Assistant Commandants (Senior School)

[Note: Above Photo Top Row Left to Right: CPT Melvin M. Meineke, CPT John Penfield, CPT Fred V. Rosenberger. Bottom Row Left to Right: CPT Kenneth L. McClintock and LT Fred Jansen.] I never felt any lack of supervision at ENMS during my two years there. The assistant commandants made sure of that. Although these guys directly supervised anybody and everybody, they probably had a primary area of responsibility. For example, LT Fred Jansen during my second year was assigned to keep an eye on the ENMS Band -- the outfit I was in. I suspect that the other assistant commandants did likewise for other grade levels and categories. These guys were everywhere, too. No sooner than you thought maybe you were alone, one of them would walk through your area no matter time of day -- even while you slept, it seemed. No sooner than LT Jansen would make his rounds during study hall in the Junior wing, CPT Meineke would walk through on his way to some place else on campus and also ever vigilant of what he saw and heard. Often the assistant commandants would stop and chat but they maintained a distinct distance so that you did not come to view or depend upon them like you might a father figure. They were there to make sure you didn't step out of line and if you did they merited out the consequences on the spot with verbal mid course corrections and if infractions were severe enough the next day you'd probably report to one of them facing charges that resulted in receiving demerits. [Note: At the end of the spring 1964 semester of my first year, the warmer weather brought increased interest by many cadets in swimming in the recently filled Lake Elsinore. A few times during our afternoon physical education period we were given the green light to put on our swimming trunks and head down the dirt road toward the lake (a road off limits otherwise). So, under supervision of an assistant commandant or two, there I was with other cadets at waters edge jumping into newly filled Lake Elsinore. Immediately, everyone noticed tad poles and frogs in the water and toads at the shoreline -- something unexpected and unique. That's when I got the magnificent idea on how to help rid the main campus of mosquitoes. With an on old empty coffee can in hand, I filled it up with all the toads and frogs I could find and headed back to the water fountain next to Head Quarters building and released them. After all, the little critters would need to be near water. Later that evening I was in the dorm studying away in my underwear (like everyone else) when somebody busted in the dorm and shouted, "Lauer, CPT Meineke wants to see you NOW at HQ. Get going." By the sound of that directive, I sensed trouble but couldn't figure it out. I dressed in a flash and high-tailed it over to HQ and there was CPT Meineke standing there next to the water fountain with a perturbed expression on his face. As I approached him and saluted, he proceeded to ask if I released all these frogs. Obviously, someone saw me do this and as he asked around my name surfaced. I acknowledge that I indeed did it and explained why and then he proceeded with a scathing directive to pick up the toads and frogs and take them back to the lake -- immediately. As I got busy snatching as many as I could and stuffing them back in the coffee can that I fetched from the nearby garbage can, he walked away shaking his head in utter disbelief. He must of thought my intentions honorable because I didn't receive any demerits for this.]Although many people played important roles in the success of ENMS, much of the credit really goes to these guys and the tremendous amount of time they devoted to all of the cadets. Because of their watchful eye and extreme patience and "tough love" guidance, we all got the necessary feedback that helped us understand and apply right from wrong. And although they were tough at times, they were also very gentle and reassuring, like the time I was sorta down in the dumps lying on my bunk in the Junior wing and out of no where CPT Penfield busts into my room and started tickling me and then after about a minute of gut busting laughter, he takes off. When I met up with him at the 2002 ENMS reunion, I thanked him for all the hard work he and the other commandants put in and reminded him of the tickling he gave me that day and how it brightened my spirits. [Note: During my second year, members of the 8th grade class were assigned to come up with a Christmas song to sing at an annual evening celebration in the mess hall. Our assignment was to change the lyrics, though. So, we settled on Jingle Bells and it started out something like, "Bugle calls, bugle calls, bugle calls every day, we're so tired of bugle calls we don't know what to say, hey. . . ." The next morning, the entire Junior wing was awakened not by the bugle playing reveille but by a series of extraordinary explosions. The door opened to my room and cadet WK and I were treated to a fire-cracker tossed under our bunk beds. And, who did this dastardly deed? None other than CPT Penfield who was having a ball giving everyone a break from the routine wake up bugle call.] During my second year, CPT McClintock did not return and LT Jansen appeared to replace him. I don't remember having much interaction with CPT McClintock like I did with CPTs Penfield, Meineke, and LT Jansen. I don't remember having much interaction with CPT Rosenberger either but that doesn't mean he was in the background. Far from it, all these guys were front and center watching all of us closely from dawn to dusk 24/7. They seemed to be collegial and friends -- a team. Guardian angels -- all of them!

LTC Frederick R. Stimus

[Note: Photo: LTC Frederick R. Stimus, CAL ARNG,
Commandant of Cadets] Talk about a guy right out of central casting. If ever a man was born to play the lead in a movie as commandant of cadets at a military school, LTC F. R. Stimus was it -- period. During the two years I was there, he gave an Academy Award winning performance worthy of Oscars for Best Actor in a Leading Role. He had extraordinary charisma, swagger, and bravado. His mere presence made you take notice. He showed no fear. There will never ever be another like him. I don't know of a cadet during my tenure that didn't respect him. Directly and indirectly through his assistant commandants, he had his eye on every single one of us. [Note: One Sunday, I signed out for Sunday pass and took my junior school brother with me. Of course I had to arrrange everything in advance. Our goal was to hike all the way to the top of the mountain facing the school. Other cadets had done so and I thought it'd be great if Steve and I gave it a try. At the very least we'd work off some tension and get some great fresh air and sunshine. With T-shirt tucked into fatigue pants, boots and caps on, we headed out. As we struggled through the brush and worked our way up the mountain, we'd stop and rest. Even though we may have wanted to turn back, we didn't. Finally, when we got to the top and intersected the road that took off down the other side, to our surprise guess who was standing there at a turn-out with his binoculars scanning the lake. You got it -- LTC Stimus. We thought we accidently ran in to him never thinking that he might have been keeping an eye on us all the time. Who knows, maybe he was just making sure we were safe or he might have thought we were going AWOL. He asked if we wanted a ride back down. We declined and headed back down the mountain to the school. Talk about having a guardian angel with you -- we did.] I remember him standing behind the M-1 rifle cleaning building overlooking cadet corps in formation down by the gymnasium and providing information updates or clarifications of rules and regulations. At most every formation you could see him out of the corner of you eye watching and mentally taking notes. His mere presence in the mess hall kept everybody in line. When you saluted him, he looked you in the eye and saluted back. He scanned every aspect of your nature from your uniform to your attitude as represented by the expression on your face. [Note: My first job as a Registered Technologist was at Santa Monica Hospital in the summer of 1972. One weekend my brother Steve drove down from Santa Barbara and on the spur of the moment we decided to make a quick drive down to ENMS. We hadn't been there since the day we left the end of the spring 1965 semester. It was quite a nostalgic trip for us. When we got there, we walked on campus and found LTC Stimus in the dirt field directly behind the pool area. He had on only a T-Shirt, khaki trousers, and old tennis shoes. It caught us by surprise because if we hadn't know who he was, we might have thought he was just another itinerant worker -- kitchen help taking a break. We went directly up to him and shook his hand and asked him if he remember us. He studied us and then said he had seen so many boys through ENMS that he had trouble keeping them all in his head and apologized for not remembering. After some small talk, Steve and I left wishing we hadn't come because seeing LTC Stimus this way distorted the commanding image we had of him. The next time I would be at ENMS was in 2002 at the reunion where I learned that LTC Stimus was dead and buried in a nearby cemetary. On his head stone I learned he had served as a Master Sergeant in the US Air Force during WWII and Korea and that he was born November 21, 1909 and died February 8, 1993. He was 84.]

