For all of us that were rowing varsity crew during our last years at Culver, we well remember that eventful day in May of 1956 when we sunk the crew shell in the Wabash river.
The night before we were to race against the JV team at Purdue University we had a torrential Indiana, spring downpour. So by the time we arrived at Lafayette we were greeted by the Wabash river looking more like it should have been run with a white-water raft rather than our fragile eight-man crew shell. The water was high and running at a speed that made me wonder if we could get back to the starting line even if we could get downstream to the finish.
Long story short, our shell was swamped by the raging waters and we frantically tried to swin our way to the shore. I don't recall a great deal of the details, but I do vividly remember ending up where a drainage ditch flowed into the Wabash, from Lord knows where. After this adventure I remember having the 'pleasure' of spending several days in the infirmary, along with several others, under the watchful care of Nurse Abair. I had a bad case of dysentery.
This single event caused quite a stir at the Academy. As it turned out cadets rowing crew were not tested for swimming proficiency and a number of the oarsmen could simply not swim. That changed, forevermore.
Early spring workouts for the varsity oarsmen. Captain Jim Shircliff and Dick Walsh are on the oars. Standing are Bill Mueller, Bob Moore, Hank Ringling, John Mitchell and George Westerman
I will let you listen to Richard Walsh tell his side of the story in a telephone conversation with Bill Mueller, December 30, 2006. In this conversation his reference to "Book" is actually Bob Book, Company D, Class of 1958. Our class resident Culver Historian, Jerry Ney '57, reminds us that Bob Book went on to became the Regimental Commander in '58.
Richard Walsh telling the story - 50 years later, MP3 (833kb).
"Actually, I think that I was rowing no 2, but maybe it was 4...anyway, I
literally was lifted out of the boat, torn out of the laces by the force of
the water, which bypassed Jim and left him just sitting there."
"The water was heavily polluted, and the one other person who swam with me to the
shore opposite the drainage ditch (Ringling?...I don't remember) escaped
the GI's ...we saw Richard - famous as a strong swimmer - drag at least
three others to shore. As a fairly strong swimmer, it never occured to me
that others might not be able to swim."
"I have to admit, the sinking of a
shell out of sight of a chase boat was pretty rare."
From Hart Miller, January 1, 2007,
"Ya know, Bill, the incident remains ever-indelible in my aging mind, but I remember absolutely nothing about the details. I could make up some fascinating anecdotes that rival "Deliverance", but I think we should probably stick to the truth."
On January 1, 2007, Richard Walsh adds,
"Hey Bill..I looked at the picture and believe that you were stroke, Hank was 7 Howard was 4 and I think Kruger was cox. I believe that the front row in purple was the varsity 8 for that race including Moore and Westerbrook. Time does tend to fade a lot of memories !!! Oh well.."
And on November 15, 2007 we finally caught up with Bob Book '58 as he tells the story from his perspective.
"Bill, yes that was me!
I could barely, or hardly, swim. I looked over my shoulder and saw
Dick Walsh - captain of the swim team I knew - jumping ship.
(As I recall the air compartment of the bow had been punctured and as we rowed
we were powering the bow under water.) So I lunged out of the shell and
grabbed Dick's shoulders from behind. I recall that Col Peffers lowered
his megaphone and had a stunned look of disbelief on his face when
Dick yelled to him "Colonel, Book can't swim." Dick then proceeded to get me
to shore using all those good life-guard techniques.
Back at Culver I spent a week or two getting private lessons from the swim
coach (Wallaitis) before returning to crew practices with the crew team.
I think I missed only one race. I'm sure glad Dick knew what to do in that
crazy situation, but I've never written to him about it. Give him my greetings?
If you talk with Dick, please tell him that I've worked and embellished
that story during more than one cocktail hour!
P.S. I would have put that nutty incident in 1957 but I don't know that for sure.
Do I recall correctly that Dick Walsh was captain of swimming at the time,
and that was his first class year?"
(ed. Perhaps you are correct, Bob. It may have been in 1957, but most of the fuzzy records that we can find would indicate that it was in 1956. The mystery continues.)
.................
So, the lineup begins to look like this as of Jan 2, 2007 for the fateful event back in 1956. Although this is yet to be substantiated by other participants and witnesses.
Bow - Jim Shircliff, '57
Richard Walsh, '57
Bob Book, '58
Howard Waugh, '57
Richard Moore, '58 (likely)
George Westerman, '57 (likely)
Hank Ringling, '57
stroke - Bill Mueller
coxman - Tom Kyger, '59 (maybe)
We will keep digging for additional details. "The truth is out there", quoting a famous line from the TV series, "The X Files".
In the photo on this
1957 page, most likely the crew of the shell that sank that day consisted
of many of the guys in the front row and Howard Waugh one of the "sinkers"
who isn't in the picture because he was not on the crew team in 1957.
Early spring workouts for the varsity oarsmen. Captain Jim Shircliff and Dick Walsh are on the oars. Standing are Bill Mueller, Bob Moore, Hank Ringling, John Mitchell and George Westerman
