Engineer Memoirs _____________________________________________________________________
was still kicking it around, but I would have probably ended up at Purdue had the principal
appointment not come through.
Q:
Were you in athletics in high school? As far as on a team?
A:
No, I never made any of the varsity teams. I was always very interested in athletics, and that
was the center of my activities in grade school and junior high school. I was always with all
the folks at recess or after school and played baseball or football. Those activities took place
in our front yard, so I was very much into it. Basketball was always a big sport with me.
Riley never had a football team, just had basketball and baseball, and I always played with
those teams.
When I went to high school, I never made the cuts. So, I didn't make the basketball team or
the baseball team. I ran cross-country my first year, primarily because I was told that would
give me a leg up on basketball because I'd be in better shape.
Q:
That's what you really wanted to do?
A:
Right. What I really wanted to do was make the basketball team.
Q:
That's right. In Indiana basketball is a sport to aspire to, right?
A:
We had the hoops everywhere--our backyard, the next-door neighbor's barn. So, just
wherever the game was that night, we'd go one-on-one, two-on-two, three-on-three, or
whatever the game was.
Q:
One of the reasons I ask that question is to lead up to the next one. It's about what some
interviewees have described as the shock of the plebe year at West Point. How was it that
first year?
A:
It was a shock, just as you said. The cultural change was rather significant, and as much as I
thought I was aware of things, I was unprepared for how shocking it would be. My uncle had
been in the Navy. He called me and gave me counsel that I needed to be ready for the change
and be prepared to "keep a stiff upper lip and not get too emotional and to take it," and that
sort of thing. It was a shock from day one.
There's an interesting anecdote that a lot of people have enjoyed, so I might as well tell it
here. When you go up to West Point, on the very first day, you're lined up until some
firstclassman comes to get you and leads you over to the company to which you've been
assigned. There they start the in-processing, which includes getting your uniforms issued,
getting you to the barber shop for your first haircut, and teaching you how to march a little bit
so you can at least march that afternoon down to Trophy Point and take the commissioning
oath.
So, to start that process you're with whomever you're lined up with. About eight of us were
marched off to Fifth New Cadet Company with our suitcases. I happened to be first in line
when we stopped, and he gave us a right face. So, he said, "Drop that bag," and of course we
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