438th AAA AW BN
APO 578 % Postmaster, N.Y.
England
12 April, 1944 0815
My dearest sweetheart –
I’m getting off to an early start today, although I may not be able to finish this until later in the day. I expect to be fairly busy this morning – for a change. Darling, I’ve been going batty hanging around here with nothing to do and if I can help it – I’ll not stay with a rear detail again. It’s not even restful – because the last few nights I have hardly slept at all. I was awake at 0330 this morning for no apparent reason – except that I guess I wasn’t tired. I dozed intermittently from there until 0730 when I arose. I’ve just had breakfast – and honestly, dear, I actually feel tired. I’ll get some exercise again today and maybe I’ll really get tired enough to sleep tonite. I am getting in shape again, though – and that’s a help – because when you’re in shape you’re that much better able to take care of yourself if there ever be a need for it. I’ve been running around the squash court like a man possessed of the devil, darling – and the stamina is fast returning and increasing. Were I able to hug you and kiss you now, Sweetheart – I have no doubt that would be one continuous kiss of say – a half-day at a time – without coming up for air. Boy! Wouldn’t that be something though – a nice long, thorough, really hard kiss!
Yesterday, dear, there was no mail again. I got a couple of N.E. Journals of Medicine and a letter from my fraternity – Tau Epsilon Phi. I hadn’t heard from them in some time. The same old pep talk and hard luck story. Fraternities are really taking it on the chin these days, though. The day was very long. I listened to the radio most of the day and evening – interspersed with some reading of the journals. I’ve sort of fallen behind on my medical reading, as has Charlie – and we’re trying to catch up. In the evening I heard Hit Parade – and maybe you can get an idea of how late the programs are. On this Hit Parade – No. 1 was “My Heart Tells Me”. “Duffy’s Tavern” was also on – and that’s really a good show. Herbert Marshall was guest star and there were quite a few laughs.
By the way, darling, I meant to ask you before – how is Les making out with his ASTP? I understood that some branches of it were still to be continued – or at least a certain quota. If he isn’t kept in it – what you write about the Infantry is probably true – because almost every other branch of the Army is pretty well filled. It just goes to show what the vagaries of war can be. I feel sorry for them, too – but they never seemed to realize that it was actually the Army that Les was in and that you can’t gamble on the Army. Well I hope all works out for them eventually as they want it to.
Sweetheart – I wonder how things are developing at home. I wonder it all day, all evening and when I awake in the middle of the nite. I’m not worried – or anything like that dear – because I know we’ve proved to those concerned that we love each other and that we’re willing to wait for each other. I’m just anxious to find out when you start wearing my ring and become officially my fiancée. You can understand, my feelings, can’t you, darling? Gosh I love you and miss you so – and all I can do is tell you by letter – But you must know how strong that feeling is. Even if I didn’t write it – the air waves should be oozing with it from me to you. Do you feel it – darling?
I’ll have to stop now, dear. My love to the folks and
I’m getting off to an early start today, although I may not be able to finish this until later in the day. I expect to be fairly busy this morning – for a change. Darling, I’ve been going batty hanging around here with nothing to do and if I can help it – I’ll not stay with a rear detail again. It’s not even restful – because the last few nights I have hardly slept at all. I was awake at 0330 this morning for no apparent reason – except that I guess I wasn’t tired. I dozed intermittently from there until 0730 when I arose. I’ve just had breakfast – and honestly, dear, I actually feel tired. I’ll get some exercise again today and maybe I’ll really get tired enough to sleep tonite. I am getting in shape again, though – and that’s a help – because when you’re in shape you’re that much better able to take care of yourself if there ever be a need for it. I’ve been running around the squash court like a man possessed of the devil, darling – and the stamina is fast returning and increasing. Were I able to hug you and kiss you now, Sweetheart – I have no doubt that would be one continuous kiss of say – a half-day at a time – without coming up for air. Boy! Wouldn’t that be something though – a nice long, thorough, really hard kiss!
Yesterday, dear, there was no mail again. I got a couple of N.E. Journals of Medicine and a letter from my fraternity – Tau Epsilon Phi. I hadn’t heard from them in some time. The same old pep talk and hard luck story. Fraternities are really taking it on the chin these days, though. The day was very long. I listened to the radio most of the day and evening – interspersed with some reading of the journals. I’ve sort of fallen behind on my medical reading, as has Charlie – and we’re trying to catch up. In the evening I heard Hit Parade – and maybe you can get an idea of how late the programs are. On this Hit Parade – No. 1 was “My Heart Tells Me”. “Duffy’s Tavern” was also on – and that’s really a good show. Herbert Marshall was guest star and there were quite a few laughs.
By the way, darling, I meant to ask you before – how is Les making out with his ASTP? I understood that some branches of it were still to be continued – or at least a certain quota. If he isn’t kept in it – what you write about the Infantry is probably true – because almost every other branch of the Army is pretty well filled. It just goes to show what the vagaries of war can be. I feel sorry for them, too – but they never seemed to realize that it was actually the Army that Les was in and that you can’t gamble on the Army. Well I hope all works out for them eventually as they want it to.
Sweetheart – I wonder how things are developing at home. I wonder it all day, all evening and when I awake in the middle of the nite. I’m not worried – or anything like that dear – because I know we’ve proved to those concerned that we love each other and that we’re willing to wait for each other. I’m just anxious to find out when you start wearing my ring and become officially my fiancée. You can understand, my feelings, can’t you, darling? Gosh I love you and miss you so – and all I can do is tell you by letter – But you must know how strong that feeling is. Even if I didn’t write it – the air waves should be oozing with it from me to you. Do you feel it – darling?
I’ll have to stop now, dear. My love to the folks and
All my love to you, sweetheart
Greg
* TIDBIT *
about the Army Specialized Training Program
The ASTP Patch
Lamp of Knowledge
crossed with the Sword of Valor
about the Army Specialized Training Program
The ASTP Patch
Lamp of Knowledge
crossed with the Sword of Valor
Greg wondered how Wilma's friend, Les, was making out with the ASTP (Army Specialized Training Program), guessing that he may soon be in the infantry. It was an educated guess.
The Army Specialized Training Program was a military training program instituted by the United States Army during World War II at a number of American universities. Its primary purpose was to provide the continuous and accelerated flow of high grade technicians and specialists in the areas of engineering, foreign languages and medicine. ASTP was approved in September 1942 and implemented in December.
High school graduates were offered a chance to apply, though the majority of participants were already active duty soldiers. Entry requirements were high; minimum IQ was 115 (later 120), which was higher than Officers Candidate School. All new soldiers were required to complete 13 weeks of infantry basic training before being assigned to a college campus. Col. Henry Beukema, a Professor of History at West Point, was named Director of the program. He was responsible for sending 200,000 soldiers to 227 land-grant universities around the country at cost of $127,000,000.
The Army Specialized Training Program included intensive courses, approximately 25 class-time hours per quarter, in engineering, science, medicine, dentistry, personnel psychology, and 34 different foreign languages. Students were expected to complete the program in 18 months with a four-year degree and a commission. This included many volunteers from the civilian echelons who were at least 17 but less than 18 years of age. While in academic training the soldiers were on active duty, in uniform, under military discipline, and received regular army pay. Recruits marched to class in groups, ate in mess halls located in the barracks, and trained in the fields around a campus. The soldiers' week was made up of 59 hours of supervised activity, including at least 24 hours of classroom and lab work, 24 hours of required study, six hours of physical instruction, and five hours of military instruction.
By November 1943 the Army recognized that its replacement training centers were not producing nearly enough new soldiers for the Army Ground Forces, particularly in light of the impending invasion of France. General Lesley J. McNair felt ASTP took young men with leadership potential away from combat positions where they were most needed stating, "...with 300,000 men short, we are sending men to college." Manpower planners calculated that more infantrymen would be required in advance of the planned invasion of Europe. ASTP was not only one of the easiest programs to reduce or eliminate, it also provided a large pool of ready-trained soldiers. In February 1944, about 110,000 ASTP students were told they would be transferred to combat units. From a wartime high of 150,000 students, ASTP was immediately reduced to approximately 60,000 members. The remainder, having already completed basic training, were sent to the Army Ground Forces.
A large number of its trainees, almost overnight, became infantry privates. They could not be used immediately to meet the need for more intelligent non-commissioned officers because of their lack of military training and experience, and because most units, with their privates withdrawn as overseas replacements, had at least a full complement, and sometimes a surplus, of non-commissioned officers. It was desired and expected that ASTP trainees would soon show their superiority over the older non-commissioned officers, win ratings, and become leaders of small units. For its trainees, the ASTP was a series of dis-illusionments. Some, had they not been sent to college, would undoubtedly have gone to officer candidate schools, to the advantage both of themselves and of the Army Ground Forces.
In the spring of 1944 ASTP levels were further reduced at the direction of the Army Chief of Staff General George Marshall. Later, when the defeat of Germany was in sight, and the testing of the new atomic bomb successful, the apparent need for potential junior officer replacements disappeared and the final ASTP groups were largely disbanded. Major General Henry Twaddle wrote, "The underlying reason for institution of the ASTP program was to prevent some colleges and universities from going into bankruptcy. From a strictly mobilization viewpoint, the value of the program was nil." Indeed, a secondary benefit of ASTP was the financial subsidy of land grant colleges, whose male student bodies had been decimated by the diversion of about 14 million men into the various armed forces.
Although considered largely a failure, an unanticipated benefit to the Army of the ASTP was the softening of university resistance to lowering the draft age from twenty to eighteen. Another positive contribution was the number of men exposed to college who might not have attended otherwise. After the war ended, four out of five surviving ASTP alumni returned to college.
Known alumni and positions they have held include the following:
Click here to read the US Army Center of Military History's "Birth and Death of the Army Specialized Training Program," written in 1995 by Louis Keefer and stored on JSTOR.
The Army Specialized Training Program was a military training program instituted by the United States Army during World War II at a number of American universities. Its primary purpose was to provide the continuous and accelerated flow of high grade technicians and specialists in the areas of engineering, foreign languages and medicine. ASTP was approved in September 1942 and implemented in December.
High school graduates were offered a chance to apply, though the majority of participants were already active duty soldiers. Entry requirements were high; minimum IQ was 115 (later 120), which was higher than Officers Candidate School. All new soldiers were required to complete 13 weeks of infantry basic training before being assigned to a college campus. Col. Henry Beukema, a Professor of History at West Point, was named Director of the program. He was responsible for sending 200,000 soldiers to 227 land-grant universities around the country at cost of $127,000,000.
The Army Specialized Training Program included intensive courses, approximately 25 class-time hours per quarter, in engineering, science, medicine, dentistry, personnel psychology, and 34 different foreign languages. Students were expected to complete the program in 18 months with a four-year degree and a commission. This included many volunteers from the civilian echelons who were at least 17 but less than 18 years of age. While in academic training the soldiers were on active duty, in uniform, under military discipline, and received regular army pay. