Last Updated: 1/31/99
Roommates As we approach another reunion I remember something that happened to Neil Mieras and I during June Week. We had just returned from a parade and were sitting around in our skivies when two distinguished gentlemen entered the room. They explained that they were celebrating their 45th and had lived in the same room that we were in. We had the room above the post office with 3 alcoves. One of the gents relayed that the three roommates had made a vow to return to this room during this particular reunion. While one explained that the third had given up his life in the Pacific, the other proceeded to dismantle the window sill. Neil and I were aghast as all we could think of was the number of demerits we would receive for damages to the room. Well eventually the sill was removed and the old grad reached down into the wall and produced a bottle of whiskey. They had put it there 45 years prior. They then asked us for some glasses and we helped them put a significant dent in the bottle - toasted their fallen room mate, the Army, etc. We soon forgot about the potential demerits and had a grand time. Neil & I thought about putting one of ours in the cavity but did not do so as the 7th division was scheduled to be removed after we graduated. I wonder if any of our classmates made any vows with their room mates.Roger used to go to bed at Taps (if you can believe that) because he was a hive and got all of his homework done early. Bert and I would stay up to try to finish ours. One night, after a particularly bad homework session, Bert decided we should have some revenge on Roger ( I should mention, at this point, that Roger was easily panicked in those days). We set the alarm clocks ahead so instead of midnight (which it was by that time), the clocks read 5:50 a.m. We got into bed, and the alarm went off. We leaped out of bed, with Bert shouting, "Oh, My God! We're late!" Roger went ballistic; jumped into his clothes, and shot out the door, down the stairs, and into his spot for reveille. Some upperclassmen, including our CO, Norm Shearer, were still up and were mildly curious about what this lone Plebe was doing standing at attention in uniform in the middle of the area at midnight.
In response to the above is the following:
During Yearling year, Pete Gleszer, Lass Mason and I had a room in Old South on the top floor above Grant Hall next to Brewerton Road. Pete had been transferred from the 2nd Regt. when his Father became Regimental CO as a Col. Initially, Pete did not realize just how much fun he was going to have rooming with Lass and me. However, by the time the night in question arrived, Pete was fully indoctrinated. Those of you who never were in the Old South rooms need to know a little about the layout. Each room had closets (not lockers), with doors, for clothes and a sink in an alcove. On the top floors, the closets had an access hatch to a crawl space between the ceiling of the room and the roof above that. These access hatches were not noticeable unless you knew to look, since the closet doors were normally closed. Well, much to Pete's dismay, Lass and I had found a wonderful use for the space between the room ceiling and the building roof; I would use a chair to climb onto a shelf in one of the closets, open the access hatch and place items which needed to be hidden, in this case, dare I say, booze, above the ceiling. To an ever increasing amount of Pete's dismay, these hidden items were brought out at certain times for use by ourselves and others, but, to his credit, never by Pete. This particular evening we heard the sound of someone "walking" up the stairs with taps on his shoes. Knowing it was the OC, we scurried like every other good cadet who heard the same sound to make sure everything was in order. Of course, we were diligently studying at our desks when the knock came and Maj. Knoff (good ole' Jack) entered with one well shined black shoe, with taps, and one tennis shoe. Immediately realizing that anyone who would stoop to do that could be up to no good, Lass and I began to perspire slightly and Pete must have begun having doubts about being shackled with such roommates as us. In various ways, we all died a lot more when Knoff then said something to the effect; "Gentlemen, do you know that this was my room as a cadet? I happen to know ALL of the hiding places in this room and am going to check them right now." Well, as any of you can imagine, Lass and I were in serious need of toilet paper and poor Pete looked as if he had seen not only his cadet life, but all the rest of his life flash before him, since he was about to die. Expecting Knoff to head directly for one of the closets, we were stunned when he went to the sink alcove, got down on his knees, pulled out a screwdriver and opened each of the hatches which allowed access to the water pipes behind the walls. He felt around looking for items which could be tied with string and hung from the pipes in the space between the walls. He said he was specifically looking for booze, because some people would hide booze this way when he was a cadet. After he completed his booze check and closed the panels, he stated that he was glad to see that we were not falling into wayward paths and that we were keeping his old room in good condition. By this time, Lass and I began to realize that there might be hope and Pete began to look like there was life after this inspection after all. Knoff then said carry on and good night and went "tap", "squish", "tap", "squish" into the night without even approaching the closets. Ha, Maj. "Jack", you just thought you knew all of the hiding places. Of course, with our now complete confidence in our invulnerability, we continued to use our little secret for furthering our education and training. Ah what fun, it was almost like college. Pete, if you read this, I hope it is not too late to apologize for causing you to lose some time from your life due to the pranks of Mason and Mashburn.
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