Wow! I went to US Naval Academy with a bunch of OLD guys! Indeed, I could recognize about half my company fellow alumni. We had a lot of good events at our 50th college reunion. Quite a few of them—in fact most—had been to previous reunions. For us, likely our first and last.
It was great to see our classmates and learn about where they are and what they are doing. It was a little sad that about all we had in common was USNA and our brief service afterwards. It was great seeing these old friends, with whom I had endured Plebe summer tortures and Plebe year annoyances. And, that is not an insignificant bond.
On the other hand, with only a few exceptions, I have had very little contact with them over the ensuing 50 years. Together 4 years and apart 50 years means that I felt pretty distant—surprisingly so. But what would you expect?
It was great to see them and also to see the grounds and buildings in which I had studied and learned much. We shared that our time there had impacted the rest of our lives for the better. I had to fight back tears on couple of occasions. Memories are a very good thing—when I have them still in the “file”.
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