History of the U.S. Naval Academy: Memorial Hall, the Chapel, and Cemetery
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This episode of Talk With History traces the origins and legacy of the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, from its 1845 founding by Secretary of the Navy George Bancroft at Fort Severn to its growth into a defining institution of American sea power. Scott (a 2004 Naval Academy graduate) and Jenn share why she recently visited the Yard, what it’s like to access and explore the Academy today, and highlights including Memorial Hall beneath the “Don’t Give Up the Ship” flag, the Naval Academy Chapel and John Paul Jones’s resting place, and the cemetery at Hospital Point where figures like John McCain and SEAL commander Erik Kristensen are buried. Along the way they touch on key traditions and milestones such as the Herndon Monument climb, Army–Navy rivalry, and the Academy’s evolution over time.
🎥 Video version of this podcast
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🎥 Video of John Paul Jones Crypt
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00:00 USNA Origins
03:15 Why Jenn Visited
04:59 Scott Naval Academy Path
07:58 Plebe Summer Shock
12:25 Why the Academy was Founded
15:39 Herndon Monument
17:06 First Army Navy Football Game
17:45 Chapel and John Paul Jones
20:27 Commissioning Becomes Official
21:00 Ring Dance Tradition
22:44 Herndon Climb Challenge
26:29 Plebe Rules Explained
27:27 Women Join the Brigade
28:15 Tecumseh
30:02 Bill the Goat Rivalry
31:40 Legacy and Pride
33:57 Memorial Hall Spotlight
35:52 Cemetery and Naval Heroes
39:27 Lasting Legacy
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Transcript
Imagine standing on a small ten-acre parcel of land at an old army post named
Speaker:Fort Severn in Annapolis, Maryland.
Speaker:The air is salty, carrying the chill of the Severn River.
Speaker:The year is 1845, and the Secretary of the Navy, George Bancroft, has just
Speaker:established a new naval school without a single dime of congressional funding.
Speaker:There are no massive granite halls or sprawling athletic fields yet, just fifty
Speaker:young midshipmen and seven professors trying to carve out a curriculum
Speaker:of navigation, gunnery, and steam.
Speaker:Bancroft chose this spot because he wanted a healthy and secluded location to rescue
Speaker:these young men from the temptations and distractions of big city life.
Speaker:It was a modest experimental beginning, but from those original ten acres,
Speaker:a crucible of leadership was born, one that would grow to three hundred
Speaker:and thirty-eight acres, weather the transition from sail to nuclear power,
Speaker:and forge the officers who would shape the course of global history.
Speaker:Welcome to Talk With History.
Speaker:One filmmaker, one historian leading history-inspired world
Speaker:travels for the curious, the history lovers, and the explorer in us all.
Speaker:I'm your host, Scott, here with my wife and historian, Jenn.
Speaker:Hello.
Speaker:Today we are opening the gates to one of the most sacred landscapes
Speaker:in American military history, the United States Naval Academy.
Speaker:Jenn recently spent time walking the yard, stepping directly into the spaces
Speaker:where decades of tradition, sacrifice, and heroism are preserved in stone.
Speaker:We're taking you inside the breathtaking memorial hall, where the names of
Speaker:fallen alumni line the walls beneath an iconic Don't Give Up The Ship flag.
Speaker:Then we'll step into the soaring architecture of the Naval Academy
Speaker:Chapel before concluding our journey with a quiet, reflective walk
Speaker:through the cemetery at Hospital Point, where generations of naval
Speaker:giants rest along the water.
Speaker:Whether you're an active duty sailor, a veteran, or a lover of American
Speaker:history, this episode is a deep dive into how a tiny 19th century
Speaker:schoolhouse transformed into the ultimate anchor of American sea power.
Speaker:I'm Scott Bennie, and today we are charting the course through the history
Speaker:of the United States Naval Academy
Speaker:All right, Jenn
Speaker:You- … visited my alma mater.
Speaker:I did.
Speaker:And so trying to rep here.
Speaker:There was a lot of questions on our last podcast, which was the
Speaker:Young Washington podcast, 'cause I was wearing an Annapolis shirt.
Speaker:And, you know, some people were asking if I had gone there, and I have.
Speaker:Right?
Speaker:I'm a 2004 Naval Academy grad.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Funny story behind that that we'll have to tell another day, but, uh- I think
Speaker:you should tell it on this … on, on how, how I got- … to the Naval Academy.
Speaker:So we'll, we'll get there.
Speaker:Um, so tell us a little bit about why you were at the Naval Academy,
Speaker:what we're gonna talk about.
Speaker:And then what I'll do is I'll kinda take us through a little bit
Speaker:of the timeline of how the Naval Academy started way back in 1845.
Speaker:Sure.
Speaker:So I was there with American Cruise Line, and we're, we were doing
Speaker:America 250 along the Chesapeake.
Speaker:And Annapolis is just a, a stop.
Speaker:A, it's a part of the story, right?
Speaker:It's a part of America's story.
Speaker:It is the location of the US Naval Academy.
Speaker:Now, it's not the oldest service academy.
Speaker:That would be West Point.
Speaker:Yep.
Speaker:And of course, the rivalry is strong.
Speaker:And that's on the Hudson River.
Speaker:So really, like, these two important rivers of American
Speaker:history have West Point, and the Chesapeake has the Naval Academy.
Speaker:So, uh, right now the Naval Academy is kind of locked down, which I would
Speaker:assume it was then, it probably is right now, because America is in
Speaker:a little bit of a, of a turmoil.
Speaker:And so you had to have access to the Academy.
Speaker:It wasn't open to the public.
Speaker:And, uh, because I'm married to a active duty officer, I have a
Speaker:dependent pass, and so I was able to get onto the Academy grounds.
Speaker:And I wanted to make footage of John Paul Jones and the chapel.
Speaker:And then as I was doing that, I said, "You know, I should just do a quick
Speaker:overview of the Academy," 'cause there's so many neat things to kinda see there
Speaker:and historic things to see there.
Speaker:And so that's what I did, just a real quick hit, because I know some people
Speaker:were like, "Well, why don't you go here? And why don't you tell us more
Speaker:about this and this?" And the truth is, A, I don't know a lot of those things.
