After Harvard Jerry taught math at Akron University. He always knew when he gave out too much homework when the better students in his class, in particular a certain nun, would walk in with blood-shot eyes from staying up too late.

Jerry then worked for the Guggenheim Institute, a division of Goodyear Company. I believe he worked on an aircraft de-icer project.

WWII broke out and he became a Lieutenant JG in the Navy. He ended up in Guadalcanal in the Philippines, the same area Thin Red Line was filmed. He was one of the few navy guys that took the time to try to learn the native language, although he couldn't bring himself to eat the raw fish offered to him. He remembered that they switched the "P"s and "F"s when speaking English...one phrase he mentioned was "This Fen is no Pocking Good, Joe!". And the word "Farachute" got him. He was bemused by the native women who used navy grain bags for clothing, as they trudged up a hill, the words "Property of U.S. Navy" would be written across their rear-ends.

The fellow that was in charge of the military graves on the island went AWOL, so Lt. JG Rogoff was assigned the respected title of Commander of Graves of the Admiralty Islands, or, ComGravAd. He usually had an idea of when men would be killed, so rather than having the grave diggers dig after the bodies were carried in, he usually had them dig a few beforehand. This made the crew think he had clairvoyant abilities and they all got nervous when the digging began...There was one fellow who got into trouble with alcohol often, and Jerry came into the medic's tent where the guy was recuperating one morning, and whipped out his measuring tape and quietly took notes. The man opened one eye, which widened considerably as he realized who Jerry was and started screaming "It's ComGravAd! Get him outta here!!!". It is unknown whether this tactic proved to eliminate the man's alcoholic tendencies.

On ship, he recalled an officer he had little respect for. This man was somewhat prissy and fussy and belittled the men. So, as a practical joke, Jerry decided one night to tack the guy's slippers onto the deck and tack the shower towels on the rack so that the officer would have a rough time getting his morning shower.

Other skirmishes on board were taken care of by a simple gesture: Jerry merely hung his boxing gloves on his bunk whenever he wanted to show he meant business with anyone that wanted to cause problems.

After the war, Jerry decided to expand on his capacity to make a living, so
he went to school for Optometry. He was a miserable salesman and could never make a buck whether it was selling ties and underwear at a department store or at his own practice as an optometrist. One woman came into the department store he worked in with her hubby's underwear, insisting he find the exact same pattern. After a few failed attempts to match the pattern, Jerry said "Here- give me the underwear, I'll find the right pattern in the backroom" and he grabbed the underwear from her, went to the backroom and threw them aside, and picked out two new sets that matched, and proudly showed her that he had found two that matched. She fell for his trick and he finally had a sale.

I believe going into the field of optometry was a way he could be considered a doctor of sorts, something he still felt he needed to be even after his Harvard degree in Mathematics...

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