradition. The two cap-
utes later. After Navy took the ensuing kickoff
tains, Tom Lynch of Navy and Dick Nowak of
they moved quickly to the Army 3, with first
Army, were brought together by Barney Finn,
down and goal to go. And then
Sai made
the referee. The starting lineups were then an-
a yard off tackle. Sai lost 2 around end. Stau-
nounced and the game began.
bach went to the 1-foot line on a keeper. Roger
For the want of a time-out, the game was
was stopped for no gain off tackle. Army had
lost by Army. On their way to what could have
stopped the Middies on four thrusts from within
been a tying or winning touchdown, the gal-
their 5-yard linel
lant Cadets, slowpokey and confused, used up
Taking over on downs, the Cadets immedi-
fifty-six seconds to get off one play and were
ately added insult to injury. After two power
two frustrating yards from glory when the gun
plays gained 3 yards, Dietzel's offense got un-
ended this playing of the annual service classic.
characteristically tricky. After going into their
With a trip to the Cotton Bowl hinging on the
regular T formation, the West Pointer back-
outcome, Navy came off with a 21-15 victory
field started to shift for a punt. But as kicker
as fullback Pat Donnelly scored three touch-
Ray Hawkins was moving into position, Stich-
downs to tie a record and Roger Staubach never
weh took the snap from center and barreled off
stopped acting like the most exciting quarter-
tackle for 8 yards and a first down.
back in the country.
"A well-educated play," Hardin admitted.
It was Navy's fifth consecutive triumph in
But then Army had to kick, and it became a
this end-of-season spectacular, and it equaled a
question of coping with Staubach.
record set by the Midshipmen from 1939
With the ball slightly in Army territory, Jolly
through 1943.
Roger took over. Twice he fan for big gains
At the same time, Wayne Hardin extended
after being forced out of the pocket. He also hit
his own victorious coaching streak over Army
Sai for a 26-yard gain. Finally, with the ball
to five in a row, and there were many, includ-
on the four, Donnelly went off tackle to score.
ing his players, who hailed him as the "Coach
Marlin kicked the point and the teams went into
of the Year."
the dressing room at halftime with a 7-7 stale-
Said team captain Tom Lynch: "If he isn't,
mate.
there is something funny."
"That's when we changed around," said
The Middies also accepted, by acclamation,
Hardin afterward. "We went back to our basic
an invitation to play the national champion,
stuff after wasting a lot of time on special plays
Texas, at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas on New
we put in for Army."
Year's Day.
What he meant was-they gave the ball to
A 12-point underdog, the Cadets scored the
Roger.
first time they got hold of the ball. From their
The third period was well on its way when
own 35, a possession team strictly, Army kept
the future All-American and Heisman Trophy
pounding up the field. First Ray Paske, then
winner asserted himself. He made it look easy,
Ken Waldrop, and then a masterful running
too. He connected on passes to Neil Henderson
quarterback named Carl Stichweh.
and Orr, and there were a couple of runs up
When Stichweh, on a third and 9 count-
the middle after apparently being trapped. And
down, went around his own left end 10 vards
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184 100 YEARS OF ARMY-NAVY FOOTBALL
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
December 2, 1961
TO THE CORPS OF CADETS AND THE BRIGADE
OF MIDSHIPMEN
It is easy to pick the real winner of the annual
Army-Navy football game: the people of the United
States. For the outcome is certain from the great
spirit of competition, the lessons of good sports-
manship, and the skill and perfection with which
the players of both teams perform, all of which
bring to the Officer Corps of our Armed Forces
lasting benefit in terms of leadership. From this
leadership, our nation is stronger, and the cause
of freedom in the world is safer from encroachment.
A less serious benefit, of course, is what the
Army-Navy football game brings to intercollegiate
football, and to the world of sports. The game
sets a fine example of hardhitting fair play that I
hope will inspire Americans, young and old, in
the world of sports.
My greetings and warm good wishes go to all of
you who support the West Point and Annapolis teams
today.
