50 Stories for 50 Years | Post 06 Twelve Hours That Changed Everything It is astounding how much change occurs in less than 12 hours. Induction Day had only just begun. Within an hour of reporting, we were already in formation, learning basic marching commands, dressed in the simplest version of a Naval Academy uniform: a USNA T-shirt and a Dixie cup. A complete uniform issue followed quickly, and with it the unmistakable sense that…
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Induction Day
Published February 2, 2026
50 Stories for 50 Years | Post 05 I walked in knowing exactly where I was going.I just didn’t know what I was doing. Inside Halsey Field House, Induction Day began with an unsettling calm. Everything looked orderly, almost polite. The ferocious part was waiting its turn. Rows of folding tables stretched across the floor, aligned alphabetically by last name. I found A and stepped up to a table. The upperclassman behind it didn’t smile…
4 CommentsThe Letter
Published January 26, 2026
50 Stories for 50 Years | Post 04 Who gets a letter nowadays? Back in 1977, that was the way. The only way I learned about college rejections or acceptances was by mail. No portals. No emails. No “check your status.” Just the quiet anticipation of the postal delivery and the weight of an envelope in your hands. My appointment to the United States Naval Academy arrived that way, too: A letter. A single piece…
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Published January 19, 2026
50 Stories for 50 Years | Post 03 I didn’t spend much time wondering whether I would get into the Naval Academy. In 1976, I assumed I would. That certainty wasn’t confidence so much as innocence—a product of youth, limited perspective, and a life that had unfolded almost entirely within the familiar boundaries of Annapolis, Maryland. This may sound strange now, but at the time, I never doubted the outcome. I was that young, that…
1 CommentBefore the Doors Opened
Published January 12, 2026
50 Stories for 50 Years | Post 02 Growing up in Annapolis, Maryland, with the Naval Academy’s outline just across the Severn River, I never gave much thought to attending it. That’s the simplest truth. I roamed freely through buildings and fields, along the water, across spaces that felt familiar and unremarkable. The idea of attending the Academy never entered my mind. There were no women there, because there had never been women there. Since…
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