Speaker:Scott knows them because he went to school there.
Speaker:I know the biggies that we've hit when I visit with you, and that's what I
Speaker:kinda gave a taste of in this video.
Speaker:So it's just kind of the couple big monuments that are important on the
Speaker:main yard area where the grass is, the chapel, Bancroft Hall, and the cemetery,
Speaker:and that's kinda where I take you and, and kinda give you the history of.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And, and it's one of those things, while I was there, I didn't know anything.
Speaker:I was not- … the best midshipman.
Speaker:In fact, I was far, far, far, far from the best midshipman.
Speaker:Um, and so just a, a quick story about how I ended up at the Naval Academy.
Speaker:Um, this is kind of for our listeners, and if you are searching up history about,
Speaker:you know, uh, information about the Naval Academy and this is like, "Oh, you know,
Speaker:someone who went there, maybe I'll listen to their story and how they got in"
Speaker:Do not follow the path that I followed on how to get into the Naval Academy.
Speaker:So as a 2000 high school graduate, get looking at colleges,
Speaker:and I was a gymnast, right?
Speaker:So I got Navy gymnastics here.
Speaker:Looking for gymnastics colleges all over the nation.
Speaker:And so I was looking at, at my, at opportunities, sent a bunch of
Speaker:stuff out, just like athletes do nowadays, to different colleges.
Speaker:I was not the most talented.
Speaker:I was not sought after or really recruited for gymnastics, but sent something
Speaker:off to the Naval Academy 'cause my mom was like, "Well, what about this
Speaker:one?" We're looking in a magazine.
Speaker:I was like, "Sure, whatever." I had no idea what it was.
Speaker:And lucky for me, the old school Japanese gymnastics coach at the Naval Academy
Speaker:knew one of my old school Japanese gymnastics coach from Central California.
Speaker:It's a very small world.
Speaker:And so they said, "Hey, you've got good grades. You were coached by Sam
Speaker:Sakamoto. Why don't you come and, and kind of do a tour here?" So I did.
Speaker:I started filling out the application.
Speaker:I did a tour there.
Speaker:I got out there in, like, May of my senior year, which most students
Speaker:are applying May of their junior year, and they know they wanna go.
Speaker:They're applying for ROTC and all this stuff.
Speaker:Ended up getting in.
Speaker:I got a rejection letter and an acceptance letter.
Speaker:I got both.
Speaker:Because typically you need a congressional recommend to go to any service academy.
Speaker:Yeah, you have a cert… Congressman, congressmen and women, you know,
Speaker:they get a certain number of allocations, um, for their district.
Speaker:So you have to, typically it's an interview, and then your congressman
Speaker:will basically give you that, uh, that nomination to go to the Naval Academy.
Speaker:Now, there are sports athletes.
Speaker:There are kind of athlete routes to go through that you don't, it's the one time
Speaker:you won't need a congressional nomination.
Speaker:And so I was able to go, go through that route- Yeah
Speaker:for, for varsity athletics.
Speaker:Same thing for, like, baseball and, uh- Ball … football, stuff
Speaker:like that So ended up getting in.
Speaker:Very surprised.
Speaker:Didn't know what I was getting into because when I visited,
Speaker:all the typical military stuff was done at the end of the year.
Speaker:It was after, you know, the plebes had done all their stuff and everything
Speaker:like that, so I was like, "Ah."
Speaker:People playing Frisbee.
Speaker:People playing Frisbee, and they're, they're outside with their shirts off.
Speaker:It's May.
Speaker:It's in Annapolis.
Speaker:It's beautiful.
Speaker:I was like, "This is really nice.
Speaker:Like, I can totally do this.
Speaker:Like, you tell me they send me here for free?
Speaker:Like, uh, like I can do this, and I get to do gymnastics." So
Speaker:I show up a couple weeks later.
Speaker:Uh, j- just kind of, you know, not normal for everybody in my class at high school.
Speaker:You're like, "You're going where? You're going to the Naval
Speaker:Academy? Like, what's happening?"
Speaker:So he goes to Plebe Summer.
Speaker:So I go to Plebe Summer.
Speaker:It's our version of boot camp.
Speaker:And it's this abbreviation, ancient Roman word.
Speaker:Um, it's like you're- A
Speaker:plebeian
Speaker:a plebeian.
Speaker:You're not quite in the military yet.
Speaker:It's kind of like they're testing you.
Speaker:You're going through this test.
Speaker:It's a, it's an abbreviation of the word plebeian, meaning you're
Speaker:kind of lower than lower class.
Speaker:Right?
Speaker:Which they are.
Speaker:And they treat you as such.
Speaker:And so you show up, and it's like boot camp.
Speaker:So they start yelling at you and all this stuff, which I had no clue of.
Speaker:I had no idea.
Speaker:So I show up my first day to, they call it induction day, I-Day, and I
Speaker:show up, and they say, "Plebe." They, they start dri- They start kind of
Speaker:drill instructor stuff right away.
Speaker:You know, think Gunnery Sergeant Ermey.
Speaker:"Plebe, from now on, the first and last words out of your
Speaker:mouth will be sir or ma'am.
Speaker:Do you understand?" Now, the expectation is for you to say, "Sir, yes, sir."
Speaker:That's what you're doing for the next eight weeks of your summer.
Speaker:And I stood there, and I said, "Yep." And so then the, the detailer,
Speaker:this upperclassman kinda looks at me and says, "Plebe, from now on,
Speaker:the first and last words out of your mouth will be sir or ma'am.
Speaker:Do you understand?" I was kinda confused, and I said, "Yes, I
Speaker:understand you." And then, and I, I… Of course, I truly didn't understand.
Speaker:And then he thought I was messing with him, and then the, the person
Speaker:sitting next to him was this, uh, female instructor, upperclassman.
Speaker:She kinda stops what she's doing.
Speaker:She puts her stuff down, and she just kinda turns to watch
Speaker:what's about to happen to me.
Speaker:And he then, he's like steam coming out of his ears.
