Month: October 2017

 

Marilyn nodded, but before she could speak, Randall Grayson, a plebe, spoke up. “Ma’am, I voted against it. I’d like to change my vote.”

She looked at him sharply. “Mr. Grayson, I won’t ask you why, but I will ask you, are you sure you now want to vote in favor?”

“Ma’am, yes ma’am.”

She smiled. “Okay, ladies and gentlemen, we have a unanimous vote. We’ll get together again tomorrow evening to work out the details, but for now lights out is rapidly approaching. I remind you, don’t discuss this with anyone outside the company.”

That final reminder turned out to be the weak point in the prank.

Marilyn snapped to attention. “Company, atten-hut! … Dismissed.”

My plan was relatively simple. It was based on the earlier prank using the Green Beach. The men in the company who could get off base before Captain Simpson returned would buy so-called “girly magazines,” lots of them. We would make sure a 15^th Company office window was unlocked. We would collect newspapers from the trash of other companies as well as 15^th and store them in our quarters until we had enough to cover the office floor to a depth of two feet – we wanted to block the door but not make it impossible to open. Then after lights out on the designated night we’d tape all the nude photos from the magazines to the walls in the office and toss the rest of the magazines on the newspapers we were piling on the floor.

Then came the tricky part, closing and locking the open window. I’d figured out a way using dental floss to pull the latch closed and then pull the floss out the window without leaving a trace.

On the night before Capt. Simpson was to return, we waited half an hour after lights out and formed a relay team on the ledge. Everything went according to plan, except that a relay team member dropped one of his collections of papers. We watched helplessly as the papers separated and floated to the ground. Fortunately, Marilyn had prepared for just such an incident. She had put enough lookouts on the ground to pick up the stray papers and still maintain a lookout.

As luck would have it, the lookouts with the papers had just ducked inside when the remaining lookout started waving frantically and ducked into the hall, the warning that someone was coming. We all had to scramble to get off the Green Beach and not be seen.

When the lookout came out and signaled the all clear, we went back to work and finished up. I was the last one out of the office, because the latch trick was my idea and I had practiced it. The floss snagged on the first attempt, so I had to go inside and clear it. The second try was a success and the floss came out cleanly. In the meantime everyone else, including the lookouts, had gone inside.

As I was heading back to my quarters, someone showed up on the ground with a flashlight. I had to drop down and use the ledge for cover. For the next ten minutes or so – it seemed ages – I watched as he shined the light all over. I had to duck back as he shined it on the ledge where I was, but the ledge kept the light from reaching me. Thinking back, I know I was lucky the light didn’t alert someone in the quarters I was next to.

When the person on the ground moved on, I beat a hasty retreat and got back inside.

The next morning when Captain Simpson reported for duty, he couldn’t get in his office. Instead of noticing that the door flexed, he called the custodial staff. As a result he had a crowd of not only midshipmen but also other naval personnel. When the door opened enough to get inside, some of the onlookers saw the photos on the wall. It wasn’t long before it was all over the academy. Mission accomplished.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t the end of it. One of the plebes had a conference with Lt. Hayakawa , our company officer, soon after the prank. The plebe, perhaps burdened with guilt, admitted to taking part in the prank. That evening Hayakawa had us assemble in the hall and formally dressed us down.

He finished with, “Would the person responsible for this step forward?” Both Marilyn and I did.

He looked back and forth between us once and said, “My office. Now!” Then he turned to the rest of the company. “I don’t want to hear any more about this from any of you … or from anyone else. Is that understood?”

There was a chorus of “Sir. Yes sir”s as Marilyn preceded me into the office.

When Hayakawa came in, we stood at attention in front of his desk, facing him.

Marilyn started, “Sir, may I speak?” I knew what she wanted to say, that she was the company commander and, therefore, responsible for whatever the company did. But Hayakawa said, “No.” I knew I’d get the same response.

He paced back and forth behind the desk a couple of times. Then he faced us and pulled his right hand down his face. “You two present me with a quandary. If I write you up for this, it’ll be on your records while you’re here at the academy and will probably keep you from holding any future positions of authority. I presume that’s important to both of you?” He looked at us as if expecting an answer.

We responded together, “Yes sir.”

