Reaffirmation Day

"...a dozen of us, with a few wives from the Annapolis area showed up on Worden Field to see what was going on. First time I had ever viewed a P-rade under a tent along with the "brass". Was explained during the ceremony that the reaffirmation of the original oath of office was for the mids to have chance to back out if they didn't really mean it. (no-one did). And it was Parents Weekend with parents lined around the field. 2 or 3 First Class Brigade Officers with a blue and gold "honor stick" (looked liked something they had pulled out of a swamp - about 6 ft long X 4 in dia. dead wood) waved the thing around and talked about the honor concept.

I was impressed with the march-on. They looked much better than the Brigade marching on field to football games. Was surprised about the whole thing -- primarily that the first oath holds little water and that they're given a second chance -- after all the plebe summer grilling -- to say they mean it. Was impressed with the looks of the plebe class. And, their response, as a group to questions. The Commandant, unfortunately, lost his voice but his speech was picked up by a CDR. assistant (sharp guy) who was son of one of my classmates from FL who was there. Our class VP gave a short speech on the meaning of honor. He had no idea what to talk about but someone gave him a "business card" which had the current honor concept briefly defined on it and he made a speech around that. Did a good job.

After the ceremony, ( we were invited ) to his home -- brick house behind Worden. Got to meet and talk to the Supe, Commandant and Dep. Commandant..."

" (our class ) was invited by Alumni Assoc. to attend ( the Plebe Class) "Sea Trials" ... so I sent an e-mail to Washington Metro Classmates asking the pussy whipped bunch of old wimps to show up at North Severn and observe it. Only one did a retired USMC Col. joined me. I was particularly interested in seeing how the girls did. Not well. Some had to be helped over the obstacles, and "crutches" were made for them to use if they couldn't jump high enough to catch rail and pull themselves up. "

"...I am passing your e-mail to the president of the Arizona Parents Club.
They do a great job here and I couldn't agree with you more that the incoming
class are the same as us, only fifty years later...all my heroes weren't/aren't saints but they won battles and wars, and as far as I am concerned, the Academy was and is a gem in America's crown."

Good afternoon. I'm looking across the field to the cemetery at Hospital
Point, where those of my family who went before me now rest. My great
grandfather was Class of 1873, my grandfather 1896, my father 1932, and my
uncle 1933. Also, but not there yet, my brother is 1962 and my son is 1990.
Based on all this, we claim  a world's record of dubious distinction: most
family hours marching in P-rades on Worden Field.

Fifty years ago, in the hot Annapolis summer of 1951, my classmates and I
stood where you now stand. We had the same problems you have: how to remember
which is port and which is starboard, how to figure out what time it is when
someone says "1600 hours", and how to absorb the baffling and mysterious
Plebe Rates in Reef Points. And, although we didn't know it, among us were
standing a future Secretary of the Navy, an Astronaut, a US Ambassador,
giants of industry and medicine, as well as Admirals, Generals, heroes of hot
and cold war, a Rhodes Scholar, All-American athletes, and Olympic champions..
If the past is any kind of prologue, the same kinds of greatness stand in
your ranks today, and you will reflect the same kind of credit on the Naval
Academy.

Lots of things have changed since that summer of 1951. For openers, there was
a war in Korea, and recent graduates of both the Naval Academy and West Point
were fighting it in the front lines. There was no such thing as color TV, no
cell phones, no PC's or E-Mail, no stereo and no compact discs. Steak,
cheese, butter, bacon and eggs were considered health foods. Everybody
smoked; a pack of sea stores cigarettes cost less than a dime. Nobody had
ever heard of Elvis or the Beetles, and "N-Sync" and the Dixie Chicks had
not been born. America's closest allies included Cuba, Iran, and Libya. In
the navy, there were no nuclear powered aircraft carriers or submarines. In
fact, there are aircraft in the fleet today that can fly faster straight up
than ours could fly straight down. There were no digital computers, no cruise
missiles, no laser guided bombs, and no air conditioning in our ships. If a
young lady spent the night in Bancroft Hall or in a ship, somebody was going
to be in serious trouble. We got three dollars a payday; there were six wings
in Bancroft Hall, no Halsey Field House, no Lejeune Hall, no Rickover Hall,
no Nimitz Library, and no Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. Navy was a
national football power.

But the fundamentals, the bedrock principles of the Naval Academy, haven't
changed at all. Those principles, as they've been stressed by Admirals Ryan
and Locklear, are honor, integrity, loyalty and moral courage. Those concepts
sometimes fall out of favor with the intelligentsia when times are good,
they're not considered "cool" or sophisticated in a "if it feels good, do
it" environment. But Academy graduates who have followed those principles
have served our country well since the Academy was founded, and that includes
times in war when nothing less than the fate of the nation was on the line,
and times in peace when giant Fortune 500 companies led by Academy graduates
could either succeed or fail.

Why haven't they changed? The answer is simple: the Brigade of Midshipmen and
the long chain of Naval Academy alumni have insisted, indeed demanded, that
they stand. And now you, each one of you in Ought 5, you are links in that
chain. (Among you are three grandchildren from my Class). And, as that
irritating TV show loudly reminds us ad nauseam, a chain is only as strong as
its weakest link. Like it or not, each of you now has personal
responsibilities as a custodian of those principles: honor, integrity,
loyalty and moral courage.

In 2051, one of you will stand here looking at the Class of 2055, and believe
me, that will be a lot sooner than you think. The lay out of the Academy will
be different, American society will be different, and the military will have
strange and wondrous capabilities that I can't even imagine. You are going to
need stars by which to navigate through the uncharted waters of the future,
stars that will not dim their light as the years pass. You have been taught
the names of those stars: honor, integrity, loyalty and moral courage. Follow
them, and you can pass them on to the Class of 2055 just as the Class of 1955
passes them on to you.

Good luck, and Beat Army.