Speaker:His face starts turning red, and he just, like, r- rips into
Speaker:me and says, "Plebe," and he's screaming at the top of his lungs.
Speaker:And this is, like, not the norm at the very first desk, but he thought I was,
Speaker:like, taking an attitude from moment one.
Speaker:"Plebe, from now on, the f- first and last words out of your m- out
Speaker:of your mouth will be sir or ma'am.
Speaker:Do you understand?" And then I understood.
Speaker:And then it was, like, just complete and utter blur after that, my head shaved.
Speaker:I'm getting shots in the arm, and like I'm just in utter shell shock for the
Speaker:first probably week of, of Plebe Summer.
Speaker:And um, I remember calling home.
Speaker:They let you call home, 'cause we didn't have cell phones at the time.
Speaker:They let you call home on these payphones, and they, and they, like, assign a time
Speaker:to you, and they s- they say, like, "Your parents need to be by the phone at home
Speaker:so that they don't miss you, because you won't get another chance to call home for
Speaker:another, you know, six weeks." Mm-hmm.
Speaker:And so you call home.
Speaker:I called home.
Speaker:It was like five days in.
Speaker:I was crying, like snot running down my… I was like, I was like, "I don't know
Speaker:what I'm doing." I like, I had, I was just in complete and utter mental chaos,
Speaker:and like my… I remember my, my parents just, like, totally calming me down,
Speaker:and then after that, I was totally fine.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:'Cause physically-
Speaker:Yes
Speaker:I was in phenomenal shape, right?
Speaker:And a lot of people who go there that are athletes are, do very well, right?
Speaker:Physically, physically, I was super strong.
Speaker:They, like, I, nothing they could do would, would get me.
Speaker:I was a gymnast.
Speaker:Yeah, the 50 pushups.
Speaker:But all of the military stuff, I had literally zero clue whatsoever.
Speaker:So that's what's so funny about this, 'cause people plan to go here.
Speaker:Their dream is to go to the Naval Academy, so they know exactly
Speaker:what to expect from Plebe Summer.
Speaker:They know exactly what the whole thing is about.
Speaker:They're ready for the boot camp.
Speaker:They're ready for the indoc day.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And-
Speaker:Not me
Speaker:… and so for Scott to act the way he did that very first day, they were
Speaker:kind of really taken aback by it.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Because nobody really is messing around here.
Speaker:No one's, like, forced to go to the Academy.
Speaker:People want to go here.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And
Speaker:so- There's, there's… A- and now, there, there's times of low-
Speaker:Yeah … kind of recruiting numbers.
Speaker:And, and this was before 9/11.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Right?
Speaker:So this, recruiting numbers were a little bit lower.
Speaker:You know, I talked to people many years later and saying like, "Hey, the…" There
Speaker:was another person who was a couple years behind me, like, "Hey, the years that
Speaker:we got in, like, it was actually easier.
Speaker:Now, it's like, it's insane how difficult it is." Now, of course, I had good grades.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Academically, I was like middle of the pack while I was there,
Speaker:but way ahead in high school, uh, 'cause the bar is so high there.
Speaker:But it's just funny that here I am in this incredibly historic, you know-
Speaker:Prestigious
Speaker:… prestigious, you know, top-tier, known worldwide, you know, academic and, and
Speaker:military institution, and I have z- absolutely zero clue of what I'm doing.
Speaker:And so, uh, you know, you rewind that clock back to 1845 when George Bancroft
Speaker:kinda just snagged the midshipman, you know, that, that- They had no clue what
Speaker:they were doing They, I mean, they had no clue, and so that's what he was doing.
Speaker:When I, when I said in the intro that he wanted a, a healthy and safe place, really
Speaker:what he was, 'cause this was the, the founding of the Naval Academy was spurred
Speaker:by basically Congress realizing that there was a lack of structured training for
Speaker:naval officers in the Navy at the time.
Speaker:And I think there was some, like, Sumner- Mm-hmm
Speaker:like re- kind of like rebellion.
Speaker:It was like, um-
Speaker:Yes
Speaker:… yeah, something happened where mid- The
Speaker:Sumner's Affair.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:A mutiny.
Speaker:Uh, there was a mutiny on a ship, and so they're like, "Okay, that's it.
Speaker:We gotta figure something out." So George Bancroft, who was Secretary of
Speaker:the Navy in 1845, that's, you know, uh, nominated, um, by President Polk.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:He said, "Okay. Make something happen." And he did.
Speaker:He snagged 50 midshipmen.
Speaker:He snagged seven professors, and they went to Annapolis.
Speaker:They took over Fort Severn, and they said- classes in s- in session,
Speaker:and that was October of 1845.
Speaker:So that's when it was official, was October of 1845.
Speaker:So it was this, you know, people were at sea, and there was a mutiny that
Speaker:happened at sea, and it resulted in an execution of a secretary of war's son.
Speaker:And so there was not a lot of this understanding of military
Speaker:structure and military protocol.
Speaker:And so you get Commodore Matthew Perry, and we've talked about
Speaker:Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry.
Speaker:This is his brother, and i- this is a very naval historic family.
Speaker:Newport, Rhode Island.
Speaker:We've taken you to his grave.
Speaker:Both of the Perrys are buried there at, in Newport.
Speaker:And, uh, he takes considerable interest in this naval education, and they
Speaker:just want this apprentice system and helps establish this curriculum.
Speaker:This is just understanding what your role is as a naval officer and
Speaker:leadership at sea, and what that looks like, and it's to prevent
Speaker:problems like they have been having.
Speaker:Yeah, and, and it's actually interesting because the original, when the institution
Speaker:started in October of 1845, the, the thought was a year of schooling, two
Speaker:or three years at sea, come back for another year of schooling, and then
Speaker:you are considered graduated from- Mm … you know, the, the Naval Academy.
Speaker:So that's actually what it was, is a lot more sea time.
Speaker:They were out there actually doing what midshipmen would
Speaker:traditionally do and be on ships.
Speaker:Yeah, and so much so that for a long time, if you were going to the Academy, you
Speaker:were, um, midshipmen on ships until 1912.
