11/29/2002
INTRODUCTION
These are some memories from my era at LWMA; from October of 1959 to the end of May in 1964. If you think that because the world is so much different today than it was back then you can skip reading these ramblings of an old man. Or you may realize that being a cadet away form home was and still is an adventure, you might enjoy these remembrances of things that happened on the campus where you are now going to school or did go a little while ago. It always seems a little while ago to most of us.
You see LWMA is a Time Machine in a way. When we think of things that happened there we become the age we were then. The school returns to us and we become that person of the past. I have hoped and have seen how this website has helped old friends get back together after many years of never knowing what happened to each other after school. When they do get together, via e-mail, in a nearby town, or during an alumni event at LWMA, they return to the past. One might, in his or her joy, tell someone else something bad about the other. But, they will tell the new person, "By the way, don't tell him or her I remember that about them!" This is told just as if it happened yesterday, when in fact the other person might not even remember the event had ever happened at all. It does not matter how long ago it was.
Now on with my random thoughts… Remember these things are not meant to reflect badly on the school, now or at other time. Someone asked me why the alumni seem to only write about things that happened, shall we say, "Outside the rules or things that were scary?" The simple truth is, those are the "Adventures" we remember the most. I hope that the things that I remember will not offend anyone.
I'll start with the old outdoor swimming pool that is still visible in the woods across the highway from the "Back Gate" in front of the Smith Auditorium area of the campus.
There was a horseshoe shaped gravel driveway going down to the pool and back up to the old paved tennis courts just to the east of that driveway. Note: The old tennis courts are where Paul Stroble '43 was when he heard the news about Pear Harbor on December 7, 1941.
The HOT ROCK
When I was a student at LWMA I lived in the swimming pool whenever it was open and I had free time. Swimming was something I loved to do and it was one of the few athletic things I could do well. One of the things I learned in that area was how to darin the water out of my ears with a hot rock. Now that might sound strange to those who have never done it, and my friend who showed me how to do it has no memory of it today.
One day, as we were walking up from the pool, in our swimsuits, flip-flops on and wet towels over our shoulders, my friend stopped and picked up a rock from the gravel driveway. He looked at it vary carefully and then bent his head over to one side and moved the rock up to his ear as if he were listening to it. I never knew anyone who could communicate with rocks before, so I asked him what he was doing. I was afraid to ask him what the rock was saying, because I did not want to appear foolish. He then told me he that was getting the water out of his ears! I then asked how it was done. He showed me these steps:
1. Find a small rock with one flat side that has been sitting exposed to the sun for a long time.
2. Hold the rock up in your hand so that the hot flat side is facing up.
3. Bend you head down to the rock so that your ear is directly over and touching or almost touching the hot flat side.
4. Hold that position for a about half a minute. Now pull you head back up and look at all the water that came out of your ear and onto the rock.
5. The first rock is now cool and wet so you need to find a new hot rock and do the other ear.
I believe the heat from the rock forces the water out of your ear. Of course having the ear canal vertical to the rock (and the ground) for some time helps too. I'm sure that gravity helps in the process.
Swimming in the Dark
This story is about breaking rules again… But it should not reflect badly on the school. The school had rules and when we broke them it was our actions that were wrong and not the school's.
This occurred in late August of 1961 as I had just left a school I hated and was back at LWMA where I felt I belonged. I was careful not to get into trouble that might get me expelled from LWMA. This was one of the very few times in my four years at LWMA that I ever left the barracks (dormitory) area after Taps (Lights Out).
That year the old cadets, including yours truly, were asked to return to the campus about a week before the new cadets arrived. That was done because General T. L. Futch, our commandant, wanted to see who the returning cadets were so he could assign rank and appoint the old cadets to their companies and dormitories. Back then each company had its own dormitory building.
At this point the cadre was all set for the new non-ranking cadets to fill in the empty rooms and squads.
One night during that week, as we listened to Taps being played (10:30 PM) over the public address system, my roommate asked me if I wanted to go swimming in the pool. I assume I said yes, because we went! I remember parts of our little trip to the pool that night because we were breaking the rules and did not want to get caught. The campus was very dark and quiet after Taps, just as it should have been. When we were at the back gate (west entrance) there were no lights there because the ones on the brick columns would not be built for two more years. The main campus had some streetlights, but there was not one near the back gate. We slipped across the road (Hwy 50) as quietly as we could and through the gate in the fence around the pool. (Not everything was locked up in those days.) There was one small light bulb on the back of the bathhouse that was on, but other than that the whole area was black as midnight.
We were not too far from the commandant's house and did not want to be heard as we quietly slipped into the water. It was strange to swim in the dark murky water and try to be quiet. I vividly remember being underwater and hearing my roommate swimming near by and seeing a large black shapeless object pass by as a swish-swish sound went with it.
I'm sure we were just as careful sneaking back into Russell Hall as we had been leaving it, because we did not get caught.
Postscript to "Swimming in the Dark"
For all those, if any, who find this was a dangerous thing to do; and it may well have been because of there was no lifeguard on duty. I was 16 years old and my roommate was 15 and we were both strong swimmers. I doubt if we were in the water longer than fifteen minutes, just enough time to say we did it, although I don't remember telling anyone else about it. Soon we were breaking the new cadets in "A" company and it passed from our thoughts.
This action by cadets could not take place today because the old pool is empty and the current indoor pool is locked when not in use.
Also, see what awaited me in the swimming pool during the second semester of 1961-62 in the story about Miss Marjorie Gilliland.
