UNEXPECTED CHRISTMAS PRESENTSWhen we were Plebes, we were not permitted to go home for the holidays. Another "tradition", at least in Co. C-1, was to sneak into the Yearling's rooms while they were in class, disassemble portions of their M-1 Rifles and slip these parts into their luggage, which had been packed and was waiting forthe end of the final class before the Christmas vacation started. Of course, they were so anxious to catch the buses to New York and be on their way that they didn't check the luggage. When they arrived at their destinations, they found trigger housing groups, etc. in their luggage.
POOPSHEET DAY When we were cadets the "Poopsheet Day". One Spring day when the plebes were all in class, the yearlings would go into their rooms with newspapers, mostly shredded and torn into small pieces. They would put them in everything that they could think of. When we, as plebes, returned from class we were met with the Yearlings waiting for us on the stoops. They started chewing us out because our rooms were a "mess". The floors were covered with newspaper. There were pieces of newspaper in the wall lockers,under our blankets, in our clothing. I found little pieces of paper in my canteen the following Summer; pieces of paper in my over coat pockets the following Winter. Paper was literally everywhere. This was Poop Sheet Day. Others remember it as the day that firsties finished their last classes and trashed plebe rooms with all their accumulated notes and poop sheets from the year.
Intramural Athletics As cited in the 1947 edition of Bugle Notes "Intramural athletics were introduced at West Point in 1920, and "Every man an athlete" became more than a slogan; it became an established fact." Cadets not participating on Corps Squads in inter collegiate athletics were, and still are today, required to participate in seasonal sports as members of their company intramural teams. Needless to say, competition is very spirited. The company amassing the highest number of points in Intramural Competition is awarded possession of the Bankers' Trophy for the ensuing year. Regimental champions in the various sports competed against each other for the right to be called Brigade Champions.
Prior to 1957, as has been stated in Topic 18, the Companies were sized by height. Needless to say, the runts were at a distinct disadvantage when competing with the flankers in some of the intramural sports such as basketball, wrestling, and boxing to name a few. The shells used in intramural crew were whale boats so the flanker company crew teams usually prevailed
Athletic Victories and Their Effect on PlebesDuring the academic year, Army Corps Squad teams participate in a number of events at West Point. It used to be customary that if Army won and a plebe had attended the event, he could request permission from his Table Commandant that the Fourth Classmen at the table be permitted to sit 'At Ease' for that meal. This was normally granted. However, victories over Navy in Football normally result in a more than one meal relaxation depending on the Cadet First Captain. Because of the game's date being close to Christmas leave, many Fourth Classes were permitted to sit 'At Ease' for all meals until Christmas leave and then revert to their normal posture after return from leave. In 1998 after Army's thrilling victory over Navy, the plebe class was permitted to have their rooms in PMI inspection condition all day until Christmas leave and will be granted two discretionary passes in the next semester. PMI inspection condition means that their wardrobe doors may be closed, there may be a minimal amount of trash in the room trash cans, and minimal dust in their rooms versus the normal AMI inspection condition of wardrobe doors open, no trash in trash cans, and no dust anywhere until 0930 every day.
A Little Known Fact During the westward expansion of the U.S., West Point engineering facultyspent summers surveying our western territory. In doing so, they set their clocks for determination of longitude by observing the moons of Jupiter.
CADETS AND CHAPEL SERVICESThe following is extracted from a recent Gray-Matter newsletter published by the AOG.
The first voluntary chapel service for West Point officers and cadets was onJan 14, 1973. Prior to that date, chapel attendance was mandatory, aregulation that was often resented. According to historian Stephen Ambrose in Duty, Honor, Country, (John Hopkins Press, 1966): "Occasionally the cadets would rebel and Thayer would have to issue warnings against shuffling, groaning, or otherwise creating a disturbance during services. Sometimes cadets would take advantage of the protection from supervision chapel afforded to chew tobacco. In 1840 the commandant pleaded with them to cease the practice, for they were leaving so much tobacco spittle on the floor Sunday morning that the chapel could not be used Sunday afternoon."