Speaker:That's when graduates were, became officers.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So there was, it was a little bit different, seen as the training you
Speaker:were getting there, uh, it wasn't making officers of the Navy, really,
Speaker:just good sailors, until 1912.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So I've, I've got a couple key… What I've done, we're gonna talk
Speaker:about the brief overview of the history of the Naval Academy.
Speaker:And as we touch on certain things, Jenn's gonna dive into what she
Speaker:got to see while she was there.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:And because if we did the full deep-dive history of the Naval Academy, this would
Speaker:be five episodes easy, an hour, an hour and a half long, because there is so
Speaker:much history around the Naval Academy.
Speaker:So I pulled out a couple key dates that folks, I think, would find interesting.
Speaker:So in 1860, in June of 1860, the Herndon Monument, which is actually
Speaker:erected for the first time.
Speaker:So that's… And now the Herndon ceremony didn't start till much later.
Speaker:It was like 1955.
Speaker:But the Herndon Monument was erected, and that monument commemorated
Speaker:Commander William Lewis Herndon, who went down with the mail steamer Central
Speaker:America in a storm off South Carolina in 1857, better known as Hatteras.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Right?
Speaker:And we've done videos down there.
Speaker:And that's the graveyard of the Atlantic.
Speaker:And so it's because of the sandbars that move so often
Speaker:that ships run aground and sink.
Speaker:And so he actually, his f- his ship foundered there.
Speaker:Now, and we'll jump forward a little bit.
Speaker:I'm gonna kinda jump f- jump through some of these key
Speaker:moments in Naval Academy history.
Speaker:Well,
Speaker:let's talk a little bit more about Herndon real fast.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:Let's
Speaker:talk about Herndon first.
Speaker:So all the women and children were saved, and that's why he gets this monument.
Speaker:Ah, okay.
Speaker:Although he goes down with his ship.
Speaker:So he goes down with his ship, but they're all saved.
Speaker:And so they've built this obelisk to him.
Speaker:It's a granite obelisk, and it has Herndon on it, and it's
Speaker:right in front of the chapel.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So it has a prominent point when you're walking that grassy
Speaker:yard in the Naval Academy.
Speaker:Now, Scott's gonna talk about the ceremony that happens with Herndon, what people
Speaker:really… When they think Herndon, they don't think this monument or this
Speaker:captain that went down with his ship.
Speaker:They
Speaker:think about the ceremony.
Speaker:They
Speaker:think about this
Speaker:ceremony.
Speaker:We'll, we'll, we'll talk about there once we get to the 1950s.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So we'll jump forward a little bit.
Speaker:Now, in 1890, the Navy N, which is kind of like our, our, the
Speaker:letterman… You know, like in high school you get a letterman's jacket?
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:So the Navy N varsity athletic letter is introduced.
Speaker:That was also the very first year that we played the United States
Speaker:Military Academy, so West Point, and we beat them- … 24 to zip.
Speaker:So the first time we ever met West Point in the, uh, Army-Navy football
Speaker:game was 1890, and Navy won 24 to 0.
Speaker:So sorry, West Point guys.
Speaker:Um, jumping forward again to 1906.
Speaker:Now, this will give you something here to talk about, because we
Speaker:already made a video on this.
Speaker:The body of John Paul Jones moved to Dahlgren Hall for a grand commemoration
Speaker:ceremony, and President Theodore Roosevelt delivered the principal address.
Speaker:So we made a video about this before- Mm-hmm … about John Paul Jones's
Speaker:crypt, and that was one of the things you visited while you were there.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And so they're gonna lay the, uh, cornerstone for the chapel in 1904,
Speaker:but it's not complete, and that's why he's moved to the hall there.
Speaker:Uh, and they dedicate the chapel in 1908, so his body will
Speaker:eventually be moved to the crypt.
Speaker:They have to build the crypt underneath for that.
Speaker:But the chapel is dedicated to sea power and God looking over, uh, the men at sea.
Speaker:So it's very nautical- It's beautiful … when you go in there.
Speaker:It's beautiful.
Speaker:Plus, it's large enough to accommodate, uh, 20, 2,500 people.
Speaker:Now, I talk about the classes at the Academy.
Speaker:It's about 1,000 per class, a little bit more, so about 4,500 midshipmen are there.
Speaker:So you can get about half of them in the chapel at one time.
Speaker:They lose about 100 mids per class, and so y- they'll graduate about 1,000.
Speaker:Lose academically- Yes … or other reasons.
Speaker:Not for training purposes or death.
Speaker:Yeah, exactly.
Speaker:I mean, lose, like people will- Or, or
Speaker:they quit, right?
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Sometimes, sometimes they'll quit, right?
Speaker:People will- It's, uh, uh, where people will- but I say wash
Speaker:out, but I don't know- Yeah,
Speaker:they'll wash out Yeah … they'll get in trouble.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:So a lot of times, so I had friends and roommates of mine, right, that, that
Speaker:just, they could h- they could hack it academically, but just the military
Speaker:life just wasn't for them, right?
Speaker:I, I had a good friend of mine who just kinda had a breakdown at one point in
Speaker:his s- in his sophomore year, and he ended up leaving, and that was it, right?
Speaker:He didn't, he didn't owe any time back.
Speaker:I mean, it's a lot of discipline- It is … and it's a lot of,
Speaker:um, you have to be very, um, measured, and you, like, routine.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And if you're not used to having to adhere to that, I mean, uniform standards, hair
Speaker:standards, grooming standards, if you don't want to give up those freedoms o- of
Speaker:yourself to, uh, to the bigger Navy- Yeah … then this is your chance to kind of
Speaker:understand that and, and see yourself out.
Speaker:Um, that has this big copper cupola, uh- Chapel
Speaker:and the dome, yes.
Speaker:And it's beautiful, and you can see it.
Speaker:It's actually higher than the State House in Annapolis, so it's very beautiful.
Speaker:Um, we take you in there, show you some of the videos of it,
Speaker:the beautiful stained glass.
Speaker:Yeah, I'll link that, that John Paul Jones Crypt and the Naval Academy
Speaker:Chapel video in the show notes of this.