008
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A president who loved the game. Opposite page: In 1961. President John F. Kennedy expressed the
meaning of the Army-Navy game. both for himself and for the nation, in a letter to the "Corps of
Cadets and the Brigade of Midshipmen. Above: A year later, prior 10 the start of the sixty-third
contest, President Kennedy flipped the coin at midfield: watching are Army captain John Ellerson. an
end, and Navy captain Stene Hoy. (1 guard. Below: In 1963. barely a week after the President's assas-
sination, the sixty-fourth game was played at the request of his widow. The only pregame ceremony
was the observance of a moment of silence in tribute to the stain commander in chief. Shown standing
before the array of flags with heads bowed are Midshipman Boyd Knowles and Cadet William Cesarski.
The following year. Philadelphia's Municipal Stadium, which had become the traditional site of the
annual service classic, was renamed John F. Kennedy Stadium.
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186
100 YEARS OF ARMY-NAVY FOOTBALL
Right: General of the Army Douglas
MacArthur (who had been superinten-
dent of the U.S. Military Academy from
1919 to 1922) acts as intermediary be-
tween Army coach Paul Dietzel and
Navy coach Wayne Hardin at the 1963
Hall of Fame dinner, Opposite page,
top: A few weeks earlier, the Midship-
men had beaten the Cadets 21- 15. Some
of the action in that scintillating con-
test. Opposite page, bottom: After
Army had drawn first blood, Navy full
back Pat Donnelly takes a handoff from
quarterback Roger Staubach and heads
for a second-period touchdown. And
late in the fourth quarter, Army quar-
terback Carl Stichweh scores on " roll-
out just as Navy's Skip Orr (23) and
Johnny Sai (48) meet him at the goal
line. Stichweh was spectacular all after-
noon as he led the Cadets to a pulsating
close-but-not-quite finish against the
highly favored Middies.
"What can you do with a guy like that?" the
tackle for 2 yards, inches short of a first down.
soldiers seemed to be saying.
Ken Waldrop was thrown for a yard loss on
From the Army nine, Sai made 4, and Stau-
fourth down. Navy took the ball at the 8.
bach then took it to the 1. Sai was stopped for
With the Middies given a new lease on life,
no gain, and it looked as if Army was making
Donnelly scooted for 13 yards, then made 4
another stand. But Donnelly went off left tackle
more. And when somebody was detected piling
for the 6 pointer, Marlin's kick was good, and
on, a 15-yard penalty was added. Then an
Navy was ahead, 14-7.
Army player hit a Navy player on the chin (out
It stayed that way until the start of the final
in the open, too), which brought 15 more yards.
period, when the Cadets made a wrong call
This put the ball on Army's 28, and three plays
that may well have decided the game. It went
later Donnelly went off tackle, hightailed it for
like this:
the sideline, and cluded Stichweh to score.
With the ball on the Navy 17, Army sent
Now it was 21-7, and Army sounded the
Waldrop off tackle for a 7-yard gain. But Navy
famous cavalry charge. And on the field, the
was offside on the play.
Cadets charged back. Nothing fancy, simply
Official: "You Army fellows can keep the
power football. Slain-bang stuff. Stichweh and
ball where it is and have a second down and
Waldrop took turns bruising the Navy line. The
three to go-or you can take the penalty and
leather was really cracking.
have a first down and five to go. What'll it be?"
Stichweh ended a 52-yard drive by rounding
Dietzel on the sideline: "We decline the pen-
his own right end for a touchdown after faking
alty."
to Waldrop. Quarterback Carl then stormed
This is what followed: Ray Paske went "P
into the end zone for the 2 extra points. It was
the middle for no gain. Paske went off right
Navy 21, Arms 15.
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THE YEARS OF JOLLY ROGER: 1962-64 187
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188
100 YEARS OF ARMY-NAVY FOOTBALL
Dietzel again reached into his bag of grid-
other play. The Middies took their time getting
iron tricks. On the kiekoff, Army lined up as
up from the ground, and there were a lot of
usual, only Heydt was turned sideways near the
blue-shirted soldiers running around trying to
ball as though he was going to give the "go"
get in formation just as the game ended.
sign to his teammates. As Hawkins took his steps
The jubilant Middies jumped and danced in
toward the ball, Heydt eased over and gave the
glee. The crestfallen Cadets trudged off the
ball a cross-field boot-and Stichweh grabbed
field. Some of them went into the clubhouse
the slick onside kick to give Army the ball on
and cried-unashamedly.
Navy's 49.
Dietzel said: "Our boys couldn't hear the
Six minutes and thirteen seconds remained
signals. There was too much racket and the
in the game.
clock ran out as we tried to get a little quiet."
