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

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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,

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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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with the hadly needed reinforce- and Supplies. lnstead of heing greeted eful populace they were surprised grat ' . O themselves the recipients of curses heaved roclcs It seems they had find In . ill this on the Sahhath and in doing ll olated an orthodox l'lehrew com- dvi a which prohihited anyone from more than three thousand some feet on such occasions. France, Spain, Bermuda . . Thanlcs to Artie Sullivan's appendix we lmarrel-tailed into Villafranche, arriving un- ceremoniously in the dead of night at which time he was hastily deposited in a hospital near Nice. Next morning we got our first good loolc at our new surroundings. The Riviera was the faloled France of which l've always heard and always dreamt. It is lilce Bermuda without mutton, and with women worthy of the name. Armed with a lat, new paycheclc and wondrously free from compulsory tours we found our time our own. Accordingly We set forth to revel in the 'Playhoy's Paradise, and revel we did, from .luan les Pins to Nice to Villa- lfaflilfe 'EO Monte Carlo, where you can't lam ei you are in uniform. ln Juan les EPS was a casino and Sidney Bechetg in h1Cf2ll1e'l'lotel,Ruhl, O'Connors, the lVlan- IIZUHE, Roclc Beach, and .laclcieg Villa- Mgfteegllrllvler If quaintly provincial, and If 1 hfdoifff 50n,H1elab0rag?n' I Id ver a arn, wou ifmgorn Then l would disgrace the man iv: Clenlgly to. hecome a remittance proachto infill f F Riviera. The closest ap- bmon was ryxeallilatilon of that ignohle am-- Iieutenant Who? 6 t rough an ex-Infantry owns most of GWB met and whose family Waudngthm h 60rgIa, it seems. While 1944116 desi dSputhern France in August, Mum to- Aff livvould he a nice place to turned for a if eing discharged, he re- did get amu Sort vacation and just never And once Hhfo getting home to Georgia. tered - - eac month his mail hox is clut- ra - Wh H filthy ch 1. f if .1 - mllyl when ec ' rom is otrnig lyayloahock hwe met him he was on his Ing been Ca Z OP to pawn his camera, hav- tllen shouldug t Sllort at the moment. This testify somewhat to what the Rivie ia :fan dcii to someone, such as I, pos- sesse . 0 Wea moral flhre and a notahle laf:lc of character. Gay, leisurely and with E sa Maxwell absent, free of ostentation and undue syharitism, we had ing nothing in particular. However, should the French ever get around to pouring some sand on their heaches l would he grateful no end, as l hruise very easily. One event of minor note was the dis- fovefy by Jeffy R00I1ey and me of the UCOH- tinental Boilermalcer -'creme de menfhe with a girl and orange chaser. It is colorful and friendly. Lilce most great discoveries it Occurred quite by accident, thanlcs to a wait- er, who, alas, must always remain anony- mous, and who precipitated this grand reve- lation hy confusing our order. lVlayhe he didn't lilce usl Barcelona was the last European port of call and is generally considered the hest of the cruise. Unfortunately, l didn't get around too much as my luclc ran out and l finally came down with stomach troulole. We had had a lot of trouhle with that dur- ing the cruise. ln any event, Barcelona is memoralole for several things. Une, there were more cops per capita than any place we'd hit. There were city cops, national cops, cops to watch the cops, and the secret service who paraded around in uniformed splend0r, and were ahout as inconspicuous as a stye in the eye. Each was allotted specific naughlies they alone were concerned with, they and I10 one else, it seems, heing' legally Pefmilled to throw you in clinlc for Very interesting, and l could see where you funn jurisdictional a good time do- infractions thereof. might have some very Y h' prohlems arising. They all have one t mg ll ll hate the secret in common, l10WCVeff t CY a t o e, who are reputed to he too mean lilce even themselveS. polic -ri-:E PAusE THAT Psfnirizs