Bainbridge Band of Brothers Journal Entries
Scuttlebutt
(Legends, gleanings and rumors)
In the days of "wooden ships and iron men" the water ration for the crew was dispensed from a keg--called a scuttlebutt--placed in the forecastle. This is also where the sailors ate their meals, where the smoking lamp was most often lit and where they would "splice the main brace" which encouraged the crew to gather and swap tales and extend rumors. Much of the information here has been taken from email correspondence or conversations at reunions between and among the Bainbridge Band of Brothers and is offered as much for its entertainment value as for its effort to learn the truth in some of these matters. Remember, the statutes of limitation have long ago expired.
Definitions from the Unofficial, Unabridged Dictionary For Marines.

Legends

"My date sucks!"

Probably the most whispered and oft repeated legend of the entire cruise is about the NAPSter who, while under the influence of strong spirits at the Marine Corps Ball in Tome Inn, leaned to his buddy sitting next to him and whispered, "My date sucks!" Unfortunately, in his inebriated state he had leaned the wrong direction and found the ear of his date. The amazing part is that, on realizing his error, he was able to assuage the damage and complete the evening rather civilly.  For the uninitiated, our "dates" were bus-loads of Johns-Hopkins nursing students or students at Mt. St. Mary's College. We lined up as they arrived and as we got to the head of our line we took the next girl to exit the bus as our date for the evening.  As "admiral strikers" we were prime meat for the Washington-area social scene. The progenitor of this legend was PFC Daniel E. Early of Indianapolis, Indiana who played the lead in our play "Mr. Roberts." 
The Great Wine Glass and Fire Hose Fiasco
Fred Morgan reports that after our dates were removed to their buses at the Marine Corps Birthday Ball, held at Tome Inn on the quad, the drinking began to get serious. This eventually led to the wanton destruction of most of the wine glasses that had been borrowed, for the occasion, from the Officer's Club. Then, the drunken jarheads crossed the LaCrosse field in a gaggle. On arriving at Madison House, Richard Red and John McKay took command of the second deck and started to "Repel Boarders."  After an attack of burning lighter fluid from an un-named Marine, fire suppression activities were initiated.  First the fire extinguishers were emptied and then the fire hoses were un-limbered and brought into action to the point that the ladders were giving the appearance of  small Niagras. At a special formation the following morning Company 1 was notified that their liberty would be restricted (two weeks as is now recalled) and half our pay would be garnished one month to pay for the broken crystal and the structural repairs the incident caused. Your Webmaster thought he was the only innocent party as before any of this began he got drunk, climbed a tree and fell asleep in his dress blues, awakening during the formation the next day he was captured by the Master At Arms. He agreed to the company punishment as the alternate--charges for being AWOL--had potential for being even worse. He has since learned that two other Marine NAPSters hid away on the bus and returned to the nurses dorms in Baltimore that evening (I need names--Chris). Read Fred's complete story of the incident at Madison Hall here.

Mashed Potatoes Macho

According to Chris Frogley, Mike Garrity, the shortest man in our company, was in line at the chow hall in front of him one day when the messman flopped a spoon of mashed potatoes on his metal tray. Garrity announced that he did not want mashed potatoes, scooped them up in his hand and redeposited them in the warming tray. At this point the big, burly, mean, first class mess steward stepped forward and snarled, "I've never met a man yet whose ass I can't kick." Before Garrity could respond a voice chimed in from behind Frogley. Richard Red was about 6'5" tall and had just arrived from the Louisiana oil fields. Red calmly but firmly in a deep baritone voice announced, "Excuse me, but apparently we have never met." The mess steward stepped back and the serving line continued on peacefully
"What can I do to get you to like me?"

It is a NAPS legend that our leader and mentor, Captain Tom Stokes, had been imbibing to excess one evening when the WAVE Captain who commanded the WAVE Boot Camp entered the Officers'Club and sat with some friends.  Having been ignored on entering the WAVE walked up to our captain and said, "You don't like me very much, do you captain? The honest response, "No ma'm I do not" was not exactly what she was expecting to hear. Still trying, the female officer asked, "What can I do to get you to like me?"  To this an inebriated Captain of Marines was reported to have snapped to, looked her in the eye and offered, "You can fall your WAVES out in formation, march them down the hill to the street in front of Madison House, fall them out and allow my Marines two hours to do whatever they want with them--ma'm!" The WAVE captain turned red, did an about face and was escorted away by Navy Captain C. D. Rhymes Jr., the Bainbridge Commanding Officer.  Semper Fi Colonel Tom--don't ever wonder why we love you so much.

The "Last" NAPSter

Richard Red was the last NAPSter to enter the Class on '63/'64, arriving 2-3 weeks after everyone else. He went on to become the last NAPSter to enter the Naval Academy from that NAPS class. Capt. Stokes put him to work at the Bainbridge Naval scullery after NAPS graduation for some infraction it seems no one can now remember. At the Naval Academy he was the last Midshipman to be turned back from the Class of '68 to the Class of '69. In his last (of five) year at the Academy he was graduated as the Anchor Man--the last man in the class academically. Traditionally the Anchor Man receives one dollar from every graduating Midshipman--that year 864. In fact, he only ever got about $750--even at that it was a tidy sum of money in 1969.

We didn't win them all
Every now and then the squids at NAPS did manage to get the better of us. SOSSN (that's Navy for lance corporal) Walter Brotherton clears up the question of the guidon strapped to the yard arm of the mast in front of Tome Hall which is captured  in the inside covers of  The Cruise.  We were all very convinced that it couldn't be the Company 1 guidon but:
The flag that is pictured in the photo in the inside cover of The Cruise is from the Marine Company.  It was stolen by a group of sailors from a section in Tome Hall on a night mission.  They collected creams or anything slippery from us living in Tome Hall.  After it was tied on the yardarm, the culprit greased the pole on the way down.  As I recall, the flag remained there approximately 3 days until it could be retrieved by the base fire department.  One of the small victories of the "Squids".
Walt goes on to report that his intramural football team won the championship that year, loosing only one game--to the Marines early in the season. He was up against LCpl. Schopfel when playing the Marines and he recalls it more as a street brawl than a football game. He remembers the bruises and injuries inflicted upon him and he is hopeful that he gave back in good form. Brotherton, a retired union electrician, now lives in Oakmont, PA.

Expanding the Alma Mater

For the first reunion of the Bainbridge Band of Brothers in 2005 at Annapolis, Dick Cody wrote three new verses for our unofficial alma mater.  They are:
Close above the Scenic Sevren, met some wise old saps
Once were they called admiral strikers, ‘cause they went to NAPS
You can take old admiral strikers, four decades yet have passed
When you put us all together, our bond has proved to last
 
Some left NAPS before the spring came, some they stayed ‘til May
Others went to be Midshipmen, and learn the Navy way
All remember our time as NAPSters, our paths were not the same
But friendships forged as young Marines, then brothers we became
 
Never forget our days together, the good times and the bad
Never forget our Marine Corps brothers, the best we’ve ever had
Oh you can take us admiral strikers, and our Jarhead class
You can take the whole damn group, and to us raise a glass!
Facts and Stats

In this section we list statistics and facts such as we have been able to learn from official sources, research and feeble minds. Send additions and corrections to: NAPS@4merMarine.com.

Twenty six of the Marines who started at NAPS went on to matriculate into the U. S. Naval Academy with the Class of  '68.  (An asterisk * indicates USNA graduate). They are:

Six members of the Bainbridge Band of Brothers completed the U. S. Naval Academy and were commissioned.  They are:

At NAPS graduation they learned that the Secretary of the Navy's appointments had been decreased from 150 to around 75 and therefore some of the graduate NAPSters would not receive appointments. The solution was to load them onto buses and take them to Capital Hill for a day to beg appointments from Congressmen. Anyone receiving a Congressional appointment would then forgo his SecNav appointment and leave it open for another NAPSter. Of the many unique situations to come from this exercise is that Chuck Patterson ("Pattetson" in The Cruise) received a Congressional appointment to the Merchant Marine Academy, where he remained for one semester.

Who was the highest ranking NAPSter from the Class of 1963-1964?  We still don't know for sure.  For starters we will try to get dates of rank from our colonels: Mike Kalashian  and Bill Schopfel.

Who was the highest ranking NAPSter of all time?  General John Lorber, USAF was graduated from NAPS "in the early 60's" and matriculated at the Air Force Academy. NAPS provided the service for the Air Force until they could get their own prep school up and running on the grounds of the USAF Academy, Colorado Springs, CO.

Lieutenant General James Mattis, USMC, when a major, served a tour as Executive Officer of NAPS in the early 1980s. Col. Tom's old job is now XO NAPS. Our thanks to the current (2006) XO Capt. Matthew P. Capodanno, USMC and to Steve Arendt, Assistant Dean, for their assistance with some of the questions.

"Our Class" at the U. S. Naval Academy--1968--produced one Commandant of the Marine Corps and TWO Chiefs of Naval Operations. Commandant General Michael W. Hagee wasn't in Tome Hall with us but some of us were in Bancroft Hall with him. Although not NAPSters, both Admiral Jay L. Johnson and Admiral Michael G. Mullen served in the top Navy post and rubbed shoulders with some of our classmates. Author, Secretary of the Navy and Senator James Webb was commissioned a second lieutenant of Marines from the USNA Class of '68 as was Lt. Col. Oliver North.

The music for the NAPS song--shown at the top of the home page--is the Cornell University Alma Mater. It is taken from an 1857  ballad named "Annie Lisle," about a young lady who died of tuberculosis. If you didn't hear it when you brought up the home page, you can listen to it here. You can read the words to the Cornell Alma Mater and listen to it sung by the Cornell Glee Club here.

[Your webmaster was going to put a little graphic of a bulldozer here indicating that this section is under construction but if you can't figure that out without pictures you shouldn't be on the Internet unsupervised--go see your mommy, your nurse or your warden.]

Inquiring Minds

Posted here are lingering questions for which suitable answers have not yet appeared. Anyone who can shed light upon these decades-old questions are encouraged to email NAPS@4merMarine.com. Answered questions will join the "Facts and Stats" section of this page.

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© 2006-2009, Glenn B. Knight
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