Q&A with the class of 1961's Wally Linder and his four years in the United States Navy

Why did you enlist and how long did you serve:

I enlisted in the Navy February 17, 1963 for four years. The original enlistment was for three years, but when we reported to Whitehall Street (NYC), we were informed that all enlistments were now four years. We had all signed paperwork for three years. We were told that we could leave and go home if we didn't want to do the four years. Of course we had all said goodbye to family and loved ones, and it would have been very difficult to go home. Two people out of 50 went home. This all happened very suddenly, because the Viet Nam war drums were beating quietly in the background.

I enlisted because the Cuban Missile crisis had just happened, and I took JFK's advice and "did something for my country". I also thought the service would be a great place to acquire skills. The Navy sent me to avionics and electronics schools in Millington, Tennessee. Then I went to advanced school on Instrument Flight Trainers. I had to fix and train on 2F23 flight simulators.

I was in schools for over a year, eight hours a day, every day. The classes were outside Memphis, in buildings which were not air conditioned. The barracks were not air conditioned. I had no electronics background, and I was a 19-year old kid scared to death. If you failed out you were sent to Carrier Deck Duty, which had a very high mortality rate.

Any interesting ports:

After my schooling, I received orders to report to The Submarine School in Groton, Connecticut. Everyone else in my class went to Naval Air stations or carriers. I was in the air-wing and had green stripes on my arm, and no one could understand why I was going to The Submarine School. It turns out that there was a Submarine Simulator, which was huge and took up most of the inside of a building (hidden and very classified). I worked there for awhile, and then went back to school to learn how to repair motion picture projectors.

I spent the rest of my Navy experience repairing motion picture projectors, tape recorders, and overhead projectors for The Submarine School, in Groton, Connecticut -115 miles from Levittown. I think God has always watched over me.

Anything else you might like to add, for example did you use the GI Bill for college:

Yes I did. I got married in 1968, and started Nassau Community in 1969. I worked full time during the day, and went full time at night (through the summers). I had two children, bought a house and graduated from Hofstra University in 1973. The GI bill paid for my college education.

Wally Linder's favorite Miss Eisenhauer stories; she was never the same after a field trip to the Museum of Natural History

By Wally Linder

I was in the class of 1961 and Miss Gladys Eisenhauer was a very popular citizenship education teacher. She drove a big, new, expensive, gigantic, light-green car Bonneville, I think. It was the kind of car that folks in Levittown just did not have. The trunk was as big as a queen-size bed. I suffer from CRS, and for the life of me, I don't understand how I can remember that. I think I was in love with her, and her car.

In the summer and fall of 1960, the presidential election race was hot and heavy. JFK debated Nixon on TV, and everyone watched. The difference between the two men seemed like the beginning of a new era. I was interested in politics for the first time in my life. I remember driving our 1954 Chevy out to the end of the earth, Port Jefferson, to see and hear JFK. We stayed up all night in John Fitzsimmons’ living room to hear the election results.

Before the election, Miss Eisenhauer told us that she could not vote for JFK. She went on to say that she thought that JFK was the best candidate, but she had a big problem with, and fear of, LBJ. She told us that according to the "Historical Time Table," JFK would die in office. She really believed that voting for JFK would make LBJ president, and she was sincerely afraid of LBJ becoming president. Everyone thought she was nuts.

Right after the Cuban Missile Crisis, JFK said "do for your country," and I did. I was in the Navy “seeing the world" in Millington Tennessee, when Miss Eisenhauer's prediction came true. I had not thought of what she had said, until that day - Nov. 22, 1963. I've thought about Miss Eisenhauer, every November 22nd since.

We went to the Museum of Natural History with Miss Eisenhauer. I think that was our senior trip. The poor women, was never the same after that outing. I remember her, red complexioned and angry as hell (she was actually shaking), telling our class that Division Avenue High School had been banned from the Museum for all eternity, because of the behavior of its students. Something about mummies being disturbed. Because there was an outstanding invitation to her Old Westbury home, she still had a graduation party. We went, but things were never the same.
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It appears that Miss Eisenhauer left DAHS after 1961. Could you really blame her? Her photo does not appear in a yearbook after Wally Linder's class graduated. According to Donna Allison Cogswell '62, she left to pursue a Ph.D.

