Friday, January 9, 2009

ENMS Memories: Sunday Parade October 1963


If you were not campused (see post on demerits), you were eligible to join your family or friends or just by yourself and leave the campus on Sunday pass. Often, I'd take my junior school brother out for a snack and we'd call our parents "collect" from a phone booth. However, before you left the campus around 11 am, several activities transpired. First, after the bugle woke us up and we made it to formation and went into mess for breakfast, then we reformed and went to Sunday worship service. The Protestants convened in the mess hall while anyone Catholic or Jewish was shuttled in the school bus into Elsinore for services. After worship services, we all then quickly got ready for Sunday inspection in our dress blues. Then, after inspection, we reformed and then were released. Those who had approved Sunday passes got to leave the campus. Those who were campused or didn't put in for Sunday pass, stayed back where they just took it easy and did things like play in the gym, read, nap, walk around campus listening to music, etc. Those that were campused, unless they had tours to march off, did likewise. Then, around 3:30 pm those on pass would trickle back to campus in their dress blues and then around 4 pm we'd all get ready for the Sunday afternoon parade. The parade began with the band first arriving on the field sounding cadence. This was followed by the cadet company commander and his staff and the color guard and then the platoons in order of senior school first, second, third, and fourth platoon and junior school fifth platoon. Of course, Colonel Conklin, LTC Stimus, and the rest of the assistant commandant were already in place as the entire cadet company assembled on the parade field. During parade, some awards might be given out to cadets or someone got promoted. But, it was quite an ordeal and really gave a show to the relatives and friends and passersby who were present. After parade, everyone placed their M-1 rifles back, the band stored their instruments, the junior school cadets disappeared back in the junior school dorm and the senior school had a formation where the best platoon in the parade was singled out. After being dismissed from this formation, those who went out on pass relatives or friends often got a chance to say a final goodbye. Then, we all changed into our Khakis with black tie and headed back to formation where we turned in our dress blues and went to Sunday mess where we typically had soup and sandwiches. After dinner, we all headed back to our rooms or dorms and prepared for study hall. After study hall we got a chance to go to the gym and buy a soda pop or candy bar from our allowance and watch a little TV before heading back to our rooms and dorms for CQ (Containment to Quarters) and then lights out at 9 pm. Every day was unique but Sunday was a really unique day for everyone.

Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

My Goal

I'm Gary, the bass drummer in the above picture. My identification number at the Elsinore Naval and Military School (ENMS) was 151 -- a number forever burned into my soul. Here are some memories during my two year stay at ENMS in the 7th and 8th grades during the 1963 -- 1964 -- 1965 school years. I've converted old 8 mm movies that my parents took and present them here for all to see under the title of ENMS Memories on YouTube.com. My goal here is to share my story and hopefully it may stimulate viewers to share their stories with others -- even if you never attended ENMS. Who knows, you may be a parent considering sending your kid to military school and this web site may give you some insight as to what military schools have to offer. Please note that I am working on this blog at a rather sporadic pace. Also, for privacy reasons, I'll only identify cadets by their first name or initials. To access posts, please use the 'blog archive" on the right. Finally, the change from black to red type is just my style for indicating a change in the message context much like writing a new paragraph. Ready to take a ride? Let's begin! [Question: Is the ENMS band in the above picture performing at the beginning or end of the routine Sunday parade? Answer: With the platoons gone in the background, the parade is coming to an end with the ENMS band the last to pass and review -- following the Junior School platoon. Since we supplied the music / cadence for all cadets it made sense to have the ENMS band behind everyone keeping them all in step. Question: Who's the officer standing there with his back to us? Answer: That's CPT Fred V. Rosenberger, Assistant Commandant. Question: Is this the 1963-64 ENMS band or the 1964-65 ENMS band? Answer: It's the 1963-64 ENMS band because cadet Bob who became the 1964-65 ENMS band leader is in the band ranks playing snare drum -- first drum row center.]