in reply to Do you have a middle name?

My father arrived at Basic Training for the United States Navy in 1952. All of the new meat was lined up, and an NCO walked the line getting basic information. He reached my father, and the exchange went like this:

NCO: "Name: last, first, middle initial".

Dad: "Lappin, Arthur".

NCO: "Have you forgotten your middle name Lappin, Arthur?"

Dad: "No, Chief Petty Officer. I don't have one."

NCO: "What is your CHRISTIAN name, Lappin, Arthur?"

Dad: "I'm a Jew, Chief Petty Officer. I don't *have* a Christian name."

NCO: "From now on, your middle initial is NMI (No Middle Initial)! Now get down and give me 50 push-ups!"

Dad made certain his children had middle names...

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re^2: Do you have a middle name?
by ramrod (Priest) on Dec 03, 2009 at 15:03 UTC
    A good firend of mine has a similar story. It was common practice to use initials as names (for instance Harry S Truman), and his grandfathers name was R.B. Koch. When he was being processed through basic training, this happened:

    NCO: Name?
    Grandfather: R.B. Koch.
    NCO: No initials. Name?
    Grandfather: The initials are my name. I'm R.B. Koch.
    NCO: The inital stands for something. What's your name?
    Grandfather: It doesn't stand for something. It's R. only B. only Koch.

    The story goes that from that day on he was called Ronly Bonly Koch.
[reply]

      In the "South" (USA), there's a long tradition of giving the seventh son initials instead of a name. An old friend of mine was the seventh son of a seventh son and his name was WD. Recently I've met a couple of 20-something guys with initials instead of names so I guess the tradition lives on in Texas.

[reply]
      The Military made such a big deal about names, but in reality, once you graduated Boot Camp, everyone called you by your last name, which was confusing for all the sailors named 'Jones' & 'Smith'!!!

      pmonk4ever

      "No trees were harmed in the creation of this node. However, a rather large number of electrons were somewhat inconvenienced."

[reply]
Re^2: Do you have a middle name?
by vitoco (Hermit) on Dec 04, 2009 at 16:33 UTC

    In Chile, the last name (apellido) has two parts: the first last name of the father (apellido paterno) followed by the first last name of the mother (apellido materno).

    My father was an army officer for some years in the USA. Although he had a middle name, the middle initial he was given was from his second last name!!!

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Re^2: Do you have a middle name?
by pajout (Curate) on Dec 03, 2009 at 14:11 UTC
    ...middle name is a good possession in such situation. Remembering Catch 22, with except of the name like Major.
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Re^2: Do you have a middle name?
by Ratazong (Monsignor) on Dec 03, 2009 at 14:26 UTC
    nice anecdote :-)

    At university I was under the impression that a middle initial would make my name sound much cooler ... that's why I used an (invented) one... however I would never have dared to use it in an "official situation". ;-)

    Rata (now being wiser and living happily even without any middle name)
[reply]

      "I used an (invented) one... "

      OK.. Now we're all dying to know what you invented

[reply]

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