Brief history of Lake Elsinore

[Note: ENMS is the red tiled bldg in center of right photo taken in 2002. At left is barren parade field. Far left is location of former classroom barracks.] Lake Elsinore was incorporated as a city in 1888 (even before Riverside County's creation in 1893) but was inhabited well before then. In the 18th century when the lake was natural it provided a spot for Spanish ranchers and American trappers to replenish their supplies. It was named Elsinore after the Danish city in Shakespeare's "Hamlet", which is now its sister city. The lake went dry in the 1930s and was refilled in the 1960s. [Note: I watched the lake refill as a cadet. It was a big deal watching the blue water reclaim the alkaline dry lake bed as it moved right to left. I'm thinking it was in October of 1963. Before the lake refilled, cadets that went AWOL often headed out across the dry lake bed to make their escape.] More than a week of heavy rains in 1980 flooded the lake, destroying surrounding homes and businesses. Since then there has been a multi-million dollar project put into place to maintain the water supply at a consistent level allowing for homes to be built close to the lake. Unfortunately there are no provisions to allow the water to spill out via a river, so the overflow must be diverted into the Temescal Canyon Wash. In 2007 there was an aeration system added to help with the lake's ecosystem. Lake Elsinore was a popular destination in the first half of the 1900s for celebrities to escape the urban Hollywood scene. Many of their homes still stand on the hills surrounding the lake, including Aimee's Castle (Aimee Semple McPherson), a uniquely shaped house perched on a hill above the water. Rapid population growth altered the appearance and image of Lake Elsinore from a small lakeside town of 3,800 people in 1976 to a bedroom community of upper middle-class professionals. The city and its sphere of influence now has over 38,000 residents as of 2006 and formerly open hillsides have been converted into housing tracts. (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Elsinore,_California)

Brief history of ENMS.

In 1933, 35 year old Lt. Col. Glen R. Conklin, then working as a young commandant at Culver Military School, Culver City, CA started Elsinore Naval and Military School (ENMS) after purchasing a relatively new and defunct Mediterranean-style (red roof tile and columns) country club (constructed in 1924) that was a casualty of the Great Depression. ENMS was a K-12 all male military school that operated from 1933 to 1977. Lt. Col. Conklin died in 1975. In 1977, the school closed after a fire broke out in the lobby. Many cadets came from broken homes, were troubled youths or sons of wealthy families, such as the son of Hollywood Legend Bela Lugosi who played Count Dracula and rich central and south American families. Most students hated ENMS. However, looking back, many now revere their experience. (Sources: Colon, Vanessa: "Ex-Cadets Reunite at Aging Academy," (The Press-Enterprise, October 15, 2002), p. B-4. Burcham, Wayne, Editor: History of ENMS, ENMS 1933-1977: THE ACADEMY 2002, (Wayne Burcham, Hurricane, UT, 2002), pp. 11-28. [Note: Las Vegas was a major recruiting market for LTC Conklin. My brother and I first met him when my parents had an appointment to meet him and discuss all arrangements for our coming to ENMS. It was during the early summer of 1963 that we met him in the lobby of the Riviera Hotel. While at ENMS, I would see LTC Conklin and his wife and family members in the mess hall and occasionally around campus and on the Sunday parade field. But, I don't remember interacting with him much other than an occasional salute and when I had guard duty and was assigned to the main lobby to meet and greet guests and courier mail and packages, etc., around campus. He seemed a bit of an enigma, even though it was very clear to everyone he was -- THE man! He and his wife, Mrs. Pear Conklin, always presented themselves in the highest professional manner. Elegant, classy, and respectable, they both set a shinning example for everyone.] "It was at the Veterans Bureau in Salt lake City that I saw how difficult the rehabilitation of adults was and determined then that education should start with children --- and the rehabilitation of them at an early age." C. R. Conklin. (Source: PORTRAIT OF A PRESIDENT by George Saxon, 1960. and reprinted in the THE ACADEMY 2002 by Wayne Burcham, p. 23. ) [Please go to Dennis Guzik's web site for a phenomenal look at ENMS as it appears today: http://enmsalumni.freeservers.com/photo6.html.]

First day at ENMS.

I believe it was a day in early September 1963 that I in-processed at ENMS. Mom and Grandma took brother Steve to the Junior School side of campus to get him squared away (clothing, shoes, bedding, etc.) Dad and sister Janet took me down to the lower part of campus where I did same. I remember some of the commandant's wives giving directions to drop pants and try on fatigues and boots and hats and dress blues. When it was all over veteran cadet MS grabbed a box that contained my bedding and he led me up to the dorm in my shinny new green fatigues where he found me a locker for my stuff and showed me how to make my bed. "Square corners" was a new and interesting skill to master. Shortly thereafter, the family met for the last time before they took Steve back to the junior school dorm and I realized then I would not be able to see him anytime soon. In a light drizzling rain, I stood there looking through the chain-link fence adjacent to the Head Quarters building as my parents, Grandma, and big sister headed back to Vegas waving goodbye. With eyes filled with tears and feeling alone for the first time in my life, I headed back to the dorm -- my new home. On the way, a veteran cadet AW walked by with a small portable radio up against his ear. As I looked over at him he said, "What the f--- are you looking at!"