Twenty-five years after mandatory chapel was ruled unconstitutional, the situation is much different. Chaplain Ron Fritts of the Cadet Chapel describes cadet religious life as "very enthusiastic," and surmised that, "We have a much stronger group due to voluntary chapel than we would if chapel were still mandatory.". A cadet's introduction to religion at West Point begins during Cadet Basic Training with Chaplain's Time. Held on Wednesday evenings, these services give the plebes a chance to meet the chaplains and members of the community. As Catholic Chaplain Edson Wood says, "it's a crucial time to introduce the new Plebes to religion at West Point." During the academic year, cadets of all denominations have many opportunities to participate in retreats, religious studies, choirs, and ministries.
There are several very active Christian fellowship groups at the Academy. These include the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Genesis, the Officers of Christian Fellowship, and Navigators. Thursday mornings there is apost-wide prayer breakfast that sometimes draws about 300 cadets. Many of these cadets are also active in ministering to the youth in the community through their involvement in Religious Education, Young Life (for high school students) and God's Gang (for middle schoolstudents.) The services at West Point include two General Protestant services (Cadet & Post Chapels), Gospel service (Post Chapel), Lutheran (OldCadet Chapel), and Episcopalian (Church of the Most Holy Innocents in Highland Falls). For Catholic cadets, in addition to daily Mass, there is TEC (Troops Encounter Christ), RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults), and the Catholic Choir.
The most recent addition to chapel facilities at West Point is the JewishChapel. Only fourteen years old, it receives over 10,000 visitors a year. The Jewish Chaplain, Richard White, says the chapel, "is one of the important Jewish landmarks in America." He attributes the large number of visitors to the size of the chapel, its artwork and the fact that "West Point, in a civil sense, is one of the sacred spots in America." The Jewish cadets enrolled at the Academy receive a lot of support from local Jewish groups, to include Jewish war veterans and West Point graduates who come regularly to participate in Friday evening services. The chapel was largely built with donations, and the recently completed Founders Garden will be ready to bloom this spring.
All three main chapels have special holiday celebrations for the cadets.Last Tuesday the Jewish Chapel sponsored a Hanukkah party. The Catholic and Protestant Chapels hold Christmas Liturgies on what was traditionally known as "Leave's Eve," the night before Christmas Leave begins. Although the actual date now occurs sometime during the exam week, these candlelight services occur at 2200 and provide an opportunity for peaceful meditation and thanksgiving.
There are many opportunities for spiritual growth at West Point. As Catholic Chaplain Wood says, "Religious appreciation is very high among the cadets." Thankfully, none of us have to worry about tobacco spittle on the chapel floor!
SUMMER CLASS TRIPSBack in the days when Giants Walked the Plain, we had "ghoul pools" at all the military installations where we toured and trained. We had these trips both cow and firstie summer. As I recall we visited the homes of the combat arms our cow summer and visited the other services and combat support/combat service support installations firstie summer. At every one there was a dance with blind dates. We always had a ghoul pool. As we found out at Fort Rucker, so did the women. It was poetic justice that at Rucker both my classmate and his date won their respective ghoul pools.
My favorite blind date tale is when we were at Ft. Bliss. I had just finished stowing my gear in our barracks bay (Giants did not need semi-private rooms) when the enlisted CQ runner told me to report to the company orderly room. There awaiting me was a 1st Lieutenant. In the days of Giants, first lieutenants were considered semi-senior guys and had been in the service for five years or so. Real old guys. Anyhow the 1st Lieutenant said " Mr., do you happen to know who your blind date is this evening?" "No sir" I said. "Who is my blind date?" "Well Mister" the Lieutenant said with disgust, or maybe it was pure envy, "your date is Miss Texas, and you're damn lucky. Now get out of here."
