Following the attack on Pearl Harbor and the United States' entry into World War II, Hudner heard a speech by academy headmaster Claude Fuess which he later said inspired him to join the military. One of 10 from Phillips to be accepted into the academy from his class, he entered the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, in 1943 and graduated in 1946.[3][5] By the time he was commissioned, however, World War II had ended.[3] Hudner attended the Naval Academy with a number of other notable classmates, including Marvin J. Becker, James B. Stockdale, Jimmy Carter, and Stansfield Turner.