Remember LT Mano¹

Bob Brennan

Listen you Middies, and you shall hear,

Of one whose name will strike you with fear.

All [Flying Midshipmen] from Class Forty-eight

Remember this little guy with ego so great.

Only five foot one, he really was small

But to worms like us, he stood mighty tall.

His screaming could make a grown man cry,

You obeyed instantly and didn’t ask why.

“You there … push-ups … make it twenty.

OK … one hundred, that should be plenty.

And after that, two hundred laps,

What did I do to get stuck with you saps?”

In Physical Training, he was Simon Legree.

“You pukes couldn’t make it in the USMC!”

He called us scum, low-life, and louse.

We replied (silently) … yo Mighty Mouse!

He pushed himself like a freakin’ machine

And was one of the best on the big trampoline.

“Put on a show,” per the Admiral’s command-o.

“Delighted,” says he, our Lieutenant Mann-o.

Bouncing, bouncing, way up to the top.

Front drop, side drop, now a back drop.

I’m getting sick. Will he never stop?

Some smart guy yells, “Do a COUGH DROP!”

Enraged he glares, his eyes glaze like glass.

“OK you bastards, who’s the wise-ass?”

“You there, the dumb one, I can tell by your smirk.

Fifty push-ups … one-handed, you miserable jerk.”

But then he did a quick double take.

He knew he just made a tremendous mistake.

One final bounce … he flew out of the gym,

With his victim, the ADMIRAL, hot after him!