Later we met our dates at the O Club and I was introduced to Miss Texas. Good looking, curvaceous blond. I escorted her to the punch bowl. You see even Giants weren't allowed to drink back then. We started to talk and as soon as she opened her mouth I couldn't believe what I was hearing. No sweet southern accent here. No, it was a pure, unadulterated New Joisey accent. Miss Texas was from Hackensack or Secaucus or some other charming Joisey city. Talk about the shattering of images. But Giants learned to handle disappointment.
These summer training trips are no longer conducted.
CADETS IN MOVIES AND TV PROGRAMS
Many movies have been made about West Point as well as documentaries and recently a
TV pilot program used R-Day shots for their pilot filming. Cadets of course are not compensated in
dollars for their participational though the filming companies frequently donate TV sets and other
gear to the Academy for use in class clubs, etc. While this may seem exciting, it often requires
extra effort on the part of the cadets involved. One example deals with the filming of The
Long Gray Line back in the mid-50's which took place in the spring. It was a particularly warm
spring that year and there were a lot of scenes filmed in long overcoats. There is a bonfire scene
celebrating the armistice with many hats sailing into the fire. Funny, but the only item of uniform that
seems to have changed much during the period 1910 - 1950's was the dress cap. So for most
outdoor scenes, we were given an old style cap to wear. On the day the bonfire scene was filmed
it must have been nearly 80 degrees -- long overcoats ... exceedingly hot fire ...very uncomfortable.
Our revenge was to start throwing the hats into the fireand that's where about 200-300 cadet caps
ended up. John Ford liked it and thought it was funny and included it in the scene.
****
A portion of "MacArthur" was filmed at USMA when I was a yearling in
1976 (or was it 1977?). Every cadet was an extra: 1st and 2nd
Regiments in the mess hall scene and 3rd and 4th Regiments in the parade
scene, both of which are at the very beginning of the movie. There are
three or four close-ups of cadets in the mess hall scene, all of whom
were real live cadets from my company, C2.
Jeff Jacobs '79
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And let's not forget Babs Streisand in "Hello, Dolly" filmed on
the Academy grounds and across the river in Garrison back in the late 60s
('68?). The false chapel constructed near Trophy Point stood for several
weeks. Not a West Point movie, however, in the
strict sense...
Dempsey Darrow, '75
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It was a pleasure to appear (classes of '54, '55, '56, and '57) with
Maureen O'Hara and Tyrone Power in the MGM Production of The Long Gray Line.
Bob Johnson, '55
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Another example came from the Class of '92. GEN Schwarzkopf came to the Point to make a
documentary with Charles Kuralt on American Generals. The producers wanted a Cadet Company
marching on parade in the background. Since GEN Schwarzkopf had been in Company A-1 as a
Cadet, he requested A-1 be the company in the background. The company marched around in
circles for about 30 minutes to give the appearance of multiple companies parading. Following the
filming, GEN Schwarzkopf addressed the company which made it all worth while.
Another grad reported that as a cadet, he was selected for a simulated classroom scene depicting a cadet making a verbal presentation in the classroom. When he reported to the designated classroom in the class uniform of the day, the producers said his belt buckle was too shiny for the lights and proceeded to 'dull' the shine on the buckle.
CHRISTMAS TRADITIONOne grad and current Plebe both suggested this tradition be included."The Christmas
tradition (again, I say tradition from my vantage point of the early 1980s)of singing the "Twelve Days of Christmas" at the last dinner before TEEs? In my time as a cadet, we had a formal Christmas dinner, with prime rib, and we wore our Full Dress. Each battalion was assigned a verse in order (1stBn/1st Reg) to (3rd Bn/4th Reg), and when your battalion's verse was sung,we all lifted our mess hall tables in the air. It was actually kinda neat to hear the whole corps sing in FD whilst full of prime rib and other goodies."
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