Remember seventeen?
At fifty years past the mile marker seventeen, I remember a lot of things, how about you? The summer of 1961 in Eaton, CO was like most summers, quiet. The Democrat John F. Kennedy was the President of the United States. After just four months in office he sponsored the Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba by anti-Castro Cuban exiles, they were all killed or captured. The first US astronauts were catapulted into outer space and returned safely. West Side Story and the Hustler were the best movies and everybody was singing Moon River, Where the Boys Are, and the Lion Sleeps Tonight. 
Dad passed away last summer and I sort of got through my junior year at Eaton High School. The bottom line of the school year was that I was short half a credit needed to graduate with my class. EHS didn’t offer summer school so a fateful decision was made, I would travel to Lexington, MO to attend Wentworth Military Academy. I had wanted to go to camp there for several years because of advertising I had seen in my Boy’s Life magazines. I think in those days a lot of guys thought that playing army was a lot of fun.
I had a going away party at our swimming pool attended by a lot of my classmates who had started in kindergarten with me (Skip White, Carol Blehm, Colleen Schrader, Ann Leffler, Reg Greenman, Monty Sly, and couple of others) I only remember that Bonnie Siegrist was there and I am pretty sure that she let me kiss her. (I had visions of more, oh well.) Bonnie was a very pretty girl with a super sweet personality. Bonnie married Jack Souther a couple of years latter and they have just celebrated the forty seventh anniversary.
I don’t remember if I really thought about the significance of what I was about to do by going away to school. What I did know was that I was so far down that the only way to go was up. My academic career at Eaton was pretty much defined by the following quote from nearly every teacher “he has the ability if he would just apply himself.” I believe that the phrase is one of the things that the teacher’s colleges taught all would be teachers at the time.
My time at Wentworth changed my life. I was away from home (1,500 miles), I was in a very structured and disciplined environment and I was totally on my own. I had no history with the teachers or other students, I had a clean slate. The principle at EHS was a stern disciplinarian and nothing compared to what I encountered at WMA. I learned to really shine my shoes, to make hospital corners on my bed, to care for a uniform, march, stand in military formation, salute officers, and the I learned the “Rat’s Creed.” I went from being ready to be a senior at EHS (sort of the top of heap so to speak) to being a new boy…a rat. “I sir, am sir, a sir, rat sir, I sir, am sir, lower sir, than sir, a sir, snake’s sir, belly sir, but sir, I sir, am sir, higher sir, than sir, a sir, Kemper sir, Colonel sir.” I was required to memorize this little sentence, stand at attention salute and recite it any time an old boy required. New boys were required to have one foot on the light grey tiles that formed the perimeters of every floor in the classroom building at all times. I couldn’t take a direct course anywhere always having to make square corners and be on the perimeters. We stood in military formation prior to Breakfast, Lunch, and Supper. This initiation lasted all summer it was designed to build character and feeling of belonging. I thrived on the external discipline I earned a 4.0 for my summer academic work and really started to become a man. I learned what was required, did it and was successful. While there was the risk of punishment for breaking the rules there was also the considerable reward for obeying the rules.
Even though I had traveled the US extensively I was still very naïve when I was told that my roommate was from Lebanon I expected a foreign student. I turned out that Robert Frost was from Lebanon, MO.
The summer of sixty one was very good for me. Even though I had grown up with the folks in Eaton I didn’t correspond with any of them. I started writing to Anne Lewis from Fort Collins who I met on a Methodist Youth Fellowship trip to Salt Lake City, UT the previous December and to Lorraine Service from Butler, PA who I met on the banks of Lake Erie near Erie, PA the summer of 1958. I treasured the letters that I received from both girls.
I started my senior year at WMA in the fall of 1961. I met the football coach (Captain Butherus) when we were being issued uniforms. He asked me what football position that I played and told him that I had played tackle on offense and defense. Coach Butherus said, “You’ll be a fullback for us.” At five feet ten inches tall and one hundred seventy pounds he thought that I would a good blocking back. Boy was I excited till I found out that WMA ran the single wing offense and the fullback rarely touched the ball. John Groendyke was big rangy guy who could run like the wind who had played with the team for three years and was the running back. My job as fullback was to get to corner and take out the defensive end before John got there. Even though I had a head start it was hard to beat John to corner. Defense was a lot more fun, I became an outside line backer and that gave my license to unload on guys. We won a few games and I lettered.
Academically it was much easier at WMA because of the discipline. Every evening after supper we had CQ (confined to quarters) when did home work for three hours. Of course there was much less distraction as there were no girls in the school. It is really amazing how much you can learn in that amount of time every week. The year flew by and all of the sudden it was time for graduation. If I had stayed at EHS I would not have graduated with my class, at WMA I graduated with honors. What a turn around!
I remember that I was pretty sure that I knew everything there was to know. I was sure of how things were. I imagine that I was for the most part an insufferable seventeen year old.
