- Joined
- Jul 2, 2009
- Messages
- 19
My son just texted me from the Yard; the Herndon climb took 3 minutes. It was not greased this year He said the upperclassmen did not even cheer them on!
Herndon w/o grease isn't Herndon. Sorry, Class of 2013, we know it's not your doing but it still doesn't count.:thumbdown
Let's hope the new Superintendent sees the value of tradition.
Herndon w/o grease isn't Herndon. Sorry, Class of 2013, we know it's not your doing but it still doesn't count.
The current Supe wanted to end Herndon on account of injuries and the fact that Sea Trials is more of a test of mettle than climbing what some have described as a greased phallic monument and achieving success by climbing over the backs of your peers. However, he deferred the decision to his successor. I guess this was the "compromise" for this year.
Returned home last nite from visit to USNA for Herndon. Seeing our Plebe "no more" for the first time since January makes anything else that happened during the visit pale in comparison, but it is a shame what they are doing to Herndon. But one has to say that the Supe's decision for this year was an act of genius. In our current era of our leaders often trying to accomplish unpopular goals by "nudging" people toward the end result that they want, the best first step toward eliminating a beloved tradition is to take the fun out of it. Once you can come up with a straight-faced argument that supports taking the fun out of something, you can totally eliminate it a couple of years later because nobody will remember why they loved it or cared about it in the first place.
However, as usual, the Plebes accomplished the task presented before them, whether made by others to be hard or easy (bragging about the lowest attrition rate ever), in fine form, and that's what matters at the end of the day.
According to an official Navy Academy history of the Herndon Monument released with Fowler’s comments earlier this month, there have been several years in which the shaft was not greased, and each time it dramatically cut the time plebes needed.
The official record, of one minute, 30 seconds, was set in 1969 by the Class of 1972, according to the Naval Academy.
Was lard used prior to 1969? If so why not in 1969?
Were there any other years that Herndon was not greased?