United States Coast Guard Academy - Tide Rips Yearbook (New London, CT)

Page 23 text:

That little green bt ' iirh isn ' t ino cDnijortablc. 7C e VicU ' t Sxfrect 7 In the years ahead we will all look back at our Academy life and firsit in our memories will be our Swab Year. Yes, despite the hardships suf- fered, that year will typify the Academy. Vi e are now glad and proud tliat ve endured it. Regardless of the brief occasional weekend shocks during Swab Summer, none of us other than the bilgers were prepared for the full fury come September. The year opened with a bang and a bounce and kept us hopping till June. We were ash tray cleaners and canteen orderlies: we

Page 22 text:

We forty-eighters came from all over: we wore khakies, blues, whites, and niii stripes. After a stoic reception by tbe good Commander, we raised our right hands, thus surrendering our freedom; stuck out our left and received The Rinson W hy. Many of us struggled into our fir t set of work whites, looked into the mirror and grinned. However, those smiles changed to groans during Billy Taylor ' s thrice- weekly torture period. In between mayhem on the Thames each morning, and ominous prem- onitions when the upper classes dropped in. we managed a little fun such as the John Reed King quiz show starring one Al Sarnoff. Cadet. 1 lir (lif is (isl. They never gel lighler Now for the S6 1 ( i;c. (»(i

Page 24 text:

' Suc et 0%cCenicfi Quit! ' (I lixid fi)r (III nid num. flcliverfd laundry, sometimes, and ulicii wt- for- fiot — we liad anollier dal ' willi Miss Spriiififield. Ed Ritchie starved some id ii in the mess hall, hut we (hseovered how to it up straight and eat proper!). illie Wassoii taujrht us the advan- tages of keeping the Swab Rules, and later on also showed us how a man eould take what he handed out. The Three Muskiteers — Schilling. Schwartz, and Miller — sneaked through our rooms during the hoxiiig intercollegiates and demonstrated how not to act as upperclassmen. Of course once in a while we got liberty, hut with our liberty brace reminding us of the dark- ness from whence we came and to which we must too soon return. Thanksgiving, a welcome respite, passed quickly and then 30-15-4 days-to- go-Sir crept past. The Sunday before leave was the low spot in our Academy life. The fires of hell broke loose in the field house under the Oh 1(1 lir ill II iiinu iilii ' rr no oiii ' snioUi ' S. I ' nllniiiiiiiy v icrirnic in fiiiLiiUiiji hooks.