“I’m glad to hear that. So the question is, what’re we going to do about it?” He asked. “There has to be some form of punishment. Perhaps there’s something we can do off the books. Do either of you have any kind of suggestion?”

Marilyn was the first answer. “Sir, first of all, I take full responsibility for what happened. I should be the one who gets the punishment.”

I had to interrupt. “Sir, if I may speak.”

He simply nodded.

“Sir, this whole thing was my idea. I talked midshipmen Pascal into it. If anyone should be punished, it should be me.”

Hayakawa hmmmed. “I respect both of you trying to take responsibility. But I believe there needs to be punishment for everyone. You two weren’t the only ones involved. I’ve been giving it some thought, and I think the company should do yard cleanup on Saturday.” He paused.

“Since everyone was involved, I can safely say everyone volunteered. That should make you all think twice before doing anything like it again.” He smiled. “To be perfectly frank I think it was a great prank. It’s too bad you have to be punished for it.

The relief hit me so hard that I actually shivered. That was the kind of punishment I could appreciate.

He had a final comment. “Just keep in mind that if something like this happens again I won’t be able to be so lenient.”

But I had more pranks in my future.

In high school Samantha had gotten into the playing pranks. She avoided anything that harmed someone else but didn’t mind embarrassing them. Plebe year had been too tightly controlled for her to come up with something but short-sheeting Wilson’s rack (bunk). Third class year was another matter.

Ashley, Danielle, and I remained in 16th Company, but once the third class academic year started, we were assigned to different platoons and got new roommates. Even so, my reputation had preceded me and my new roommates, Sarah McCord and Meghan Dreisbach, looked to me for leadership. They should have known better because I got the whole company in trouble.

I hate to admit it, but by the time we finished the third class summer training, I was bored. I hadn’t lost my motivation, but I needed to do something exciting, and I decided to involve the whole company.

I wanted to pull off a memorable prank and get away with it. The fact that we were quartered on the fourth deck gave me an idea. Outside our window was a wide ledge that ran the whole perimeter of Bancroft Hall. It provided access to every room on the deck that had a window. Since air conditioning had been installed several years back, most of the windows stayed closed and locked, but they weren’t sealed.

To keep up with current events when we were plebes, we all subscribed to newspapers, and most of us continued the practice afterwards so we could ask the plebes intelligent questions. That produced a significant amount of recyclable trash every day, and I had come up with an idea of how to use it.

The 15^th Company Officer, Marine Captain David Simpson, was a real jerk with little or no sense of humor. He was suspected of harassing more than one of the female mids in his company, and we were going to pay him back.

Once the idea gelled, I got together with Sarah and Meghan to see if the idea would float.

I concluded with, “So, what do you think?”

Meghan’s eyes twinkled when she answered, “I think you’re out of your mind. How do expect to get the whole company to go along with this nutty idea?”

Sarah followed with, “I love it, but I have to agree: how are you going to get the whole company to go along with this?”

“Give me a little time. I’ll sell it.”

Actually, I had less than a week to sell my idea because Captain Simpson would be leaving for a three day TDY (temporary duty) in six days, and we had to be ready by then.

The upperclassmen were skeptical at first. “The captain’s a mean son of a bitch. You don’t want to mess around with him.” “You’ll get us all in trouble.” They were right about that one. “We can’t make the plebes do this. Heck, we can’t even be sure they won’t spill the beans.”

“I agree the captain is mean. I’m counting on that to keep anyone who finds out about our involvement from reporting us. And I can’t guarantee that we won’t all get in trouble for it, but I can guarantee I’ll take full responsibility if we are found out. And I also agree we can’t force the plebes be a part of this, but we do have to be unanimous. If even one person is squeamish, it will be a no-go.”

My strongest selling point besides Simpson’s reputation was that the prank would be a teamwork exercise. It would involve all of 16th company working together.

Marilyn Pascal, the current company commander, looked everyone over before speaking. “How do all of you feel about this?”

Brian Phelps, the one I suspected would be the least supportive, proved me wrong. “If we can get unanimous agreement, count me in.”

One by one the others agreed, and Marilyn addressed me. “How do we go about getting unanimity without pressuring the plebes?”

“A secret ballot. We’ll hold a short all-hands in the hall just before lights out, and I’ll give the details to the whole company. Then everyone will write yes or no on a blank sheet of paper fold it and drop it in a hat being passed around. We’ll count the results and announce the decision.”

Marilyn nodded. “Sounds good to me. I do want to clarify one thing: I’m the company commander, so if anyone has to take responsibility for this it’ll be me.”

Brian shook his head. “You won’t be alone. I’ll take responsibility too.”

The other first classmen joined in, adding themselves to the list of responsible players. I added, “I appreciate the support, but I’ll stand by my pledge.”

That evening when the company had gathered in the hall, I stepped forward. “Plebes, at ease. Everybody gather round. Get close. I want to keep my voice down.”

After I had explained what I proposed, I called for the vote. Marilyn counted the votes. When she finished, she announced, “There was one no-vote.”

I tried not to show my disappointment. “Well, any of you who were tense about doing this can relax.” I turned to Marilyn to dismiss the company. “Midshipman Lieutenant Pascal.”

One of the traditions of the Naval Academy is the Herndon Monument Climb. It takes place at the end of the plebe year and serves as a rite of passage for the plebes. When the climb is successfully completed, the freshmen are no longer called plebes but “fourth class midshipmen.” I’ll let Samantha tell you about it.

We had made it. Ashley, Danielle, and I had completed the plebe year. We had overcome all the obstacles thrown at us during Plebe Summer and the academic year. We stood with the rest of the plebes waiting for the final event, the Herndon Monument Climb. We were all dressed in T‑shirts and shorts. We had taken off our athletic shoes, and we were ready.

The Herndon Monument was a 21 foot obelisk located near the chapel. The night before, upperclassmen had slathered 50 pounds of lard on the obelisk and placed a “dixie cup” hat on top. For us this was to be an exercise in teamwork. Our objective was to form a human pyramid around the monument so one of us could get high enough to collect the hat and replace it with an upperclassman’s hat, symbolizing the transition from plebe to midshipman.

At a signal we took off for the monument. By the time Ashley, Danielle, and I got there, the crowd around the monument was six or seven deep. I kept moving around, looking for an opportunity to help. Other female plebes had taken off their T‑shirts (our sports bras were more modest than bikini tops), as had most of the males, and were using them or offering them to wipe grease off the monument. I tossed mine into the mix, and one of the plebes hanging onto the second level put it to work immediately.

Finally, I got close enough to shove a couple of climbers up to the second level. About that time a nearby group collapsed, and I found myself boosting others into the gap. One of them reached back and grabbed my hand. He pulled me upward. I was so caught up in the effort that I climbed up to the second level without thinking and hooked arms with the two males on either side of me. Almost immediately someone was climbing up over me. A knee grazed my face and ended up on my shoulder. 170 pounds suddenly concentrated on that one muscle and it hurt. I gritted my teeth and held on.

I think three other guys climbed over me before the one under me collapsed, pulling me and several others down with him. Someone stepped on my hand before I could get up. Thank goodness for bare feet. I backed out of dense traffic rubbing my shoulder. I figured I’d done my bit, and contented myself with cheering the others on.

Surprisingly, time flew by. I watched and applauded as several guys tried to knock the “dixie cup” off with a midshipman’s hat. Finally, after a little more than two hours Philip Johnson put the midshipman’s hat on top to the cheers of the crowd. As the members of the pyramid worked their way down, we all chanted, “Plebes no more!” over and over.

Tradition has it that whoever accomplishes the task will become the first to make admiral. So far that hasn’t happened. I believe Philip is now a civilian, but he sure looked good holding that plaque with the admiral shoulder board on it.

As we were walking away from the monument, I heard a familiar voice. “Midshipman Pederson.”

I stopped and turn to look. It was Wilson. Now what? I thought the pressure was over. I snapped to attention. “Sir.”

With a smile he said, “At ease, Midshipman. I’m here to congratulate you on completing your plebe year. I knew when I first saw you that you had promise. That’s why I pushed you so hard.”

I was stunned. All I could say was, “Thank you, sir.”

“By the way, I never did find out who short-sheeted my rack. I’ve always suspected you did it, but I can’t ask you that because of the honor system.” He gave me a questioning look.

“You got me, sir. How did you figure it out?”

He laughed. “You were the only one with the gumption to do it.”

He shook my greasy hand. “Keep up the good work. I expect to see you make Brigade Commander if you work at it.” To my surprise he stepped back and saluted me.

