Engineer Memoirs
Cadet Ernest Graves on his arrival at the United States Military Academy in 1941.
Q:
There must have been some anxieties involved in being the youngest--
A:
There were. The main problems, as the youngest cadet in my class, were physical. I was
not that poorly coordinated, but I had not built my body strength, and I had a tough
time keeping up.
Q:
These guys were two years older than you, a lot of them.
A:
They ran all the way up to five years older. Some of them entered at 21, and some
turned 22. I was just 17. Physically, I wasn't prepared. The academy had a good
program, and I got better physically, but it was hard for me to do well the first summer.
Also, I wasn't as mature as most of my classmates. I was very conscientious, but I
didn't have the same maturity to deal with the stresses there. I was smart enough.
Academically, I was very capable and did well. That wasn't the problem.
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