The 100th class of this old school which had its beginning in the era
of wooden ships and iron men was graduated in 1944 with colorful and
impressive ceremonies. A full dress drill by a battalion of midshipmen
on the Academy parade grounds provided a stirring scene for some 500
fathers and mothers and relatives. The graduating class was the largest
in the 51 years of the institution. Governor Saltonstall, Rear Admiral
Robert A. Theobald, U.S.N., Commandant of First Naval District, and
other notables bid Godspeed and counselled the new officers who were to
join Academy comrades scattered over the world in all theatres of the
war.
Particularly interesting was the meaty advice Admiral Theobald offered
the new officers out of his own 40-odd years of seafaring experience.
He said:
“You’re going to have to spend endless days and months in the sameness
of only a cloudless sky above you and a smooth sea beneath you.
Don’t get in a seagoing rut. Get an avocation as soon as you can. I
would suggest that you develop the habit of doing heavy reading on
international relations. Your nation is in the middle of world politics
now and will never recede again from world relationships.”
“We, as a nation, have been too prone to accept the notion that other
nations have the same psychological reactions as ours. You will find it
a very interesting avocation to get books and study other people of the
world. You must go back to find out what makes them tick. And, also,
this reading will enable you to determine whether your own statesmen
are doing a good job.”
He made a point of impressing the graduates that a man in war never
gets over fear. In a crisis of danger they would be afraid the first
time, and the hundredth time, although each time they would learn more
of what to expect.