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

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continued trom ».) , ' ( ' 5 Plebe-ho. Thai ' s when they want lo dump on us all al once or tell us all something. We all had to get back into civilian clothes and go to the swearing in. It was in this big courtyard called Tecumseh Court. First there was a speech by Captain Kinney who ' s the Commandant of Midshipmen and then we were sworn in and there was a speech by Adm. Kaufmann who ' s the Superintendent. After it was over I went and said Goodl ye to Uncle Bill and Aunt Claire. Then there was supper, which I ' ll have to tell you about later, and we came back, had a lecture, got yelled at some more, worked on marking gear and went to bed. All by 10:30. I started this letter too, but didn ' t get much done. t can ' t believe how much there is to learn and what a short time they expect us to do it in. I hope I can do it. I ' ve got to close now. See you in August. Love, Terry P.S. The fire sirens came on in the middle of the night out in Annapolis. They sound like air raid sirens and we couldn ' t figure out what the heck was happening or what to do. It turned out nothing. Oh well! ihe lake Mi to until the outsottii my loiKi come? come lo I It ' s Ihe 2i Life ar( your lett( atOWOo We have rales, leai avy an( I I I

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28 June 1967 Dear Mom and Dad, Well, I made it through the first day. It was all pretty confusing, and so much larger than I had anticipated. Aunt Claire and Uncle Bill brought me over and we went out to lunch at this place called the Harbor House. I had to report by one o ' clock which I managed, but there were a whole lot of guys and we had to wait in line for a while. I left my junk with Uncle Bill except for the stuff they told us to bring. What can I say about it? First they proc- es sed us through this library where they checked our papers and took our money. Then we formed up and marched around to the sickbay. That was pretty much just a quick check. From there we went to get our hair cut. You remember how I had it cut so short in that crew cut? Well they cut it ALL off. All of it! Next they took us back near the library and gave us these cards that told us what company we were in. Then this upper- class took me and some guys in the same group to pick up this issue stuff. There sure was a lot of it and we were running all over with it till they took us up to our rooms. This place is huge! I ' m never going to be able to find my way around here. Anyway, when I got to the room my roommate was there already. His name is John and he used to be an enlisted man. He got here early and so he helped me to start getting this junk unpacked. You have to mark it all and stow it in these lockers. And there ' s a Navy way to do everything so you ' ve got instruction sheets to tell you how to do it. One of my squad leaders came in to check how my stuff fit and he yelled us up one side of the room across the ceiling and down the other side for not bracing up when he came in. Lesson number 1: when- ever an upperclass comes in you brace up and sound off. And pretty soon we start bracing up every where we go and running, they call it chopping, too. The squad leaders are pretty harsh, and they yell a lot, but I guess I ' ll get used to it. I don ' t think I ' m going to have much choice. They got us all out in the hall later on for what they call a continued

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20 July 1967 Dear Kathy, I ' m sorry that I haven ' t written sooner but there just hasn ' t been time. I want to thank you for the good times we had between Graduation and the time I had to leave. That last weekend at the lake was really beautiful. We ' re not sup- posed to be able to see or talk to girls, Drag, until the beginning of Dec. at the Army-Navy game. But I think that we may be able to work it out so that if you come down with my parents in August for Parents Weekend I ' ll be able to see you. You ' d just have to be my sister for the weekend. Except when we go back out to where my folks are staying. ' Do you think you can come? Of course, if you can ' t, I still want you to come to Philadelphia for the game in December. It ' s the 2nd. Life around here is pretty rugged. Thanks for your letters, they seem to help a lot. We get up at 0600 officially, but it ' s usually closer to 0500. We have to get our uniforms ready, memorize rates, learn the newspaper, study stuff about the Navy and get ready for come-around. Come- arounds are the time between reveille and for- mation for morning meal. It starts out with just plain physical exercise for everyone, and then if you ' ve screwed up on something you have to stay and do more exercise. Our wing is like a square and built around a court so we run laps around it. Sometimes, if you ' ve been put on re- port, they ' ve got extra duty which is run outside at 0530. During the day we go to classes of one kind or another. We ' re learning a bit about com- puters and FORTRAN, and also how to sail these boats called knockabouts. Next week we go to the big 44 ' yawls to learn something about them and later to the YP ' s which are 80 ' ships we use for training. We ' ve got this lecture series in the evenings about the Navy and the Naval Academy and we ' re beginning to get some orientation about Academics. We have to make some kind of pre- liminary choice about our minor this summer, but it ' s not binding. Well, that ' s about it for now. I ' ve written this during a free period and now I ' ve got to get ready for intramurals. I ' m playing tennis. Please say Hi! to the gang for me and tell them I ' ll see them all at Christmas. Write soon, I miss you. Love, Terry