Speaker:Yes, and so that's why John Paul Jones doesn't, when he's brought to the Academy,
Speaker:he's not initially brought right into his crypt area because they're still building
Speaker:the chapel at the time that he comes home.
Speaker:Yeah, now as we're, we're jumping ahead, um, so in 1912, so Congress approved
Speaker:the commissioning of graduates, as Jenn menche- mentioned earlier, uh, on
Speaker:graduation day vice previously requiring two years at sea as service to con- con-
Speaker:kind of be considered passed, right?
Speaker:So then they, in 1912, that's when they said, "Hey, throw your hat in the air, and
Speaker:you're now commissioned as, as an officer in the United States Navy." Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Um, and so that's all, in 1913, that's when John Paul Jones was lay- laid to
Speaker:rest in, in the crypt of the chapel.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Now, in 1925, second class ring dance becomes a tradition, so that's a big
Speaker:thing for second class midshipmen.
Speaker:When I say second class, it's like a junior.
Speaker:So as you go through the, your years at the Naval Academy, I think
Speaker:it's pretty similar at West Point.
Speaker:I'm not 100% sure, but I do know they're plebes their first year as well.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:So when you are a freshman, that's the same thing as a plebe.
Speaker:Uh, and the Academy, you're a youngster
Speaker:when- Fourth class
Speaker:y- yeah, fourth class midshipman.
Speaker:Fourth, third, second, first, right?
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:It kinda goes with your year, but the other name is plebe, then youngster.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Right?
Speaker:You'd be a sophomore.
Speaker:Then just second class.
Speaker:Third
Speaker:class, yeah.
Speaker:Right?
Speaker:Second class.
Speaker:And then, uh, firstie- Mm-hmm … would be, you know, for… And there's websites.
Speaker:There's, like, Forever Firstie and all that stuff.
Speaker:That's when you're a senior.
Speaker:So that's when you're kinda starting to run the show.
Speaker:Um, so second class ring dance becomes a tradition, and that's a big deal
Speaker:because you get your class ring.
Speaker:Your classes come up with their class crest, and so sometimes guys
Speaker:will You have, you have people from all over the United States
Speaker:that attend the Naval Academy from every f- every single state, right?
Speaker:And so I, I had roommates who were from Alabama and Tennessee and
Speaker:Maryland and Montana and, and I knew p- people from everywhere.
Speaker:And, you know, sometimes these, there's guys there, girls there that have been
Speaker:dating the same person since high school.
Speaker:So a lot of times they'll fly someone in- Mm-hmm … for second class ring dance.
Speaker:So it's, it's a big, it's a big thing.
Speaker:Um, and also in 1925, Navy gymnastics was named the national championship, national
Speaker:champion for the sixth consecutive year.
Speaker:Wow, babe.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So Navy gymnastics.
Speaker:And, and, and now Navy gymnastics, I could not make the team nowadays if I
Speaker:was trying to, 'cause the team is very, very good, uh, what it is right now.
Speaker:But I was lucky enough to, to, to do a little bit there.
Speaker:And then jumping ahead again to 1955, that's when the tradition
Speaker:of Herndon really started.
Speaker:So if you're not familiar- … with the Naval Academy or if you're just
Speaker:curious or if you went there, I would love to hear s- fellow graduate stories.
Speaker:But in 1955, so th- that's when the tradition of greasing Herndon,
Speaker:the monument, for plebes to climb the monument in exchange for
Speaker:basically not being a plebe anymore.
Speaker:So the whole goal, and you can find it, we, they stream it online now But
Speaker:they grease it up with chicken fat and grease and all, whatever they can
Speaker:find, and they put the midshipman, like, little Dixie cap on it.
Speaker:Like, think of what, like, a traditional sailor wears, right?
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:But, um, for the plebes, they wear one with, like, a blue rim on it.
Speaker:So they tape it on the top, they grease the whole thing up,
Speaker:and it's probably 25 feet high.
Speaker:Yeah, and, again, it's at… It's an obelisk.
Speaker:It's 21 feet-
Speaker:It's like a mini Washington Mon- It's
Speaker:a mini obelisk … um, Washington Monument.
Speaker:So they're taking this flat obelisk, and they're greasing it up.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And it's 21 feet high.
Speaker:And so you have to climb it.
Speaker:And so they, they say go, and you get all 1,000 plebes running up to this
Speaker:thing, and they're just in PT gear.
Speaker:Guys are taking their shirts off.
Speaker:Women- Physical training … w- women in it are in their, you know, bathing
Speaker:suits, their one-piece bathing suits, and their goal is to climb this thing,
Speaker:get the, you know, plebe cap off, and put on the official midshipman
Speaker:cover cap, like what you would see.
Speaker:Think of an, what an officer wears in the Navy.
Speaker:And once that's done, then you're done being a plebe.
Speaker:You are a plebe no more.
Speaker:So they are motivated.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:They are motivated, and p- they're getting sprayed down with water the
Speaker:whole time because- It's hot … you think about 1,000 people trying to
Speaker:climb this thing, and it's tall enough that you have to stack, like, you have
Speaker:to stand on each other's shoulders.
Speaker:So what, what'll happen is it's usually, like, the big football players or
Speaker:something like that, they'll go back to back, they'll lock arms around
Speaker:the base of it, and then people will- Mm-hmm … will climb on top of them,
Speaker:do the same thing facing outwards.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:And then they'll have someone climb up over them.
Speaker:So it's everybody, like, it's a team effort, and it's-
Speaker:It's almost four body lengths.
Speaker:Al- almost four body lengths unless you can get someone real tall.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:And so it takes some time, and I remember I was on that second row at one point.
Speaker:And people are always falling down because you get so tired and you're all
Speaker:greased up, so it's all slippery and every- and everything, and it's hot.
Speaker:That's why they're spraying the hose.
Speaker:And, uh, I mean, I think it took us, like, three hours.
Speaker:You know, the record I think is under an hour because one year- Whoever
Speaker:greased it had the good idea to use chicken wire to make the chicken
Speaker:grease- Mm … to make the grease stick.
