Naval Academy freshmen climb greased Herndon Monument in annual tradition

Sgt Wayne Wood This is just a wyrd tradition. Who comes up with this stuff. I would rather they just found a shrubbery, and then cut down the mightiest tree in the forest with a herring. Instead they climb a greased dildo to retrieve their cover. Not all traditions are good ones.

All itis going to take is one of those plebes falling fromthe top, breaking their back and being injured for life or for one of the males to grab one of the females inappropriately or vice versa during the climb for the Navy to shut this down. Just my two cents. Now with that being said there is a lot to be said for teambuilding traditions...they forge friendships and trust for life

Having once performed this somewhat odd ritual...here's my two cents:

To be frank, Annapolis is (well, was when I was there) one of those last remaining bastions of the less politically correct, pre-revisionist history, post-secondary school experience. My memories of "Plebe Year" evoke something of a blend of "Lord of the Flies", "Horatio Hornblower", "TAPS" (that awful movie with Cruz and George C. Scott), "Animal House" and a lost Kubrick film.

You have to bear in mind that each incoming class is a hodge-podge of high school graduates, former enlisted, and prep-school/military school graduates. Ages range from as young as 17 to as old as 23 (and I think older with a waiver-though no examples come to mind). Male, female...normally "Type A" personalities...but surprisingly diverse in terms of background. I was a hillbilly from TN ...and one of my classmates was, no kidding, a prince.

I've long heard the jokes about Herndon being a phallic symbol...and this ritual having associated connotations; if true, it certainly wan't the main thing on (most of) our minds that day. It seemed to me that we were all pretty worn down. Whether the whole "saltpeter" conspiracy is true or not...my four years by the bay left me in such a state that I was mis-diagnosed with Leukemia by the flight surgeon at Pensacola...only for a specialist to discover it was my endocrine system shutting down from severe weight loss (recovering from which basically put me through a "second puberty"at twenty...which was interesting LOL).

Herndon's actually a tough challenge requiring teamwork to successfully complete. I forget what our time was, but the whole idea is that in order to swap the cover at the top (unofficially ending our "Plebedom")...you have to coordinate to make a human ladder for one person to climb. Keep in mind that everyone "wants" to be that person, since tradition states they will become the first flag officer of the class.

Ultimately, just like writing you name in Sampson Hall's clock tower, polishing "Bill's"-ummm..."equipment"...or tossing coins at "Tecumseh" for luck; Hernond's just another one of those weird traditions that makes the Academy what it is.

Now, addressing milk cartons by rank?...that's a truly weird experience that even I think went to far :)