US Naval Reserve Midshipmens School - Capstan Yearbook (Notre Dame, IN)

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I182l PPRENTICE Seaman Sam Holmes men- tioned to some of his friends last October that Lt. Palmer wanted to start a dance band at the Notre Dame Midshipman school and Seaman Holmes added that he would very much like to be in on the deal. No one heard much about the whole matter until one night a few weeks later. Midshipmen returning from chow heard the un- mistakable strain ofthe 'cAnvil Chorusw sounding off from the lst Deck classroom in Badin Hall. That was the first concert by the Midshipman Orchestra. It started out as a rehearsal but the word spread even faster than scuttlebutt and soon the chapel was filled with jumping, stomping, lxfidshipmen. While Verdi took one of the worst poundings of his career, the listeners cheered. More rehearsals followed, always in that short hour between 1800 and 1900. When the Lounge was opened in Morrissey Hall they played weekly con- certs on Friday nights. They drew such crowds there that they wound up finally shooting the works in Washington Hall. It was the first time no one fell asleep in his seat. But then it was the first time no one snapped a chalk line at them. Composed of thirteen men, including Midship- man Holmes, their leader, the band boasted of men who had played in college and professional dance bands throughout the country. Midshipmen John Evans and Marvin Decker formed the top sax men in the group with Midshipmen Harry Berchin and P, C. Hume close behind. Berchin is the man you saw so often leading the jam sessions with the best boogie woogie piano ever heard in these parts. ln the trumpet section the Midshipman school produced T. Harper, Charles DuBois and Howard Knox, the last named being the boy who did the comedy acts in between bars. The two trombonists whose solos made us forget the men we used to hear back in the old days were Midshipmen Stuart Park and Dave Fowler. In the rhythm group we had first, Midshipman C. E. Davis who played hob with the drums every time we heard him. He doubled between the or- chestra and marching us to class. He never missed a beat in either place. Midshipman Sylvan Dubinsky not only played the piano harmony parts but added many solos in the weekly concerts. The last polishing touch to make the band complete was added by Midshipman Orville Gross and his guitar. These were the men, then, who made up the Notre Dame Midshipman School orchestra. When asked to play a number they didn,t have, they im- provised, when asked to swing, they swung. They were the most obliging band the world ever saw.

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. .gvf ' YK H. X . fttiis. gg- 'Ll M K ..jwf,Ez.3f:'k S PROBABLY the most active organization during our lN1idshipman days at Notre Dame, the Drum and Bugle Corps was also probably the most essential. Wherever we went together it was they who set the pace for us. When the lone bugler from their ranks awakened usffalways at the cold- est time of the morningffwe grumbled and swore revenge, but when he turned us in at taps we agreed that perhaps he would make a good sailor some day. Organized by Chief Buglemaster Tainter during the first week of the indoctrination period, the Drum and Bugle Corps started with eight mem- bers. By the time we began Midshipman School there were forty, and led, by Drum lNIajor lvlidship- man R. DufHe, they had ironed out the wrinkles that necessarily punctuated their first offerings. Practice was limited to fifteen and twenty min- utes a day but the Corps still found time to im- provise new numbers and startling arrangements of the old ones. Few of us will forget the Hrst time they sprung the three trumpet chorus of i'Anchor's Aweighw one night at evening chow formation. And but for the fear of Saturday work detail many of us would have danced, a la Harlem, when we heard the brisk syncopation of Bombs at Bayn. 'Vs' H811 ? . 'Q X . L. 5 i t Emp, u 'Q .fi 3' it t f .

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t 3, The jfs! lhing you wan! to do ir explore the splendid libragz they have here!,' oligerfy ef ROM this book, you who are to follow this first Midshipman class will learn many things about our life at Notre Dame. You will learn about instructors and classes, drills and exercises, logs and watches. But the first question you will ask of a Mate is, 'Wvhat is there to do on Liberty?,' We answer by telling you some of the things that we have done during the past four months. Before we had lost the last vestiges of civilian life in the strangeness of bell-bottom trousers and un- dress jumpers, we were already accepting invita- tions to Sunday dinner proffered by the residents of South Bend, who knew that loneliness reduces a man's efflciency and that loneliness can best be overcome by the knowledge that new friendships are to be formed for the asking. It must be said of these people that their names are too numerous to mention but that their kindness will be remem- bered by all of us. They dropped South Bend in our laps and we proceeded to look around and get acquainted. Some of us looked first to the Service Men's Center. All of us knew where it was located- H831 across the street from the La Salle Hotel and the South Shore station. What service it performs can be measured best by the numbers who repeatedly went back for more of the Indiana hospitality, by the smiles on the faces of those who were spending an afternoon or evening in the informality of its atmosphere. Under the direction of Mrs. William T. Riley and Mrs. Arthur Haley, the sixty-odd girls who have volunteered to take the place of a thousand girl friends from Seattle to Savannah were organ- ized into military regiments. Each regiment was on duty at a particular time, so each mate was fore- warned. If he intended to carry the torch for the raven-haired lovely with the Sunbeam smile, he had to find out her regiment and her hours 'fon dutyn. Since our only opportunity to get into town came on the weekends, we won't concern ourselves with the daily function that the Service Center carries out for the men in the army, the navy and the marine corps. On Saturday and Sunday, the Center became a Midshipmenls Club. There was the ever-present juke-box' that required no