The goings-on at St. Albans Naval Hospital on Long Island were enough to make any Navy captain blink. Sailors and marines were involved; so were WAVES and civilians. It was happening in phone booths, on the ladders, even in the middle of the corridors. To tough-minded Captain C. F. Behrens, executive officer, it was a matter for emergency action. He drafted a stern, four-paragraph memorandum: “Lovemaking and lollygagging are hereby strictly forbidden. . . .”
Then he got right down to cases. “The holding of hands, osculation and constant embracing of WAVES, corpsmen or civilians and sailors or any combination of male & female personnel is a violation of naval discipline. . . .”
Captain E. D. McMorries, medical officer in command, backed him up. Said Captain McMorries: “The decorum of the institution is paramount.”
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