But it wasn't quite enough.
Some of the Army players said they were
With Ken Waldrop and Ray Paske hammer-
not aware that the clock was restarted when
ing away at off-tackle plays, the Cadets kept
they went back into that second-and useless--
grinding out the yardage, twice barely making
huddle.
the necessary inches on fourth-down situations.
But as a local football official pointed out:
There was one point at the 23 when Dietzel
"It took some guts for Ray Barbutti [field judge]
sent in a replacement to use up Army's last
to stop the clock in that kind of a situation-in
time-out. Stichweh obliged the West Point
an Army-Navy gaine."
cheering section with a pass in the flat to Don
Stichweh said he couldn't believe the game
Parcells at the 7 for a first down with one min-
was over. "We tried to yell out a play but our
ute and thirty-eight seconds to play.
ends and tackles couldn't hear because of the
It seemed ample. For Hardin it seemed for-
noise. We tried to go to the referee, but either
ever.
he didn't hear me or see me."
Now the audience was in a standup bedlam.
At least the slender 185-pounder from Wil-
Stichweh couldn't hear his own signals.
liston Park, New York, had the satisfaction of
Parcells made 2 hard yards over left guard.
stealing some of the individual thunder from
Navy was digging in and everyone was watch-
the heralded Staubach.
ing the clock. Only 1:22 to go.
Dictzel praised Stichweh as "the outstanding
Waldrop pounded off tackle and was hit
player on the field, bar none."
hard and stopped at the 4. There were fifty-
While Stichweh was pounding out 103 yards
eight seconds left as he picked himself off the
for the Cadets. mostly on rollouts and keeper
ground.
plays, Staubach handled Navy's pro-type attack
Army went into a huddle, then came out and
like an artist. Roger not only completed six of
took formation. But Stichweh backed away.
eleven passes but he caught one from Ed Orr
Too much spectator noise. The referee. Barney
and himself picked up 20 running yards.
Finn, stopped the clock. And that's when Navy
Donnelly's three touchdowns tied a Navy
got a break.
modern service game record set by Joe Bellino
Not knowing that the clock was started again
in 1959. He went over twice on short bursts and
as soon as order was restored, the Army players
once from 20 yards out.
went into another huddle, which used up
twelve more seconds.
So, only twenty-four seconds remained when
The motif set by Navy after 1963 was, "Even
Waldrop finally took a handoff from Stichweh
the Score in 64." and even though the Middies
and went off tackle again-to the 2.
did not reach their goal in the sixty-fifth game
Now it was fourth and goal for the Cadets.
with Army at newly named John F. Kennedy
Only they never came close to running all
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THE YEARS OF JOLLY ROGER: 1962-64 189
edge in the extra-game activities that make the
Army-Navy game the most colorful of college
tumes of several foreign countries. And each
football extravaganzas.
Middie carried a colorful banner which read,
The Middies provided all of the color, both
BEAT ARMY, NEIGHBORS, inscribed in the native
before the game and between the halves. And
language of the country, including one printed
in Russian.
for the first time in years, Army seemed to dis-
dain such activities as immaterial. Once seated,
Among the high-ranking officials who en-
the Corps of Cadets did not even bother to form
joyed the anties were Deputy Secretary of De-
the traditional lane through which its football
fense Cyrus Vance, Secretary of the Army
team runs out onto the field.
Stephen Ailes, Navy Secretary Paul Nitze, and
Navy, on the other hand, was busy with cute
Secretary of Labor Willard Wirtz, along with
tricks and gimmicks, electrically and manually.
dozens of high-ranking Navy and Army officers,
First, they put up two huge electric signs on
who took their seats just as Navy kicked off to
two buildings outside the stadium reading, GO
Army and the game began.
NAVY, and BEAT ARMY. Inside the stadium, they
With the wholchearted cooperation of an
erected another electric display that would have
old-fashioned Army football team, a team that
done credit to Times Square. It blinked SIX AND
disdained cute gimmicks, platoons, and free
EVEN, wishful thinking that their team would
substitutions, "Rollie's Redemption" played a
even the series at thirty victories each (five have
smashing one-stand performance before a
been ties) and take the sixth in a row over the
crowd of 100,000 at John F. Kennedy Stadium
Cadets.
that November 29.
