SUNY Maritime College - Eight Bells Yearbook (Bronx, NY)

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For 1-wo reasons: tal it is small, com- other' J about one-quarter occupied by un- pfchdiln liens, and tbl we were always es- frlefldyta the touring buses under armed corted Svhen released to water and stretch gum 'J muscles, they took strategic posi- Cfampsml so precluded the possibility of es- TIT: and a Solo foray. It was sort of a death c ll wheels. marCBI3:.,ed with a hot, dry climate, un- bounded hospitality lbut channeled care- fully to advantage, or so l thought, Israel still laclced several vital requisites essential to the ideal liberty port. Namely, feminine women, palatable chow, and a change of pace as regards things to see and do. Also, the drinlcing liquor is in short supply. Each in turn. Due to the hard times the Army isn't too particular about whom it clads in lchalci, and as a result everyone is in some sort of uniform dining wcirllcilirg hours. We'd no sooner tie up in ai a than we were boarded by an officious horde armed with pencils and reams of paper of one sort or another. They then proceeded to catalogue, stamp, and identify us to a man. lwas the mail orderly of the day and had to cool my heels waiting for my identity card. Seelcing to expedite matters, I sought to charm the lady lieutenant who was doing all this. l got nowhere. I always try, I al- WHYS get nowhere: but then practice malces Perfect and who lcnows what the future holds? In any event, as if feminine wife and guile weren't enough, the Israelis also give their womenfollc shooting irons and send them forth to do battle. Mike Wagner spent if bftle' Part of an evening, at a dance, Istenmg to some sweet young thing describe Krsggigllati djfflil, flerf bayonetting of two who shall ereiffesaffire' Another guy' . e ess, was neatly flipped stern over tea-lcettle down a short Hight of Stairs by a lady commando when he sought to become overly friendly. All of which leads me to thinlc that no matter how thin the firing line, more harm than good is done by sending the womenfollc to the front. They seem to talce exquisite delight in per- forming what is inreality a boring and dis- tasteful job. Further, they violate all the carefully precedented rules of warfare so painfully evolved by the menfollc who wish nothing more than to goldbriclc their way to a point where the politicians, once over their pique, will sit down and decide who has won. History will attest to this. The gentry, quality follcs that is, had warfare down to a science in the middle ages. They could en- gage in tremendous and indecisive battles with neglible losses amongst themselves, the scores of thousands of slaughtered peasantry being of small significance and easily re- placeable. Then Joan of Arc came along and loused everything up by actually win- ning a war. Since then there has been no fighting safely or sanely. Better they should remain home well-babied, barefooted, and out of the way before more harm is-done. As regards the chow, I gag at the thought. We were subject to quite a spread in Tel Aviv, a luncheon they had probably gone to a great deal of trouble at the expense of further deprivation to prepare. The thought of this is what bade me finish. But l died. I neawith respect to the flora and fauna, the parts of Israel we saw looked lilce a SOHC to seed Long Island gone further to seed. We WP'

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. . . Fon IMMEDIATE occuPANcY1 A Town House . . . That morning we went to a museum loaded with magnificent Statuary, and Spent the fe' mainder of the day in making the rounds of four cathedrals. I know there were four be- cause you had to hit that many before YOU could receive the Papal blessing. In one WHS Micheiangeio's statue of Moses. I am glad I am not an artist, for, after seeing that I should go away despondent, sensing my in- adequacy, to throw myself into the nearest river during a tit of hopeless frustration. Mere words and worn adjectives are inca- pable of describing its grandeur and all that it is. While I am not a culture vulture and am the sort of person who is the bane of any artist's existence, the I-like-what-I-like type, I figure you can wrap up all that is Art in that work and cali it a day. The Papal reception at St. Peter's was all that was expected, its traditional pomp and majestic splendor, the concerted feeling of the thronging thousands and their ecstatic joy upon the arrival of EI Papa pail the imagination. Smiling faintly, he acknowl- edged the accolade accorded him and from the canopied altar which marks the last rest- ing piace of St. Peter, addressed the multi- tude briefly in seven or eight languages with- out pause. Then the procession passed out to the thunderous cheers and chants of those present. While not a Catholic and therefore somewhat incapable of realizing the full spir- itual significance of the proceedings, the spectacle was one I wouidn't care to have missed. Of course the Pope and his office which combine to hold titular sway over S0 inany undivided millions proved exceedingly interesting. However, of more interest to me were those about us in whose faces were mir- rored, with intensity and passion, the deep conviction of their faith. It was something most of us will long remember. It was a quiet and rather su of cadets who. ate dinner that night, paul from the emotional impact of th partly from approaching exhaustion, Ting night was spent comparatively quietly at L Booteria which sold the first decent he H drunk that side of the Alps, er Next morning three cadets only of sev- enty-odd in Rome were on hand for the tour, And they were summarily dismissed by us who remained as bucking for rates. For one I figured to take the ten and so remained ig sack. At least Fd live to get them. Such was the sentiment of most of the rest. That noon, upon hearing the ominous rumble of official disapproval, we allowed ourselves to violate the privacy of the early Christians and were whisked through the Catacombs. Later we followed two pretty girls across a field and up a road to the field location of Quo Vadisn where we saw an exhausted Robert Taylor fnot ours, trying very hard to act like a Roman conqueror. We left that night, and in a day or two slid past Capii out to sea again. It was a restful change having to work only twelve or fourteen hours a day. In winding up this episode I will say that I was somewhat sorry to leave Italy and the Italians, a sentiment shared by very few it seems. They have to be seen to be appreciated, and sometimes it takes a good stomach to do so. Few will forget the hosts who would rush to greet us as we passed through the portals of the Nuevo Estazione Maritima on liberty. They were so obtiging, so available for service, and sought to tempt us in many devious Italian ways. Though I grew somewhat fond of them, being basically perverted by nature,,l would sooner follow a steak down a tigers throat than a Neapolitan into a tea parI0T' In no time at all Haifa suddenly emerged on Mount Carmel and we started another social rat race, this time as guests of the FS- raetian Navy. One thing I will hand Iliivles f-they seek to care for their own, and in this instance it was fortunate that they did so' I hit Haifa with two clams in my Oiiskinnand left with a buck-seventy. If I hadnt written a letter home I would have batted a thou- sand per cent. Most of us were in fheusame state and therefore needed no c0II1PulsI0n.toi Hook to the many dances and house Parties thrown for us. Of all the places Wed been' we Probably saw more of Israel than any Y e audience after- A 4 iw' afiam i int Y iii 'U 1 ft in iii i Gimp 5033311 e J i GWB i sith on 4 Biessi i tried ,tiliifl g irhffdfi WHICH: pc iedfiiliim 'I 4 i1 1 Each' . W isnt U1 Q j50UlC S0 2 WC me wel iii with 4 A ie sort ora i i f iiiogue, si lrislie ma iimy hee ,i . to iiaim lie It iitit, I gc A get noi grind ami 1 plum h