My Goal & Life Before ENMS

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.]

Life Before ENMS

[Note: Photo L to R: Gma, Steve, Janet, Gary (me), Mom, Dad] I went to ENMS because I was the product of a troubled family and my parents reached out to ENMS for help. We resided in Las Vegas, Nevada at the time (1963). I had just finished the 6th grade. Both parents worked very hard in the grocery industry (he a meat cutter and she a grocery checker). They were having an increasingly difficult time keeping it all together as their three children grew and developed. A lot of the parenting responsibility defaulted to older sister Theresa Janet and she was getting very stressed out by it. So were my parents. In fact, the entire family was wearing out. My grandparents, however, didn't understand why Steve and I were sent to ENMS. We were good kids. [Note: In the 6th grade I decided to invite some of my classmates to my house (first and last time I ever did that) to celebrate my 11th birthday party. I didn't know if anyone from class would come but just about everyone I invited came and they brought gifts. The party got started around 5 pm and my folks got off work and came home around 7 pm. There I was doing the twist, slow dancing, and doing the "Limbo" and really having a great time. Several pretty girls were there as well and they were paying me attention. When my parents took it in Mom rushed back to the store and bought cake and ice cream to make up for my lack of planning. So, the folks got the idea that sending big sister off to a girls boarding school in Arizona might tone things down. Sure sounded logical to Steve and I. Certainly would solve our biggest problem -- our big "bully" sister. But, now here's the kicker, she threatened to run away if they sent her to boarding school and that's when the tide turned against Steve and I and in her favor. You see my Dad's deer hunting buddy had sent his son to ENMS and that nurtured the idea that maybe if Steve and I went that would provide the breathing room the family needed. Although our parents would have a difficult time paying tuition, they managed to do it at least for two years in an attempt to relieve the family stress and strain. (Had they been able to afford it, I'm sure Steve and I would have remained at ENMS and graduated 12th grade.) Steve and I adamantly objected to going to ENMS but we weren't smart, big or strong enough to do anything stunning like threaten to run away like big sister. However, after two years at ENMS, Steve and I began to excel and seriously became integrated into the ENMS culture. When our folks couldn't afford to send us back for a third year, we felt like we had once again lost our family -- only this time our ENMS family of brothers and commandants. After going to the 2002 ENMS Reunion, I reflected about what it might have been like had I remained at ENMS all the way through high school. Oh, by the way, that son of Dad's deer hunting buddy that went to ENMS? He went AWOL during my first year there and didn't return to ENMS the next year, my second year. Looks like going AWOL at ENMS paid off for some. I just didn't have the courage. I knew my Dad would be extremely upset with me if I did such a thing as to go AWOL. Did going to ENMS solve the family problem? Nope. Although being apart for two years made us realize how much more important we were to each other, it didn't really take the stress of the family, in fact it got worse. Didn't take long for the dysfunctional family dynamics to re-emerge once we were all back together again pushing each others hot buttons. Only this time, Steve and I were older, bigger, and much wiser. [Note: When I disclose to others that I went to a military school for two years during junior high school, often the response or expression on their face is, "What did you do that was so bad to result in your being sent to military school?" This is especially true of those with an aversion to anything military. Although Steve, me and the Beaver may have thought we had a lot in common, our parents were NOT June and Ward Cleaver and big sister Janet was NOT Wally! We were a family struggling to get by and my parents not having the capability to deal with it passed it over to ENMS. Many parents with similar problems, turned to ENMS. At the 2002 reunion I was pleasantly surprised to learn that many former cadets actually had a blast being sent to ENMS. But the vast majority of cadets in the senior school, in my opinion, would have rather been somewhere else.]