Then, among other lavish displays, there was
Army's Captain Rollie Stichweh, its indefat-
a group of Middies clad in the national cos-
igable running-and-passing quarterback and
top all-around performer, finally caught up
Army coach Paul Dietzel
gives some final pre-Nany
instructions to his 1964 back-
field: John Johnson, Don
Parcells, John Seymour, and
Carl Stichweh It appar-
ently worked because Stich-
weh, Johnson, and Parcells
stood out in a thrilling 11-8
Army win.
013
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190
100 YEARS OF ARMY-NAVY FOOTBALL
with Navy and its great star, Roger Staubach,
Rip should know. He was one of the Seven
and beat them as decisively as any team could
Mules on the legendary Four Horsemen team
in an 11-8 contest. It was Army's first victory
at Notre Dame back in the 1920s and had been
over Navy since the 1958 battle, when the Ca-
serving Navy in a number of capacities, includ-
dets triumphed by a 22-6 margin.
ing a stretch of three years as head coach.
Thus the grim and resolute underdog Cadets
Perhaps the Old Ripper was merely pin-
got even with their tormentor Staubach in his
pointing the obvious and there was no need to
final varsity game. The Cadet defenders har-
look further for an explanation of Army's upset
ried, harassed, and tackled Roger from the
of Navy. The Cadets had hammered out 215
opening moment of the game to the final whis-
yards on the ground, the Middies a mere 31.
tle.
That was the hig difference.
In the first fifty-three seconds of play Army
Except for one stretch in the second quarter
charged and battered Roger to wrench a safety
when Navy drove for a touchdown and its 8
and 2 points from Navy with a gang-tackle of
points, the pressure on the Navy wonder-worker
Staubach 13 yards behind the goal line. For
never eased.
most of the first half they dominated the flerce
Yet Navy dreamers of the might-have-been
action of the game. They marched 54 yards for
could not help but imagine the difference if the
a touchdown on Johnny Seymour's two smash-
injured Pat Donnelly had been healthy. Only
ing runs and Stichweh's 5-yard pass to Sam
for a brief time was this ripsnorting fullback in
Champi. Navy came back on a drive featuring
the offensive lineup, and only on that late-first-
the indomitable Pat Donnelly, before the in-
half drive could the Middies move. Once he
jured fullback had to leave the game. Donnel-
limped to the sidelines, the Annapolis attack lost
ly's inspired running was the key to Navy's tying
its flow.
the game just before halftime, helped by a
Navy was balked at every turn, although
holding penalty. And so the game stood until
Army almost let its traditional foe wriggle off
Army marched 77 yards in the fourth period to
the hook in the last quarter by the most stupid
set up Barry Nickerson's 20-yard field goal to
of all mistakes. When the frustrated Middies
wrap up the win.
were forced to punt, an overeager West Pointer
Roger Staubach, penned and corncred and
poleaxed the kicker. Reprieved, Navy regained
hit hard as he never had been in his three var-
possession and went down to the 27-yard line.
sity years, wound up with minus 22 yards for
That's when Army, scenting victory, rose in all
the day, but he was always a dangerous threat
its might and blitzed Staubach with a con-
passing, completing twelve of twenty-one for
trolled fury. They handed him a fourth down
110 yards. And he did make a 2-point play for
and 45 yards to go, an impossible situation even
Navy to tic the score 8-8 at halftime.
for the brilliant Jolly Roger.
"And if you can't run the ball, you can't win
And so Coach Paul Dietzel produced his first
the game," said Rip Miller as he sadly made his
success over the Midshipmen. He had planned
way out of the field after the game.
well and deserved it fully.
19 May 1992 11:45 a.m.
Museum of Naval Aviation - Pennsacola, Florida
Capt. Rassmussen - [904] 452-3604
TBF Avenger - in bottom of Lake Michigan, POTUs didn't put it
there, a Naval student crashed it one year to the day that POTUS
had qualified in it.
Looking to recover it some time this summer. No funding yet to
recover it.
Flight jacket - [book] record of training from his training
command; POTUs never trianed in Pennsacola, got wings in Corpus
Christi.
N2S "Yellow Peril" - Naval Air station Minneapolis Mn. 18-19 Jan
1943. will be going on exihibit in Pennsacola end of May.
Refurbished, put together in original condition.
From flingt record -- instructor commented Cadet Bush is a pretty
good pilot, but tends to be a little bit eccentric -- probably
meant erratic.