Speaker:But then the plebes figured out, like, they can just use
Speaker:the chicken wire to climb up.
Speaker:So they, they used that, and it wasn't as hard as it could've
Speaker:been, so they didn't do that again.
Speaker:Um, but it typically takes a couple hours.
Speaker:Yep.
Speaker:And, uh, for us, the legend for each class, the supposed legend for whoever
Speaker:gets the cover off and puts the new cover on, they are supposed to be
Speaker:the first admiral of your class.
Speaker:Now, I know the person that was the first in our class, and he's getting
Speaker:ready to retire as a commander.
Speaker:Um, but, uh, he had a successful career.
Speaker:He's a fellow HR officer, actually.
Speaker:Um, but, uh, but yeah, so that's the tradition, is- Do you have an
Speaker:admiral in your class yet?
Speaker:We do not.
Speaker:Oh, so see?
Speaker:Someone- Yeah … could still make it.
Speaker:So,
Speaker:um, but that's the tradition.
Speaker:And so it's b- people stand around and watch.
Speaker:Nowadays they stream it online.
Speaker:It's super cool.
Speaker:Um, and it's, it's super fun just to get out there and do it, and it's team
Speaker:effort, and sometimes, you know, it just depends on who gets up there.
Speaker:Usually you get, like, a tall, skinny person-
Speaker:Yeah
Speaker:to stand on top to reach to get it off and to put the new one back on.
Speaker:And then you're a plebe no more.
Speaker:Then you don't have to do all the silly plebe stuff.
Speaker:Yeah, so you're not being hazed in that regard anymore.
Speaker:It
Speaker:was, and it was… Let's be clear.
Speaker:It was never really hazing.
Speaker:It's training.
Speaker:Right?
Speaker:But all the things that plebes have to do, you're not allowed to, like, listen,
Speaker:at least at the time when I was there, you're not allowed to listen to music.
Speaker:You have to have your door open at all times.
Speaker:You're not allowed to… You always have to be studying.
Speaker:Um, like you have to like run with- Get your
Speaker:civvies.
Speaker:You have to run with high knees everywhere in Bancroft Hall, and
Speaker:you have to square your corners.
Speaker:You have to greet every single upperclassman.
Speaker:It's super annoying.
Speaker:So trust me when I say they were incredibly motivated to climb Herndon
Speaker:and not have to do all that anymore.
Speaker:So that started in 1955.
Speaker:I will say that they found the bell, uh, to Herndon's ship, was
Speaker:discovered in her wreck in 1988.
Speaker:It was donated to the Naval Academy, and now the bell is
Speaker:positioned next to the monument.
Speaker:And so if you go see Herndon and you see the ship's bell,
Speaker:it's also right beside it.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So it's kinda neat to see.
Speaker:Yeah, that's pretty cool.
Speaker:Now jumping ahead from 1955 to 1976, so you'll appreciate this, this is the first
Speaker:class that, um, inducted women into it.
Speaker:Oh.
Speaker:So 1976 was the last graduating class with no women there, but that's when they
Speaker:started l- um, that's when they allowed women to come into the Naval Academy.
Speaker:So the class of 1980 was the first graduating class that had women
Speaker:that were, that were a part of it.
Speaker:So that was a big thing.
Speaker:And I saw this, and I, because I saw a picture of Mr. Tom Selleck at
Speaker:the United, at the Naval Academy.
Speaker:In 1986, he visited the Naval Academy to film his last episode of Magnum.
Speaker:Aw.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Well, it's been in other movies too.
Speaker:I mean, Naval Academy has been in Patriot Games.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Right?
Speaker:That's Jack Ryan is a professor of history at the Naval Academy, and you
Speaker:can go to that gate from the movie.
Speaker:Believe me, I've done it, if you wanna see it on Instagram.
Speaker:But another statue that's very important there that every time we walk
Speaker:by it, Scott has to stop and, um…
Speaker:But there's actually two statues, but this one is right there by Bancroft Hall,
Speaker:and it's supposed to be, the students say Tecumseh, but it's actually not Tecumseh.
Speaker:It's the f- uh, it's Tanneman, and it's the replica of the
Speaker:figurehead from the USS Delaware.
Speaker:And it was an original wood carving of Tanneman.
Speaker:He was a 17th century chief of the Delaware.
Speaker:Uh, they replaced it with bronze in the 1930s, and for a very long
Speaker:time they painted the statue.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:So actually my class, you're broken up into, uh, my company, you're broken
Speaker:up, when I was there was 30 companies.
Speaker:Now it's large enough that there's 36 companies, um, because it,
Speaker:they've, the class sizes have grown just a little bit since I, since
Speaker:I graduated Over 20 years ago.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Um, but yes, so we used to paint Tecumseh, and we would call that T Court, right?
Speaker:We called that T Court, um, out in front of Bancroft Hall and
Speaker:Memorial Hall, which we'll talk about here in just a little bit.
Speaker:But we used to paint Tecumseh, which I still, uh, know him as,
Speaker:um, and, and paint him usually typically before football games.
Speaker:So in the, during the football season is we'd paint it kinda something and
Speaker:with some motivational statement, right?
Speaker:It was never crass, right?
Speaker:It was always very light-hearted.
Speaker:Um-
Speaker:Red, white, and blue
Speaker:… red, white, and blue.
Speaker:And at the time, like when I was in college, like a lot of the superhero
Speaker:movies were coming out, so we'd paint him like, look like Captain
Speaker:America or The Hulk or- Iron Man
Speaker:you know, different, different colors, Iron Man, stuff like that, and it was fun.
Speaker:And I don't know why they don't do it anymore, but they don't,
Speaker:and that's, you know, it is-
Speaker:Probably not great for the bronze.
Speaker:Probably.
Speaker:So I think now they cover it with wood, and you paint the wood.
Speaker:Oh,
Speaker:okay.
Speaker:So they still kinda do something in commemoration of it.
Speaker:But there's another statue right by the front entrance of the Naval
Speaker:Academy to their mascot, and I said, "Billy the Goat," and I was corrected.
Speaker:It's Bill the Goat.
Speaker:Yes, it's Bill the, Bill the Goat.
