Swarthmore College - Halcyon Yearbook (Swarthmore, PA)

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hut, two, three, four ot Nuvy A year ago, in writing up the Swarthmore Navy Unit, the Halcyon announced that . . . this will almost certainly be the last Halcyon to present the Navy upon its pages. But, des- pite rumors each term that it was slated for extinction, and despite the changes that this past year has wrought upon it, the Unit is still with us, and will be until July of 1946. Since its arrival, 300 strong, in the summer of ' 43, the Unit has changed several times in size and character. Men have left it for boot camp, midshipmen ' s schools, NROTC, other colleges, and civilian life. New men have suc- ceeded them — coming to Swarthmore from other units, from the fleet, from high schools . . . and now the V-5 Aviation Training has virtually replaced the V-12. With the coming of V-J Day, the character of the Unit was bound to change, since the end of the war meant discharge or reshuffling for most V-12 ' s. After August 14th, the accent on the military was somewhat relaxed, and the ten- sion and urgency of the wartime program na- turally disappeared. When the summer term ended, the pre-meds received their discharges

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so that they might continue as civilians at medical school. The men from the fleet who entered Swarth- more in July joined ROTC units at Penn and Princeton. Many of the pre-med transfers from Muhlenburg remained at Swarthmore as civilians, while the V-12 ' s who had completed their training went on to midshipman ' s schools — and from there to assignments in the peace- time Navy. The new Unit which arrived in the fall was not only smaller than its predecessors, but it was different in destiny and purpose. The as- sortment of electrical and mechanical en- gineers, deck officers, pre-meds and others which had characterized the original V-12, gave way to a group preparing, through the V-5 program, for Naval Aviation. The end of the war affected the status of the Unit here as well as its personnel. Peacetime has brought a great part of the male civilian quota back to Swarthmore, and with this step towards an eventual return to normal college life, the importance of the Navy unit as a factor determining the general curriculum and mode of college life has somewhat lessened. The coming of the Unit to the college en- tailed readjustments on both sides. The mili- tary had to adapt itself in some degree to the Ivory Tower, and the task facing the officers — that of molding a military group from an as- sorted bunch of sailors and civilians — was made harder by the non-military surroundings. On its part, the college had to adjust itself to crowding, to regimentation to some degree, and to an accelerated program. That the adjust- ment was made, and made fairly smoothly, has been evidenced by the cooperative and friendly part which the Navy has played in the life of the college. Our athletics and fraternities needed the Navy for their survival during the war; the social life of the college has been abetted by the presence of the Unit; Navy men have con- tributed to all college activities, and they have brought new blood and new outlooks to the academic atmosphere. In return, the college has opened up new vistas for many of them as it does to all college students; it has become a part of their affections — and many former V-12 ' s may return to Swarthmore. The situa- tion in keeping a college going in wartime has been met by both Navy and Civilians alike, and in bidding goodbye to the Navy, we lose a part of our college which has enriched its life in many ways. (