The Unbreakable Bond of the Naval Academy’s 23rd Company

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In their final year at the U.S. Naval Academy 50 years ago, a group of young men in the 23rd Company almost got kicked out—their bond endures

In their final year at the U.S. Naval Academy 50 years ago, a group of young men in the 23rd Company almost got kicked out for drinking.

“We wanted to see everyone, hug everyone and have a good time with them,” says Ed Langston, who became the 23rd Company’s commander their last year at the academy. For him and the others, being together offers a chance to connect on a deeper and more personal level, which becomes more important over the years. It’s different than keeping in touch with social media.

“I was 17. I came off a farm. My social skills were terrible. I had no leadership skills. I was trying to survive,” says Mr. Schram. Their last year was supposed to be the easiest but didn’t turn out that way. When John Carrier turned 21, his fiancée, the daughter of a Navy captain, threw him a party at her parents’ house a few miles from the academy. Her parents were home, serving hamburgers, hot dogs and beer. Two-thirds of the company came, including Mr. Ehemann, their commander.

For the next eight weekends, the 17 were restricted to their rooms and ordered to come down every hour on the hour in their dress blue uniforms for inspection. A wrinkled shirt or unshined shoe resulted in more demerits. “It was us against the world,” says Tom Pitman. In a twist that made their story all the more memorable, the Amir of Kuwait made an unexpected visit to campus before Christmas break and revived a long-standing tradition in which a visiting head of state could grant amnesty to the entire student body for minor offenses. He did, with the effect of reinstating senior-level status to all 23rd Company members.

Cliff Deets and Bobbo Moore left the service, bought a 29-foot boat and sailed the South Pacific, to Tahiti, Fiji, New Zealand, Australia and Bali, ending up in Singapore almost broke. After selling their boat, they came back to the U.S. Cliff returned to the Navy. Bobbo bought another boat and returned to the South Pacific.

Eleven class members came to the 20th reunion, some with their wives. Dave Ehemann, who was teaching at the Naval Academy, invited them to his house, where the group spent much of the weekend. At the 30th reunion in 1999, the tree climber, Kevin Connors, remarked in his note how quickly time flew. “I can’t believe 30 years have passed. I personally think of the whole experience as if it was yesterday and in many ways act as if it was.”

 

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