Pennsacola Air Station -- "Cradle of Naval Aviation"
05/19/92 16:48
301 267 3133
USNA PAO
5.
001
army mule names
U. S.
NAVAL
ACADEM)
EX
TRIDENS
SCIENTIA
From: make Jul
Public Affairs Office
U.S. Naval Academy
121 Blake Road
Annapolis, Maryland 21402
Phone (410) 267-2291 (Autovon 281-2291)
Telefax Number (410) 267-3133 (Autovon 281-3133)
Page one of / pages
Attention:
Jeannie Branton
here goes? : Ranger, Spartacus, Fraveller &
Trogen
seopardy "miles rapped by have"
05/23/92
06:04
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USNA PAO
001
NEWS
SCIENTIA
United States Naval Academy
Annapolis, MD 21402-5000
(301) 267-2291
5/23/92
Jeannie
Here is the information on the Herndon climb
I have
also included that sheet that tells what it is in case you
can't find your first copy.
It appears that the class of 1992 has nothing to fear
when it leaves
USNA still in good hands. Note that the
gent who made it to the top of Herndon was an enlisted SEAL,
who fought in Urgent Fury in Panama (received a Bronze Star)
back in Dec. 1989. He then attended the Naval Academy Prepatory
School before arriving last July with the Class of 1995. Not
bad, and he is a local boy too from Silver Spring, Md.
If any other questions, please call
work
(410) 267 - 2291
home
(410)267 - 7247
cheers'
mike July
05/23/92 06:04
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002
HERNDON
James Golladay
22 year old
2 hours, 21 minutes, 37 seconds
From Silver Spring, MD
Graduate of Springbrook High School
15th Company
Former enlisted
Graduate of NAPS (Naval Academy Preparatory School)
Navy Seal
Received Bronze medal during invasion of Panama.
Friend who helped him up Herndon:
Daniel Morris, 22 years old
Springfield, Massachusetts
NAPS graduate
BT3; Nimitz
Four years in the service
05/23/92
06:05
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003
FACTS
United States Naval Academy
+21 Blake Road
Annapolis, Md. 21402-5000
(410) 267-2291
COMMISSIONING WEEK TRADITIONS
Plebe Recognition Ceremony: Herndon Climb
The firing of cannons signals the start of the race to climb the 21-foot obelisk, Herndon Monument, in
front of the Chapel. The plebes manage, through teamwork and perseverance, to raise one of their
classmates to the top of the lard-covered monument to retrieve a white plebe "dixie cup" hat and replace
it with an upperclassman's hat.
By throwing t-shirts and shocs, plebes remove some of the 200 pounds of lard smeared on the monument
by sophomores, who remember how hard it was for them last year and try to make it equally hard for
this year's class. The plebes then begin to build a greasy, sweaty human pyramid to give a class member
the platform to reach a hand to the top of the monument for the exchange of hats.
According to legend, the midshipman who switches the hat will be the first member of the class to
become an admiral. The superintendent of the Naval Academy presents the successful midshipman with
one of his shoulder boards mounted on a plaque. After successfully completing the Herndon climb, the
freshmen are no longer called plebes but "fourth classmen."
Like all academy traditions, the Herndon Monument climb has evolved over the years. The exact date
when the celebration began is not known, but it seems to have originated following a graduation
ceremony as an exuberant rush of new youngsters (sophomores) to cavort on Lover's Lane in the vicinity
of Herndon, which had been off limits to them while they were plebes.
Herndon Monument was crected in memory of Cmdr. William Lewis Herndon, who elected to go down
with his ship, SS Central America, when she sank in 1857.