Dad passed away last summer and I sort of got through my junior year at Eaton High School. The bottom line of the school year was that I was short half a credit needed to graduate with my class. EHS didn’t offer summer school so a fateful decision was made, I would travel to Lexington, MO to attend Wentworth Military Academy. I had wanted to go to camp there for several years because of advertising I had seen in my Boy’s Life magazines. I think in those days a lot of guys thought that playing army was a lot of fun.
I had a going away party at our swimming pool attended by a lot of my classmates who had started in kindergarten with me (Skip White, Carol Blehm, Colleen Schrader, Ann Leffler, Reg Greenman, Monty Sly, and couple of others) I only remember that Bonnie Siegrist was there and I am pretty sure that she let me kiss her. (I had visions of more, oh well.) Bonnie was a very pretty girl with a super sweet personality. Bonnie married Jack Souther a couple of years latter and they have just celebrated the forty seventh anniversary.
I don’t remember if I really thought about the significance of what I was about to do by going away to school. What I did know was that I was so far down that the only way to go was up. My academic career at Eaton was pretty much defined by the following quote from nearly every teacher “he has the ability if he would just apply himself.” I believe that the phrase is one of the things that the teacher’s colleges taught all would be teachers at the time.
My time at Wentworth changed my life. I was away from home (1,500 miles), I was in a very structured and disciplined environment and I was totally on my own. I had no history with the teachers or other students, I had a clean slate. The principle at EHS was a stern disciplinarian and nothing compared to what I encountered at WMA. I learned to really shine my shoes, to make hospital corners on my bed, to care for a uniform, march, stand in military formation, salute officers, and the I learned the “Rat’s Creed.” I went from being ready to be a senior at EHS (sort of the top of heap so to speak) to being a new boy…a rat. “I sir, am sir, a sir, rat sir, I sir, am sir, lower sir, than sir, a sir, snake’s sir, belly sir, but sir, I sir, am sir, higher sir, than sir, a sir, Kemper sir, Colonel sir.” I was required to memorize this little sentence, stand at attention salute and recite it any time an old boy required. New boys were required to have one foot on the light grey tiles that formed the perimeters of every floor in the classroom building at all times. I couldn’t take a direct course anywhere always having to make square corners and be on the perimeters. We stood in military formation prior to Breakfast, Lunch, and Supper. This initiation lasted all summer it was designed to build character and feeling of belonging. I thrived on the external discipline I earned a 4.0 for my summer academic work and really started to become a man. I learned what was required, did it and was successful. While there was the risk of punishment for breaking the rules there was also the considerable reward for obeying the rules.
Even though I had traveled the US extensively I was still very naïve when I was told that my roommate was from Lebanon I expected a foreign student. I turned out that Robert Frost was from Lebanon, MO.The summer of sixty one was very good for me. Even though I had grown up with the folks in Eaton I didn’t correspond with any of them. I started writing to Anne Lewis from Fort Collins who I met on a Methodist Youth Fellowship trip to Salt Lake City, UT the previous December and to Lorraine Service from Butler, PA who I met on the banks of Lake Erie near Erie, PA the summer of 1958. I treasured the letters that I received from both girls.
I started my senior year at WMA in the fall of 1961. I met the football coach (Captain Butherus) when we were being issued uniforms. He asked me what football position that I played and told him that I had played tackle on offense and defense. Coach Butherus said, “You’ll be a fullback for us.” At five feet ten inches tall and one hundred seventy pounds he thought that I would a good blocking back. Boy was I excited till I found out that WMA ran the single wing offense and the fullback rarely touched the ball. John Groendyke was big rangy guy who could run like the wind who had played with the team for three years and was the running back. My job as fullback was to get to corner and take out the defensive end before John got there. Even though I had a head start it was hard to beat John to corner. Defense was a lot more fun, I became an outside line backer and that gave my license to unload on guys. We won a few games and I lettered.
Academically it was much easier at WMA because of the discipline. Every evening after supper we had CQ (confined to quarters) when did home work for three hours. Of course there was much less distraction as there were no girls in the school. It is really amazing how much you can learn in that amount of time every week. The year flew by and all of the sudden it was time for graduation. If I had stayed at EHS I would not have graduated with my class, at WMA I graduated with honors. What a turn around!
I remember that I was pretty sure that I knew everything there was to know. I was sure of how things were. I imagine that I was for the most part an insufferable seventeen year old.
Posted by Daniel Harsh at 6/18/2011 3:43 PM 
Categories: Life, Growth, God, Values, Inspirational, Faith, Greeley CO, Church, President, Times Remembered, Family, Fellowship, Eaton CO, Eaton Colorado
Tags: Eaton Wentworth Militray Academy Eaton High School
Categories: Life, Growth, God, Values, Inspirational, Faith, Greeley CO, Church, President, Times Remembered, Family, Fellowship, Eaton CO, Eaton Colorado
Tags: Eaton Wentworth Militray Academy Eaton High School
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