Massachusetts Maritime Academy - Muster Yearbook (Buzzards Bay, MA)

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. . . while most people in their late teens were sitting on beaches catching rays, one hundred and seventy-two young men were trading in their civilian clothes and hair for a khaki uni- form, seabag, and genuine Grubby-AI jacknife. That day, July 6, 1 971 , is one that will always be remembered by the class of 1 975 as a turn- ing point in our lives. Although no one was really sure what to expect as we embarked upon our four year mission, J. M. Cease soon proved that even our most remote fears would soon become realities, (ref. COMCAD NOTICE 1 -71 ) After signing several forms (the contents of which were discovered three years later), we were each given a duffle bag, mattress, billet number, and twenty push-ups and introduced to our new home known as the USTS Bay State . At that point some decided they like their old homes better, but all the true fish chose to stay. 27

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One bright, sunny day in the summer

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Youngie year brought us new miseries, joys, hopes, dreams, and most of all, friendships. With the exception of the cadets who later became known as the attrition factor, we sur- vived messcooking, upper jobs, John Fortune- seeker ' s chow, and the aft heads. On January 20, 1 972 a rumor that our plate steel home was really a ship capable of mobili- ty was proved to be fact, and we set sail for shipyard in Jacksonville. We learned quite a bit about the life of a seafarer in our three week stay, and also became experts in the falsifica- tion of identification so as to gain access to the local night clubs. With our eyes still bulging 28