Navy Service
Moved by the invasion of Pearl Harbor, Ryder signed up for the naval reserves a month after the attack, and enlisted in the Navy on December 10, 1942 at the age of 18. He took a leave from his junior year at Boston University and undertook months of naval training before being deployed to the Pacific. Training included a 32 week officer training class at Harvard University where he learned celestial navigation and naval communication. (From 1942–1943, Harvard University provided full-time instruction to Army and Navy servicemen who were part of the Army Specialized Training and the Navy V-12 Programs which were designed to supplement the force of commissioned officers in the United States Navy during World War II).
From the V-12 program, most of the Navy candidates went on to a four-month course at a reserve midshipmen's school, an indoctrination school for officers. Ryder’s four-month training was held at Camp MacDonough Midshipman School in Plattsburg, NY. After leaving Camp MacDonough, Ryder was assigned as a naval officer on the USS Landing Craft Infantry (Large) 803 .
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