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

Page 27 text:

r We soon learned that the only thing that is definite at Mass. Maritime is that youngies always loose. Short of that, nothing else was ever positive. Because of this fact, rumors of all types were forever being spread. The trick was to weed out the truth from the rumor, an art that has never been mastered in the history of M.M.A. Nearly one hundred men slept in an undersized compart- ment where the racks were piled three high and you could- n ' t roll over without waking the five men who slept around you. But it wasn ' t as bad as it may have seemed, howev- er. Up from the bottom lockers and the overcrowded shoe racks rose a spirit, though unnoticed, that was to give us the courage to last out three years of frustration— a kind of brotherhood that went beyond friendship. It was a comradship that sprang from the closeness of the quarters and the necessity of helping one another. It was the brotherhood of the youngie, and those that did not seek it out and cling to it did not make the grade. How many gallons in a maritime hen. Carpenter? 23

Page 26 text:

' A, SIR, YOUNG, SIR, MAN, SIR . 9 And if we didn ' t have enough worries al- ready, there was that fellow with three eye- brows who taught Algebra. He would stand in the front of the room with a defiant look in his eye, almost daring you to give him an in- correct answer to one of his probs. Accord- ing to our schedule we were majoring in cat napping, because we had ' ' Bunny classes five times a week. It was sort of an insiders joke, we felt, when we would go home and explain to our amazed listeners that we were carrying ten subjects in twenty-six semester hours and had a 3.25 average. But in our minds we couldn ' t help but wonder who the joke was really on.

Page 28 text:

We were a homogeneous group who could not hide the smallest character trait from each other. Knowing this, for the first time in our lives we stood alone and realized our own capabilities for what they were. And we grew up a httle. Here was a group of men who shared an intense brotherhood, yet each was forced to think for himself and face the reali- ties of life. Looking back, we see how much the school and its system have changed since that time, and we realize that we were one of the last classes to have this opportunity to share this brotherhood of the youngie. Perhaps the changes are for the better, but we can ' t help but feel that future graduates of M M A Will be lacking the memories of life as we knew It. We feel that those memories are one of the most valuable facets of our education. The class of 1968 stood witness to the most important change that had ever taken place in the Academy ' s long history, but at the time we could not realize that significance of the event. The old gods were removed from their lofty roosts and their own private kingdoms were shattered as Dr. A. Sanford Limouze was inaugurated the Academy ' s first president We came under the jurisdiction of the Board of State Colleges. Dr. Limouze is a dynamic man, and his plans for the betterment and growth of our school were well on their way to completion as we graduated. Good things began to happen around Christ- mas. We had nearly two weeks of vacation coming, but better than that was the new lib- erty system which was started, in which only twenty-two men were required to remain aboard over a weekend. This meant liberty for us nearly every Friday. In our most ambi- tious dreams we had never dared hope for such a deal. Near the end of January a rumor began to spread. We all liked the idea, so on the evening of February the 2nd at 2045 the Class of 1968 held the earliest shut-off in his- tory We had known what the results would be beforehand, but we couldn ' t help but be amazed at the three page mast list which was posted the following day. Threats and over- tones of doom were heard from the upper- jobs constantly, but we all smiled inwardly and put our faith m the adage that in unity lies strength. But then, as if we had been stabbed in the back by our best friend, an or- der from the Commandant was posted that re- 24