United States Naval Academy - Lucky Bag Yearbook (Annapolis, MD)

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WHITE buildings rising from their emerald setting of grass and foli- age, sparkling blue water flecked with white caps, blue and white sky above, and sunlight gleaming upon the chapel ' s golden dome. Light- hearted, bright and gay is the scene when June smiles down upon the yard. Then again— rain dripping from cold grey walls upon the wet tiles of the terrace, spray dashing high from the waves which break in a smother of foam upon the sea wall, dead leaves fluttering down to the sodden earth, all beneath the leaden November skies. Cold and grey arise the buildings of the yard, the stern preceptors of Academy life. Eloquent of the service for which it trains is the yard in its different moods. Stern and relentless as the granite, the service calls for unswerv- ing loyalty. Yet for all its hardness we find the granite covered by trailing vines of ivy, a thing of both strength and beauty.

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r% WITHIN the chapel walls the new plebe first feels the power of that in- tangible force known as traditions of the service. The sun- light streams in bright colored rays through the stained glass windows which commemorate the Navy ' s leaders of yesterday. It slants across bronze and marble tablets telling of the deeds of one who fell fighting in far-off China, or another who per- ished at sea that his comrades might live. Finally in bright patches of light the sunbeams come to rest upon the white tile pavement which cov- ers the resting place of the Navy ' s first hero. In the crypt below, surrounded by flags and with the names of his different commands inscribed upon the pavement, lies the father of the Ameri- can Navy, John Paul Jones. He it was who first commanded a foreign salute for the flag which hangs above the chancel. In depicting the ideal officer Jones says that besides being a capable mariner he should be as well a gen- tleman of liberal education, refined manners, punctilious courtesy, and the nicest sense of personal honor. In relation to those under his command, he should be the soul of tact, patience, justice, firmness, and charity. Give me the iron in the men and I care not so much about the iron in the enemy ' s ships. Men, trained to arms will always do their duty if ably led. This is Farragut ' s statement of character ' s supreme importance. It is men such as Jones, Decatur, Porter, Farragut, and Dewey who have charted the course and set for us a standard of ideals. American sea power is still an unfinished story. Those chapel windows yet un- dedicated inspire the thought that posts of honor remain which any of us may be destined to fill. But glory, honor, hardship, and danger ever go hand in hand; and in the presence of the glory of the past we kneel and sing a hymn to the Eternal Father for those of today in peril on the sea. Tradition and navy spirit grow upon one with the passage of time. They cannot be suddenly grafted upon us, nor can they be well understood except by long association. A key to this understand- ing exists, however, in the inscription upon the bronze portals, Non Sibi Sed Patria. Full well have those com- memorated here exemplified in their lives the motto, Not for ourselves but for our country. c: