Ah, the joys of being powerless (and internetless) for a week. You get
SOOOO far behind on emails.
Where was I the Fall of 77? In the South China Sea boring holes in the
ocean while learning to be a productive Ensign in the Navy. Did I make it
out on time? Oh, no. But it only took me the Summer of '77 to catch up.
There are multiple stories covering how I actually got to the Navy that
summer -summer school, summer jobs that included catching sharks, being
resurrected from the dead, driving from CS to San Diego in under 13 hours
and reporting to my ship just 3 days before a WestPac deployment that I had
no knowledge of before arriving.
This installment - Why I graduated late and how I cut the lateness down
from a year to a quarter.
The summer before or zip year, NROTC changed/added a couple of courses
(History and PoliSci) to the required curriculum. The 2 NROTC classes were
only offered 1 each in Fall and Spring. Ditto on 2 WFS courses. And
naturally, both conflicted each semester. I had to choose between taking
the NROTC classes in CS and the WFS classes in Galveston, thereby
graduating in August '77 or taking all of them in CS and graduating a year
late. I choose the August route.
I spent the time from finals through mid-August at Galveston-A&M. Ended up
getting down there 2 weeks early because one of my professors had a study
he wanted me to honcho and get it set up and running. Took some
coordination, but he somehow got it so I could live in THE ONE dorm on
Pelican Island while no one else was on campus. I was actually issued a
key to the dorm. Ate every meal out because the cafeteria was non-op.
ended up taking 4 classes instead of just 2 - why? Because I'm not the
sharpest knife in the drawer and the classes sounded like fun.
I wore the same 2 pairs of shorts all summer, rotating each day as I was
chest deep in the Gulf or Bay every day with the 4 projects I was working
for the classes. The 4 As really helped that final GPA.
Wore nothing but the shorts and sneakers/no socks 8 days a week. Put on a
t-shirt to go to class. By the time I got my military ID pic taken (in
choker whites) in August, I had such a deep tan that I made Ed look like a
Norwegian. My hair had bleached blonde. Took 2 years for the tan to fade.
The clueless female LT that showed up in CS as one of the NROTC instructors
for the 76-77 SY (she also fouled up all my paperwork - couple of stories
there) looked at my name, looked at me and asked what part of Asia I came
from. Being a cheeky almost-Ensign, I replied that my
great-grandfather was born in Australia in 1861 (true) and moved to Texas
in 1871 (also true). I left her thinking I had an Australian Aborigine
background.
On Thu, Feb 18, 2021 at 6:50 PM Stephen Wright <dr.wilbur.wright@xxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
Ah…the Navy and its love of KY jelly!!!
*From: *"fighting_texas_aggie_band_class_of_1977-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <
fighting_texas_aggie_band_class_of_1977-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> on behalf
of Robert Spiller <rspiller@xxxxxxx>
*Reply-To: *"fighting_texas_aggie_band_class_of_1977@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <
fighting_texas_aggie_band_class_of_1977@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
*Date: *Thursday, February 18, 2021 at 4:45 PM
*To: *"fighting_texas_aggie_band_class_of_1977@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <
fighting_texas_aggie_band_class_of_1977@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
*Subject: *[fighting_texas_aggie_band_class_of_1977] Re: Hamilton
I was a Navy Ensign in Washington DC working with the Naval Petroleum
Reserves.
------------------------------
*From:* fighting_texas_aggie_band_class_of_1977-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <
fighting_texas_aggie_band_class_of_1977-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> on behalf
of Edward Retta <eretta@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
*Sent:* Wednesday, February 17, 2021 9:09 PM
*To:* fighting_texas_aggie_band_class_of_1977@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <
fighting_texas_aggie_band_class_of_1977@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
*Subject:* [fighting_texas_aggie_band_class_of_1977] Re: Hamilton
Wow! I didn't realize that about Cronkite.
What were y'all doing in the fall of 77?
Sticking with your buds like me and graduating in December?
Edward Retta
On Feb 17, 2021 22:55, Stephen Wright <dr.wilbur.wright@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
He retired in 1981.
On Wed, Feb 17, 2021 at 10:52 PM Edward Retta <
eretta@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Was Walter Cronkite still on in 1977!?
Edward Retta
On Feb 17, 2021, at 10:24 PM, Stephen Wright <dr.wilbur.wright@xxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
I remember watching Walter Cronkite and Hogans Heroes w u and Rolly Gomez
when we roomed together in fall 1977. Great memories. Cheers, Steve W
--
Dr Steve "Wilbur" Wright