Previous times for making the Herndon climb are:
1962 - 3 minutes (first recorded time)
1969 - 1 minute, 30 seconds (fastest time to date)
1981 - 1 hour
1982 - 1 hour, 44 minutes
1983 - 1 hour, 43 minutes, 55 seconds
1984 - 2 hours, 22 minutes
1985 - 3 hours, 12 minutes, 23 seconds (longest time to date)
1986 - 1 hour, 23 minutes, 7 seconds
1987 - 1 hour, 51 minutes, 20 seconds
1988 - 43 minutes, 44 seconds
1989 - 1 hour, 51 minutes, 30 seconds
1990 - 1 hour, 34 minutes, 50 seconds
1991 2 hours, 36 minutes, 57 seconds
Graduation Hat Toss
The "hat toss," now a traditional ending to graduation and commissioning ceremonies at all of the service
academies, originated at the Naval Academy in 1912. Before 1912, Naval Academy graduates were
required to serve two years in the fleet as midshipmen before being commissioned as officers in the
Navy, thus they had a need for their midshipmen hats. The Class of 1912, commissioned at graduation,
was issued officer caps. In a spontaneous gesture, the new officers lossed their midshipmen hats into the
05/23/92
06:06
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USNA PAO
004
HERNDON
James Golladay
22 year old
2 hours, 21 minutes, 37 seconds
From Silver Spring, MD
Graduate of Springbrook High School
15th Company
Former enlisted
Graduate of NAPS (Naval Academy Preparatory School)
Navy Seal
Received Bronze medal during invasion of Panama.
Friend who helped him up Herndon:
Daniel Morris, 22 years old
Springfield, Massachusetts
NAPS graduate
BT3; Nimitz
Four years in the service
* Descrt Stonn
who ave the VIPS?
battles num, statue activel
Cuests
Tast went
match
distinguished alums? ?
hat toss
MIDS OR MIDSITIPMEN OK
battler from ww2
NOT CADETS NOT MIDNES.
sllver dollar
held by
ghabach w esthdain
Roger w herbois
to first person
Played in
who Plutes
new parents/
quick, muck
Blue anges
names mules
last pavade tumsce in fun Tues. dreas ink water
from Behind
very veryhot hot
Honorary grad. by
low / nove y
caupus over Rt. Rr. Showner
not clangus.
" Choker whites"
uniforms
Wedn Aplay 27th
pavade day in Spring of fail
= Porus in cionin Clother - No robes
PROTOCOL -For PAIS / ACK,
Plebe - trade hat Oblish (thi Knday)
18 May 1992
Monday
PRE-ADVANCE/WALK-THRU QUESTIONNAIRE
Metch Ross-WHCA
CRay - LEADE
BRIAN - PRESS
EVENT: Havy Commence ment
Anobe
DATE: May 27, 1992
Capt Hires
anthem
TIME:
in script
LOCATION:
Navy stadium
Harry Mavine Comps idemonal stadium
(GIVE DETAILS) Nummer Hall (Rain plan) [on campus]
EXPECTED AUDIENCE: outdoor 15,000-20,000
(NUMBER AND COMPOSITION)
incloor 6,500
M 600 mids
PRESS COVERAGE: open (24-25 WHIP HMW)
35.40 BHS
DIAS PARTICIPANTS:
underclassmen-
March ni lill @ a
EXPECTED PARTICIPATION BY MEMBERS OF
football Jame
POTUS INTRODUCTION: FBD Sec, Gamett
aam. Lynch
PERTINENT SPEECH TOPICS:
REASON FOR EVENT:
/
PLEASE ATTACH PRE-ADVANCE/WALK-THRU CALL SHEET
&
Blue Angels flyover -to Salate graduating class [10:25 am]
Honors and guns for POTICS inside or out
Septembe, 1944
Type
Number
Duration
Char.
Date
of
of
of
acter
Pilot
PASSENGERS
REMARKS
Machine
Macbine
Flight
of
Flight
#538 P01
/
BM/c
16955
2.7
G.
Seef
nadean Detay
Tent
/CL STRIKE ON BONIN ISL
/cat RASH L ANDING IN SEA
"
46214
1.7
6
NEAR BONIN 152.-ENEMY
ACTION.
MAY-19-'92 TUE 11:40 ID:NAVAUMUSEUM NASP FL TEL NO:9044523296
VT-51
COMPOSITE SQUADRON - 51
Bronght Forward
863.6
This Month
Pilst 4,4 Pass
Total 44
COMBAT LOSS 25EP 44
of pages 4
Total to Date 868.0
EXERATPROMA Geter BUSH LOG
From R.L. Rasmussen
NMNA
9041 904) 452-3604
(904) 452-3296
I certify that to foregoing Cight
record is conset.
Signature
Phone #
Approved:
Co.
Fax #
Post-It™ brand fax transmittal memo 7671
USA, Comeg.
To Jeannie Dunton
CL-108
(202) 456-6218
Total Lime to date,
16-18618
10-13616
Dept.
Fax #