As we approach this reunion, I’ve begun to feel I want to contribute something to connect to the class and my memories of it. My time at Yale was mostly happy, although my demeanor was in general rather quiescent. I began in the, rather new, Directed Studies program, with the enthusiasm around that creative event, which was really very interesting. I then went through the four-year curriculum, eventually majoring in Philosophy, which I remember fondly. When the fraternities became available, I joined St. A’s, and that was very valuable, with fun and even secret meetings, often even with talks from members and invited speakers. If memory serves me, my initiation ritual, at St. Anthony Hall, did involve some physical discomfort.
One unusual thing was that I came to Yale with support from the NROTC, which paid my tuition, and then required my 3-year stint as a Naval Officer. I did this partly to avoid the very active military draft of the time. For my first 18 months at sea, I chose an Ice Breaker, which took me to the arctic, where I enjoyed the ice and icebergs, and the long hours of meditative bridge watch, where I actually spent time thinking about philosophy. Of note here: I was born to medical American parents in an island hospital in Newfoundland, and had learned to enjoy snow and ice and dog teams.
Now, the picture changes! For the next 18 months I was assigned as the Operations Officer to a fleet aviation-gas tanker, which we had heard was heading for the Caribbean, which sounded like fun. But: we eventually realized we were heading for the Cuban Missile Crisis; scary indeed! Briefly told, this arose from Russia’s plan to place ICBMs in Cuba, to threaten the US, and possibly start World War III. Kennedy and Khrushchev nearly came to blows, but they eventually pulled back. And, it was really a thrill for us, who had been busy fueling fighter planes, to see huge Russian ships, loaded with ICBM launchers, heading back to Russia. We actually developed much respect, certainly for Kennedy, and even some for Khrushchev.