This week at the United States Naval Academy a tradition continues, with Commissioning Week, also once known as June Week.

Among the events and traditions taking place are the climb of the Herndon Monument, the fly overs by the Blue Angels, a sailing review, band concerts, the graduation ball, the color parade and hundreds of Midshipmen jumping into the reflecting pool after the last dress parade.

The graduation ceremony is Friday at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium and President Barack Obama will make the commencement address. It will be the 21st time a president has addressed the graduating Midshipmen since President James Garfield first did so in 1881. The hats will fly, the Blue Angels will thunder overhead, Anchors Aweigh will play and wedding bells will ring.

In my mind I still think of this week as June Week, even though it changed to May in 1979 . The pomp and ceremony of this week makes for some great photographic opportunities. I hope you enjoy the photo gallery and follow the events this week in the paper and online. I appriciate any feedback or comments or future ideas.

Other links of interest:

A brief history of the Naval Academy

Sound files of Anchors Aweigh

Presidential Attendance at Naval Academy Graduations

1881 - James A. Garfield
1902 - Theodore Roosevelt
1905 - Theodore Roosevelt
1912 - William Howard Taft
1914 - Woodrow Wilson
1916 - Woodrow Wilson
1921 - Warren G. Harding
1925 - Calvin Coolidge
1933 - Franklin D. Roosevelt
1938 - Franklin D. Roosevelt
1958 - Dwight D. Eisenhower
1961 - John F. Kennedy
1974 - Richard M. Nixon
1978 - Jimmy Carter
1985 - Ronald Reagan
1992 - George H. W. Bush
1994 - Bill Clinton
1998 - Bill Clinton
2001 - George W. Bush
2005 - George W. Bush
2009 - Barack Obama

Posted by Paul McCardell at 3:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
        

ROUGH RIDING AT THE WIRE - John Rotz aboard Greek Money (right) crosses finish line to win the 86th running of the Preakness at Pimlico with Manuel Ycaza, on Ridan, a nose back, hanging on. Ycaza, white cap and black-and-white sleeve, has his left arm hooked over Rotz's shoulder. Ycaza claimed a foul, which was not allowed by the stewards. (Caption from the May 20, 1962 Sunday Sun)

The 134th running of the Preakness is Saturday is fast approaching. The Baltimore Sun will send its talented photo staff to bring you coverage from start to finish.

I always enjoyed looking at the photos the next day in the Sunday paper, especially the photo reconstruction of the race and the photo of the finish. The photo above is one of the most famous Preakness photos ever. It was taken at the 1962 Preakness by Sun staff photographer Joe DiPaola, who retired in 1984 after 47 years with the paper.

DiPaola photographed many of the finishes at the Preakness. In 1962, when he returned to the newsroom, developed his shot and realized what he had, he quicly ran over to the sports department. He had taken a sensational picture, made even more so by the fact that both horses had all four feet off the ground, a rarity. The photo was used along with racing films to suspend jockey Manuel Ycaza for his actions against jockey John Rotz and for also being the one who claimed foul.

DiPaola explained how he took the photo in a July 13, 1984 article by Baltimore Sun retired sports columnist Bob Maisel. "It's funny about that picture," Joe said with a sheepish grin on his face. "Tell you the truth, I was a little hung over that day, not moving to swiftly because I had been to a big Preakness party the night before.

"Usually, I'd just shoot the finish in the conventional way, but this time, something told me to go up the track 30-40 feet and look back. Don't tell anybody, because they'll probably bar me from the track, but they had a fairly wide wooden rail then and I decided to crouch up on top of it.

"Truthfully, I didn't know what I had until I developed it, but then all heck broke loose didn't it? "

Life Magazine made it picture of the week, and it appeared in books.

Enjoy the Baltimore Sun's photos and coverage of Preakness.

Posted by Paul McCardell at 12:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: photo
        

Victory in Europe Day commemorates the end of World War II in Europe. The Evening Sun came out with an extra edition on Monday, May 7, 1945...

SURRENDER FLASH - Reims, France, May 7 (AP) - Germany surrrendered unconditionally to the western Allies and Russia at 2.41 A.M. French time today. 

The surrender took place in a little red schoolhouse which was the headquarters of General Dwight Eisenhower. Price Day, a Sunpapers' war correspondent, was the only staff correspondent of an individual newspaper in the world to witness the surrender. His dispatch would appear on the front page of the Morning Sun on May 9, because his story first had to go through military censors.

Here are some excerpts from Sun coverage of the surrender:

Jubilation Here Intense But Short - Confetti Showered From Buildings And Streets Fill As Nazis Quit.

Baltimoreans jubilation at yesterday's announcement of the final and unconditional surrender of Germany was intense but shortlived. As the news of the end of the War in Europe spread rapidly through the city in the late morning, clouds of confetti billowed forth from the upper floors of downtown buildings and happy, laughing office workers streamed out on the streets. By mid-afternoon, the streets were normal again.

On May 8, 1945, President Harry S Truman in a 9 a.m. broadcast said, "Much remains to be done. The victory won in the West must now be won in the East. The whole world must be cleansed of the evil from which half the world has been freed."

Other news reports noted that many Baltimoreans observed V-E Day by attending churches and synagogues for special prayer services. Although state and city offices closed for the afternoon, war plants continued to operate with minimum absenteeism. A heavy downpour drenched the city, but shortly after noon a bright sun and a brisk wind cleared away the gloom. Hundreds of high school students and citzens gathered at Sun Square (the site of the photo at the top of this post), watching the Trans-Lux news flashes for any important developments in the world situation.

Posted by Paul McCardell at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)