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saw some desert and orange QFOVCS' and be' Came acquainted with the two classifications of farms in operation-fthe coopefative' and the .quasi free enterprise type. Last, there were ruins. Much and manY ruins Which' I having been in italy, were beginning to Pau on me. In the heat, one pile of rocks was coming to look very much like anY Other' However, the walled city of Acre proved in- teresting and colorful. We were eSC0Tted through the Arab quarter two by two with armed guards 'fore and aft. There we saw the aged and infirm solemnly smoking their water pipes, while the younger fry scrounged for edible things in the dust. All the younger men were mysteriously away. I didn't see one Arabian beauty worthy of clapping into a harem. Several duty sections managed to pull an overnight in Jerusalem. The city was, and is still, contested, with the result that the New City is in the hands of the Israelis while the Old, in which is found most of religious significance, is retained by the Arabian legionnaires: A tour to Tel Aviv and Jaffa produced an interesting and somewhat amusing reve- lation, not without tragic undertones, how- ever. Tel Aviv is to Jaffa what Minneapolis is to St. Paul, the relations being just as uncordial, due to the fact that the former is inhabited by Israelis, the latter by Arabs. When the war started, the citizenry of each dutifully set forth to slaughter the other. All this was done in an area of about five square blocks, the result being a neatly parceied and completely devastated battlefield be- tween two entirely unscarred cities. Archi- fecturally speaking, Tel Aviv is the most modern city Tve ever seen, having been founded in T910 and grown too fast to per- mit the. establishment of anything even Slightly archaic. Sort of a Flatbush gone mad. TAKE HER DOWN! Wie. H 'SPEGSHUN-Aklggn Speaking seriously, due credit should be paid the Israelis for their gallant efforts to squeeze the blood from the stone that is their homeland in'the face of such formidable op- position. They labor like bloody mountains to bring forth the minutest mice, but never- theless face the future with determination and confidence. Though conversation is made somewhat tedious and wearing by their unbridled chauvinism, unfortunately conditions are still far too grim to permit them the luxury of tempering it with humor. By virtue of an intense interest in the States, we are all fully aware of the economic diffi- culties encountered. The sociological prob- lems of this cosmopolitan state-fone can en- counter Australian or Laplander with equal ease'-are perhaps best illustrated by a tale told me by an American emigrant whom we'd met on the beach of a little colony to which we'd gone to swim. in the States he had lived in Queens and had been a wall- paperer in the winter, a lifeguard during the summer. During the war, he had worked in the infantry. Caught at a moment with noth- ing to do, he had decided to visit israel, arriving just as the war with the neighboring Arab states Hared. Joining the army he soon found 'himself in command of an infanl'l'Y platoon, most of whose members were WOIH- en, trying to raise the siege of a certain he- leaguered desertvillage. The villagers were in bad straits, having been besieged a long time, and were 'reduced to the Point Where the last of the household pets had been popped into the pot and anyone with BUY meat on their bones was getting to look Ve? goood. The fighting was protracted and-dl ' ficult. However, the platoon mafleged to break through' the Arab lines, Sllwivedha gauntlet of fire, and triumphanili' enteredt e 1 . l A File sm fu Lflnm J ww q. ' t most .TWH ith Pill, ffl ,nhl ll I ..' Thani imfl.iaile1 mfmoniou llf W3 in mince. gjoi lool B l llc R1 lil lie a li lile Bei um wort it new p rm fompu 13 mm. A :tie 'fla' li0Ii1 ill title lo I il yi i QWBSEI tifallelit 'Q' Ro stall,