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| One day we took a tour of the U.S. Naval Academy
with friends Joe and Tracy (Sea Loco). Our guide was quite enthusiastic and proud of his school. He had graduated in the
early 70's and had been the dean of admissions before retirement. He showed us the atheletic facility first, with its wonderful
gym, pool and fields. Some great atheletes (Roger Staubach) graduated from the USNA. We toured the student union, chapel, museum and grounds.
It seems that many astronauts and, of course, naval commanders of note were once students here. You get a feeling of discipline
and structure when observing the plebes (freshmen), youngsters (sophmores), and upper classmem hurrying from class to class in their
formal uniforms. Our guide told us that these young men and women were selected for their leadership skills as well as academic
achievement. Many had been class or club presidents in high school. Every student is required to participate in a sport (the most popular being sailing) from 4 p.m. until 6:30 p.m.. Teamwork is fundamental to the curriculum The chapel was one of the most beautiful we've seen. The stained glass windows were by Tiffany, each reflcting a passage from the Bible about the sea. Our guide informed us that integrigy and character are stressed at USNA. The museum contains historic artifacts such as uniforms, documents, pictures and objects. It also has dozens and dozens of "dockyard s" which were exact replicas of ships used in battle in the 17th and 18th centuries. Some were carved from bone by French prisoners of war. At noon the entire student body (four thousand) showed up in front of the main quad for formation. After roll call they marched to lunch as the band played "Anchors Aweigh". |
