Anchors Aweigh!

Showing posts with label Naval V-12 Unit. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Naval V-12 Unit. Show all posts

Friday, July 23, 2010

Goodbye, G.A.C.

My dad was with the last class of V-5's that attended Gustavus Adolphus College. The war was over and gradually all of the war training programs at colleges all over the US were phased out. But, not to worry, the GI Bill meant that colleges were about to be flooded with eager young men and women, looking to better themselves.
Remembrances of Francis N. Duffey
Listing of those mentioned in the essay:
Rick Cotton, John Russell, Emery Campbell, Bill Baldwin, Roger Boraas, Hedin, Floyd Oslund, Dick Tonigan, Cliff Zobel, Jack Bowles, Bob Harvey, Blair Mooney, Wilson, Jim McHenry, Jim Ware, Connie Eimers, Marshall, Houde, Warren Richardson, Doc White, Bob Francoeur, Mrs. Nelson, Rodine, Dan Gullitch, Chris Rice

Text of the document:
Yes, goodbye, Gustavus....no more obstacle courses with the Chief urging us on...no more listening to Cotton blowing tattoo, or Russell playing "Oh, how I hate to get up in the morning" before reveille....or the religious arguments with Campbell and Baldwin after taps....or the frantic rush of a fire drill....No more spit and polish, deck waxing, window washing, each Saturday...or snappy drill, with company competition at a keen edge...No more calisthenics at 0615 next to the field house with Roger Boraas showing us how....and Hedin showing us how not...no 1030 musters with the mail call at the end...or Monday night Naval Org classes, with all the boys admiring the way the skipper talked....

Yes, goodbye,...to the brew at the Polar Maid, the pinball machine at Thel's, the ice cream cones at Otte's...to the St. Peter swimming pool...to the trips to the "Cities" with Campbell or Oslund...sleeping on the deck at the Hospitality House after dancing at the Prom....to the Wednesday night band concerts with Tonigan and Zobel...listening to Bowles talk...or Harvey....No more fast games of touch football in PT, or wrestling, or tumbling over Blair Mooney....or intracompany softball... or Wilson teaching swimming...and wondering about his white hats...or McHenry singing in the shower... or Ware and Eimers making points with the Mankato girls...or Marshall and Houde coming in stewed....or rooting for Glencoe against St. Peter high...or Richardson's singing...or Doc White's sleepy history classes...No more first amazement at Francoeur's double-jointed tricks....or listening to the World Series....or the spirit at the G.A. games...or the friendliness of the canteen...or the bitterness of Mrs. Nelson's class....No more Minneapolis Star Journal to read at evening chow...no more stenciling bees...or V-J Day rumors...or talk of Rice's "conquests"...or washing gym gear and hanging it on the fence...the exhaustion after cross-country or a strength test....or cramming for one of Rodine's tests....

Reminiscing

Reminiscing, Francis N. Duffey

Old Dugan giving Ruth the eye (Picture by Steinke, A/S)
For Ken Dugan, late of Uncle Sam's army, coming home from four years in the Pacific had more than the usual pleasures. The girl to whom he's smiling "You'd be so nice to come home to," is lovely Ruth Tolman, of St. Cloud. The two were named king and queen of the freshman class by popular vote.


The Service Flag in the Chapel

That man again! Francis N. Duffey