Young Wally Linder's problems with impulse control and maturity

Wally made a visit to the office of Vice Principal Gene Aiello

By Wally Linder, Class of 1961
Let me preface this story with a DISCLAIMER. This story is that of a junior in high school. Frontal lobes were not fully developed, and there were problems with impulse control and maturity.

Mrs. Allegra wasn’t, technically, a terrible teacher, but she was lacking in personal skills. She was all business, with no discernable personality. Most of the teachers at Division tried to make their classes an enjoyable experience. Mrs. Allegra thought that the Algebra was the fun part.

The Algebra came easy to me, and I soon found myself being bored to death. There was a destructive fad, going around, at that time. Ink pens, also know as fountain pens, were still in fashion, and the distribution of “Beauties” (as in black and blue beauty marks) were all the rage (with a selective few degenerates). The concept was to give people, and property, beauty marks when they were not there to begin with.(If you think this was stupid and destructive ------- PLEASE NOTE- DISCLAIMER)

For some unknown reason, which I still don’t understand today, I decided to give Sadie Allegra beauty marks. It would have been easy to do this anonymously, but I decided to do it in the classroom, while she was teaching. The beauty ink spots covered her back,and some of the black board. (If you think this was a stupid and senseless act---------------PLEASE NOTE- DISCLAIMER)

The next thing I knew I was sitting in vice principal Aiello’s office with my mother and Mrs. Allegra. I figured suspension, and maybe even expulsion. My life changed in that office, on that day.

I discovered that Sadie Allegra did have a forgiving personality, and so did Gene Aiello. Sadie might have not been the best teacher, but she was not a terrible person. After Mrs. Allegra left, Mr. Aiello proceeded to tell my mother how much he enjoyed watching me play soccer. In 1959 Gene Aiello was the team’s only soccer fan.

Wally Linder's favorite Gladys Eisenhauer stories; she was never the same after a field trip to the Museum of Natural History

I was in the class of 1961 and Miss Gladys Eisenhauer was a very popular citizenship education teacher. She drove a big, new, expensive, gigantic, light-green car (Bonneville, I think). It was the kind of car that folks in Levittown just did not have. The trunk was as big as a queen-size bed. I suffer from CRS, and for the life of me, I don't understand how I can remember that. I think I was in love with her, and her car.

In the summer and fall of 1960, the presidential election race was hot and heavy. JFK debated Nixon on TV, and everyone watched. The difference between the two men seemed like the beginning of a new era. I was interested in politics for the first time in my life. I remember driving "The" 54 Chevy out to the end of the earth, Port Jefferson, to see and hear JFK. We stayed up all night in John Fitzsimmons’ living room to hear the election results.

Before the election, Miss Eisenhauer told us that she could not vote for JFK. She went on to say that she thought that JFK was the best candidate, but she had a big problem with, and fear of, LBJ. She told us that according to the "Historical Time Table," JFK would die in office. She really believed that voting for JFK would make LBJ President, and she was sincerely afraid of LBJ becoming president. Everyone thought she was nuts.

Right after the Cuban Missile Crisis, JFK said "do for your country," and I did. I was in the Navy “seeing the world" in Millington Tennessee, when Miss Eisenhauer's prediction came true. I had not thought of what she had said, until that day - Nov. 22, 1963. I've thought about Miss Eisenhauer, every November 22nd since.

We went to the Museum of Natural History with Miss Eisenhauer. I think that was our senior trip. The poor woman, was never the same after that outing. I remember her, red complexioned and angry as hell (she was actually shaking), telling our class that Division Avenue High School had been banned from the Museum for all eternity, because of the behavior of its students. Something about mummies being disturbed. Because there was an outstanding invitation to her Old Westbury home, she still had a graduation party. We went, but things were never the same.

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It appears that Miss Eisenhauer left DAHS after 1961. Could you really blame the lady? Her photo does not appear in a yearbook after Wally Linder's class graduated.