Men of Annapolis TV Series 1957-1958

http://www.usna63.org/tradition/history/MenofAnnapolis.html

I decided to go to the Naval Academy when I was 7 years old, I remember the moment clearly. I was standing in our yard on 81st Street in Virginia Beach. It was 1954 and I was very conscious of my dad being in his uniform when he came home from work and this created a deep association and identity for me. It was when I first spent the night aboard a US Navy ship, USS Muliphen, an amphibious cargo ship, when my dad had duty. I remember how much fun and how thrilling it was to eat in the wardroom and tag along with my dad when he made his rounds and watching a movie at night after dinner. I loved ships, the smell and sounds of a ship settled into my consciousness and have never left. It was later that I saw the Men of Annapolis TV series and it made a very powerful impression on me about what a midshipman's life was, and what a special experience being at the Naval Academy represented. We were living in Washington DC by then and dad was working at the Bureau of Naval Personnel. In 1959, my parents had the opportunity to send me to Europe to travel with my grandparents, Gunnar and Ellen Gundersen. I lived and traveled with them in Spain (Madrid, Malaga, Tormellinos, Gibraltar), France (Paris), Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Norway. I went to school in Sweden and actually learned to read and speak Swedish fluently. For the return trip, we sailed out of Copenhagen, Denmark, on Norwegian American Lines, first class, across the Atlantic in some very stormy weather and that was when I learned that I do not get sea sick. In fact there were several occasions when my grandparents and I were the only ones in the first class dining room for meals. I loved being out on the deck and seeing the storm tossed seas, feeling the wind and spray on my face, feeling the ship moving on the sea. Back to the TV series, Men of Annapolis, and it's influence on my ambition to become a naval officer. As the article describes, quoting several of my classmates from the Academy, the impact of the stories was very powerful and the character the midshipman's stories highlighted matched all the finest qualities of my historical and fictional heroes. I could not imagine anything more honorable and worthwhile to be than a naval officer, a leader responsible for his men and accountable for accomplishing the mission. This confluence of influences; my dad a serving officer, my grandfathers nautical background, my strongly felt affinity for the sea and ships, the inspiration of historical heroes and fictional characters (Roy Rogers, Hopalong Cassidy, John Wayne), and the powerful images and stories of Men of Annapolis, all conspired and made my path to the Academy a singular imperative and most certainly my destiny.