"Lieut
Commander Maxwell, captain, had the bad habit of asking midshipmen some of the
most unexpected questions about the ship [during a training cruise on Lake
Michigan]. 'How many loaves of bread
does the crew eat per day?' 'Where is it stored?', "What is a mil?' are
examples. This gruff old mustached
fugitive from a Walt Disney comic strip scared more than one middie; so I took
the precaution of checking up on answers to his most frequently asked
questions. And apparently for good
reason. One boy, acting in the capacity
of navigator, couldn't give 'the old man' (as all Captains are referred to by
their men) the expected time of arrival in the target area; consequently he
drew the assignment of finding the rate of each of the 70 crew members
aboard...."
--
Letter from my father, Notre Dame, Ind., to his family, Bloomington, Kans.,
September 18, 1944.
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