He was a little optimistic, but that’s another story.

Although Samantha had headed off one emergency with Ashley, her roommate continued to struggle with the pressure of Plebe Summer. Samantha persisted in watching her progress until it came to a head after a particularly bad day at the obstacle course. The rope climb at the end of the course was the final straw.

I awoke in the middle of the night to the sound of someone sobbing. I wasn’t surprised when it turned out to be Ashley.

Looking down on her from the upper bunk, in the dim light that came through our window I saw she had her face buried in her pillow. I climbed down and sat beside her on her bunk. I touched her shoulder, and she turned her head to look at me.

“Hey, are you alright?” I whispered.

She rolled onto her side and said softly, “Sam, I can’t do this. I almost didn’t make it through the obstacle course today.”

I could feel the pain in her voice. She had had a rough day at the obstacle course. She had quit part way up the rope climb and the course instructor had pushed her until she made a complete climb. Then when she ran the course for the record, she barely qualified. She had the worst time of anyone in the company.

I couldn’t accept her negativism. “Yeah, but you made it.”

She shook her head. “But we still have the confidence course to go.” She hesitated. “And I’m terrified of heights.”

That revelation took me by surprise. “But you knew coming in that the confidence course was part of Plebe Summer.”

She lay there in silence for moment, swallowed hard, and responded, “I know, but I was going to grit my teeth and do it. … Now I don’t think I can. I mean it’s been so hard … What if I freeze on the course?”

Time for a pep talk. “None of that. You won’t freeze. You’re part of this crew, and I won’t have it. Yeah, it’s been tough. It’s supposed to be tough. You’ve handled it so far. Don’t give up now.”

She sat up in her bunk and wrapped her arms around her knees. She peered at me without saying anything.

I continued, “Look, why are you here in the first place? What did you expect to get out of Annapolis?”

She waved a hand dismissively. “I don’t know. I guess I wanted to serve, and I love the sea.”

“Sounds to me like you do know. Has any of that changed?”

She shrugged. “I guess not, but …”

“No buts.” I stood up so I was looking down on her. “You can do it, but it will take a positive attitude. Danielle and I will be with you all the way. Now let’s hear it from you: you can do it.”

She sat up with her back stiff and straight and whispered, “Ma’am, yes ma’am. I can do it.”

I almost laughed out loud. Hearing “Ma’am, yes ma’am” applied to me was funny enough, but in a whisper …

––– # –––

The day of the confidence course dawned cloudy and windy. The paper said a chance of afternoon thunderstorms. Fortunately Oscar Company had a morning session. The wind presented a problem. When Ashley, Danielle and I boarded the boat, it was marginal for safety.

When we arrived at the course, we were told that we would receive the course overview, but if conditions hadn’t improved by the time the demonstrations were to start, we’d have to be rescheduled. Great! Ashley had spent most of the evening before agonizing over this event. Now it might have to be put off.

By the time the instructors had briefed us on the course, the wind had slacked off enough that they could conduct the course demonstration. The wind didn’t get a whole lot better, but it was deemed to be safe. We were go for our practice run through the low obstacles.

I approached one of the detailers, and following protocol, properly asked if I could precede Ashley on the course with Danielle following her. Of course I had to explain why, that I was going to demonstrate how confidence would make the course easier and that Danielle would be behind her cheering her on. To my surprise the detailer agreed and arranged it.

I went through the low obstacles carefully to make sure I understood the best way to approach them. Ashley followed my example and had no problems. Then came the real thing.

I was doing well until we came to the rope bridge. I watched as the male plebe in front of me ran across the irregularly spaced wood slats, text book perfect. I wasn’t about to let any male outdo me. I hit the slats on the run and slipped on the next to last set. The safety harness kept me from really falling, but boy was my face red. I climbed back on and finished. Looking back I saw Ashley grinning and waving, and I blushed even more.

Ashley took the planks one set at a time … and made it all the way across without a hitch. So much for me setting an example.

Back on the ground Ashley and Danielle approached me together. I was ready to be in a huff. I had thoroughly embarrassed myself, but Ashley said, “Thanks, Sam. When you fell off the bridge, it showed me it was safe to make a mistake, even thirty feet in the air. I want to do it again.”

What else could I say but “Me too.” And we did.