Speaker:And you'll see that's our Naval Academy kind of mascot logo.
Speaker:You'll see it on T-shirts, the other T-shirt that I was
Speaker:wearing for our last podcast.
Speaker:You'll see Bill the Goat, um, kind of charging ahead, right, with the,
Speaker:the horns and everything like that.
Speaker:And there is, you know, certain luck to certain things if
Speaker:you rub on Bill the Goat.
Speaker:And this is the mascot of the Naval Academy, and they've always had
Speaker:a live goat to represent them as well, that they bring to the games.
Speaker:And so there's been many renditions of Bill the Goat and, uh, different numbers.
Speaker:They've retired Bill the Goat, and there's a funny story of the West
Speaker:Point and the Naval Academy kinda stealing each other's mascots.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And there's a funny story of West Point stealing an old retired Bill
Speaker:the Goat, thinking it was the young Bill the Goat, and they got the
Speaker:old Bill the Goat, and it was just arthritic and this old smelly goat.
Speaker:And they were like, "Oh my gosh." They had to try to get this
Speaker:old goat back to its pasture.
Speaker:Yeah, so there's always rivalries there.
Speaker:Like when, while I was there, the, the Naval Academy, um, rugby team, they were
Speaker:the ones who managed and helped Bill the Goat- Mm-hmm … at the games, right?
Speaker:So the rugby team, they'd be wearing the blue and gold striped shirts.
Speaker:So I had some friends that were on the rugby team, and they were always
Speaker:managing Bill the Goat, right?
Speaker:And then Army-Navy week, you always gotta kinda keep a watch out
Speaker:because you gotta watch if they're coming down and all that stuff.
Speaker:So it's a fun rivalry.
Speaker:Uh, Army and Navy, as, as everybody knows, Army-Navy, um, uh,
Speaker:football game and stuff like that.
Speaker:And I, I didn't go into too much more, pick out too many more dates and all
Speaker:that stuff, but I was looking through it, and if you go to the Naval Academy
Speaker:website, they have a great timeline of all these kinda key dates, and that's
Speaker:where I was pulling this information from.
Speaker:But, I mean, it's absolutely incredible the people that come from both West
Speaker:Point and the Naval Academy because I think, like, the first American to win
Speaker:the Nobel Prize in, like, physics or something was a Naval Academy graduate.
Speaker:We've got, you know, multiple gold medalists.
Speaker:We had the Naval Academy, um, rowing team win the Olympics one year.
Speaker:Like it's, it's all this… It's absolutely incredible and, and
Speaker:I didn't, I definitely didn't appreciate it while I was there as
Speaker:a midshipman just trying to survive.
Speaker:But looking back, the history coming out of there and the prestige, uh,
Speaker:uh, you know, e- even to this day, I, I still feel a little bit of
Speaker:imposter syndrome, like, oh my gosh, like that's, that's my alma mater.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I, I always love going there with you.
Speaker:So for me, most people know I did not go to the Naval Academy.
Speaker:I went to Penn State on a Navy scholarship.
Speaker:So we did do the whole fourth class, third class, second class, first class.
Speaker:We don't really do the plea and we don't call each other firsties
Speaker:and stuff because it's not really so much a part of our life.
Speaker:It's just one of the things we do while we're at school there.
Speaker:Uh, and so when I met Scott, I didn't really know anything about the Academy.
Speaker:So going there for the first time and seeing everything for the
Speaker:first time, I really wanted to know more, and I was so enthralled.
Speaker:And Scott was more like, "I survived it and I don't really wanna talk about it."
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:But I… He, he's grown to really love it now.
Speaker:It, it, it took me… It was one of those things.
Speaker:I, I was one of those folks, it took me 20 years, uh, to, to- … come back around,
Speaker:and it was at my 20-year reunion when I got to see a bunch of my old classmates
Speaker:and friends that I hadn't seen in forever.
Speaker:Some were still serving and some were out.
Speaker:Um, that's when I kinda came back around and finally I was like, "Okay, I can come
Speaker:back here and not, like, have a twitch in my eye," um, as I'm coming across,
Speaker:you know, certain bridges that we had derogatory names for and stuff like that.
Speaker:Um, so plenty of memories there.
Speaker:I remember my last night sleeping in the Naval Academy like it was yesterday
Speaker:with my two, you know, with Zach and Shane, uh, my two roommates that I'd,
Speaker:I'd been roommates with three out of my four years there with both of them.
Speaker:Um, and just l- lifelong friends.
Speaker:Lifelong friends, you know, brothers in arms, brothers and sisters in arms.
Speaker:Um, and you know, we'll talk about Memorial Hall.
Speaker:You know, I have had a couple classmates that have been
Speaker:killed in, in combat, you know.
Speaker:Nobody that I knew super, super well.
Speaker:I did have, you know, one or two close friends of mine that, that
Speaker:died kinda in between trainings.
Speaker:Um, but that's what Bancroft Hall, which is the largest dormitory, continuous
Speaker:dormitory in the world, inside of Bancroft Hall is Memorial Hall, which is where we
Speaker:kinda honor the memory of all of those who died in, in combat and went before us.
Speaker:Yeah, so Bancroft Hall is that big hall that's really in
Speaker:front of the Tecumseh statue.
Speaker:It's front of the crest, and it's named for George Bancroft- Yeah … who
Speaker:was Secretary of the Navy when- Yeah … Naval Academy was started.
Speaker:Founded it.
Speaker:And it holds the entire brigade of midshipmen.
Speaker:Everybody lives inside this one huge dormitory.
Speaker:And inside Bancroft Hall, when you go right up the front steps, this is what
Speaker:this week's video is, is Memorial Hall.
Speaker:And Memorial Hall is dedicated to all those midshipmen, men and women, who gave
Speaker:their lives in the pursuit of freedom in a conflict- preserving America.
Speaker:So it lists them all, and so you can go in there and see their
Speaker:names engraved, and they have different me- memorabilia to them.
Speaker:They have a recreation of the Don't Give Up the Ship flag, kind
Speaker:of what you see here behind us.
Speaker:Uh, the actual one, they have an entire museum there at the Naval Academy.
Speaker:The museum has the original flag from Oliver Hazard Perry
Speaker:and the Battle of Lake Erie.
Speaker:They also have a lot of other, uh, mementos.
Speaker:Think of the, the Battle of the Ironclads.
Speaker:Think about Pearl Harbor.
Speaker:Think about a lot of naval battles of American history.
Speaker:They have a lot of artifacts dedicated to that at the museum,
Speaker:so it's definitely worth a visit.
Speaker:But Memorial Hall, you c- might know Travis Manion of
Speaker:the Travis Manion Foundation.
Speaker:He is of Scott's class, 2004, and so his name is on the wall.
Speaker:There were some people I also visited at the cemetery there.
Speaker:So there's an entire cemetery at the Naval Academy, and we had
Speaker:never gone there before because it's further down the academy.
Speaker:Yeah, it's out, out at Hospital Point, so it's not really where the academic
Speaker:buildings are, but it's fur- it's kind of further out on the academy grounds.
Speaker:Yeah, you go across a bridge, and it's kind of, they called it Strawberry Hill,
Speaker:and it was the effort of the academy to kind of expand after the Civil War.
Speaker:So they bought that whole area in 1868, and I walked out there for the first time.
Speaker:I wanted to find, uh, Senator John McCain's grave and came
Speaker:across Erik Kristensen, and Erik Kristensen's name is in Memorial Hall.
Speaker:He is Naval Academy Class of 1995.
Speaker:He was the Navy SEAL commander in charge of Operation Red Wings, when we talk about
Speaker:Michael Murphy and the only Penn Stater to receive the Medal of Honor Navy SEAL.
Speaker:Erik Kristensen was also a Navy SEAL.
Speaker:He was the commander.
Speaker:They went out to rescue them, a group of SEALs, and taken down by an RPG.
Speaker:So he is buried there, and so his name is also on the wall and at the cemetery.
Speaker:Like, there's very famous- Yeah … Naval heroes who are buried
Speaker:in the Naval Academy cemetery.
Speaker:So I had access to that, found McCain, and so there's an
Speaker:entire video to that as well.
Speaker:Yeah, it, it was, there's many famous well-known… Like, there
Speaker:was one astronaut grave, right?
Speaker:That you had kind of went and talked about, 'cause it just looks cool.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Right?
Speaker:And so it caught your eye, and you talked a little bit about it.
Speaker:And someone in the comments had said, like, "Hey, you really should dig
Speaker:deeper into that because this guy was part of the Apollo 8 mission.
Speaker:He's one of the first people to, like, do this, that, and the other."
Speaker:It's pretty incredible some of the people that come out of this and,
Speaker:and you say this all the time.
Speaker:A lot of times these, um-
Speaker:astronauts tend to become from the Navy because some of the best pilots
Speaker:in the world come from naval aviation.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Yeah, because they love naval aviators.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And so I kind of honored a couple naval aviators while I was there.
Speaker:I actually found naval aviator number one, 'cause we're all
Speaker:numbered, while I was there.
Speaker:They like naval aviators for shuttle commanders in the, uh, the space
Speaker:program because we're so dialed in.
Speaker:You have to land on a moving target.
Speaker:You're landing on a ship in the ocean, and they really like that
Speaker:because when you know anything about flying a space shuttle, you have
Speaker:an envelope, and you have to hit the envelope at a certain angle to
Speaker:fly back into the, um, atmosphere.
Speaker:And so they really like Navy pilots because we're so - we're flying
Speaker:that line, we're flying that ball.
Speaker:They, I would say they really want that kind of accuracy.
Speaker:And I just, I just loved being over there.
Speaker:So it's away from the main area, if you've ever made it out to s- the cemetery.
Speaker:That was my first time.
Speaker:Of all the times we've ever visited the Academy, that was
Speaker:my first time ever visiting it.
Speaker:It's very peaceful over there.
Speaker:It's beautiful.
Speaker:I was happy to go over there and honor them.
Speaker:So it was in making that video that I made this little kind of like
Speaker:snack of the Naval Academy locations.
Speaker:And like I said, there's not a, a ton on there because, A, I didn't go there
Speaker:and I wasn't with Scott, but we will go back and do some more in-depth stuff.
Speaker:But just a little taste of what you can see historically while you're there.
Speaker:Um, I probably would not have learned or appreciated much about
Speaker:the Academy if I was not married to someone who went there, so thank you
Speaker:for teaching me so much about it.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Well, I, I didn't teach you that much- … 'cause I didn't know much myself.
Speaker:I just knew what I experienced.
Speaker:As you leave the manicured grounds of the Yard and walk past the gates
Speaker:back into the historic streets of Annapolis, you carry the echo of
Speaker:thousands of footsteps with you.
Speaker:Standing in Memorial Hall under the Don't Give Up the Ship flag, looking
Speaker:at the names of those who gave their lives, you realize that the Naval
Speaker:Academy isn't just a place of education, it's a living monument to duty.
Speaker:From the solemn majesty of the chapel crypt where John Paul Jones rests
Speaker:to the quiet water-swept headstones at Hospital Point, this campus is a
Speaker:physical map of the American naval soul.
Speaker:The midshipmen marching to class today are walking the same paths as the giants
Speaker:who came before them, preparing to write the next chapter in our nation's defense.
Speaker:If you ever get the chance to visit Annapolis, do more than just snap a
Speaker:photo of the sailboat-lined harbor.
Speaker:Step into the Yard.
Speaker:Feel the weight of Memorial Hall, and take a quiet moment at Hospital Point to
Speaker:honor the ones who anchored our freedom.
Speaker:We'll talk to you next time.
Speaker:Thank you.
Speaker:This has been a Walk With History production.
Speaker:Talk With History is created and hosted by me, Scott Bennie.
Speaker:Episode researched by Jennifer Bennie.
Speaker:Check out the show notes for links and references mentioned in this episode.
Speaker:Talk With History is supported by our community at thehistoryroadtrip.com.
Speaker:Make sure you hit that follow button in that podcast player,
Speaker:and we'll talk to you next time.
