Berkshire Community College - Falconer Yearbook (Pittsfield, MA)

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ef.. I ,w 7 'a' Y After three weeks of sbzpborzrd Iye we needed little zzrgzng to send ns on our way f'A1nuzpolzs bound

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it e ' in llllll . Daily sessions with scrubbers kept the ship as well as ourselves in shape. stolidly suffered yet another practice cruise YES, the ship was the Arkansas all right, and before the summer was over we were all able to call her many other names than 'cArkansasf' As salty sailors of the Chesapeake on the good ship Arky,', most of us got our first taste of the wartime navy at sea, even though we never left the sheltered waters of the Bay. General quarters, condition watches, long hours of drill, and one liberty in Norfolk all added that extra dash of Hsaltn to our makeup as a class, and made us all realize just how easy life within those ucold grey walls really was. W W. On board the Arlcy we mavmecl almost all the guns and most of us smelled powder for the first lime. - ' ,rjl'l ' N , Y ' I x V. 1 my ' . ,,e,,..e ' 'ey' Yi gi ' .f l ., -Q' iff-1. ,:,.,,, 1, . 1 ..w1,:,i -. . ., -' - ...L 4:1-fi4f4i1AJo!-ni'.t.sg,9q -- - ,- 'g,.:: '11 -i.1 :-'P ' if Ivlf i- he ,- ' - V -Zell, LJ., M - - , ,L.'g,1-,.f Twilight happy hours took our minds of the cla-ily rouime

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It made little difercnce where we went on those week- end leaves, escape was what we sought and found. . .-- --- 1-f.+:f-0 -. .----.V -f-1'-a1: f '-Vfr .r'-'- - 'J-'if-if-.. 1-1 .. .5-ff' -:f:i'+':'.fWTTi9.r7?c: 1? ' 9.151 ...Hia F g.,.g,.,,,,..,,-.i'.g1fL.,.:, gig 'FV - 3 .4 'li ' . :Qi ' ' I ' ., -' ' ' f.- lx 1 it it it w- mu: ii ii ii '. iilglni 45 -1- it - ,,,1'. ssss s ,+'s s Inspections at formation occurrecl regu- larly during the warm summer months. Confidential publications lockers entcrecl our lives with their attendant joys and perils. 406 to Binlcrolit lialli was our lninttlle airy WHO among us could have ever foreseen the day when getting back to Annapolis would be a treat? When eating in the mess hall would seem better than the Ritz? When a good hot shower would seem like the rain of the heavens? After a few weeks shav- ing the wrong face every morning, eating c'Arky style during the day, and sleeping on those hard, paper-thin mattresses every night, we were ready for the nice soft Academy routine. Morning exer- cises would be a cinch after working before break- fast each day, and Captainls inspections would be duck soup with some fresh laundry for morale purposes. Life back at the Academy wasn't half bad either, those balmy summer days. The swimming float across the Severn was popular, especially on week-ends, and everyone who could possibly man- age to get on a boat did lots of sailing. One week-end leave for the summer term seemed to satisfy the old Wanderlust. The buses to Washington were crowded every Saturday with wild-eyed midshipmen ready to hit the big town, and the old Toonervillc Trolley looked almost like the Midshipmen's Speeialf' Of course, these same vehicles looked like hearses every Sunday afternoon, but we prefer to remember the brighter side of those summer excur- sions. They were a wonderful institution.