We Were Called To Serve: Inspirational memories from the USNA Class of ‘74

5 June 2024 marked the 50th anniversary of the graduation of the U.S. Naval Academy Class of 1974. The Class of ’74 had entered the Naval Academy at a time when the country was still immersed in the highly unpopular Vietnam War, the draft of young men into the military was still in force, and anti-military sentiment ran high. The Academy was still an all-male institution. It still expected the Brigade to winnow out those they collectively did not believe belonged there, and Sunday Chapel attendance was still mandatory. The Class would welcome returning Prisoners of War home after the Vietnam Peace Accord was signed in Paris in 1973, learn to adapt to voluntary Chapel Service attendance after the courts ruled that mandatory chapel attendance was unconstitutional, and prepare themselves to enter naval service at a point in time when the military was entering a period of downsizing. Now that all surviving class members are in their seventies, they realize they were bound by a sense that they had truly been called to serve their country. As they look back at their four years at the Academy they recall vivid memories of how those four years with one another forged a bond of uncommon camaraderie and imbued them with life lessons that would serve them in all aspects of their lives. Such memories have been captured in this book for the sake of posterity and enjoyment of all.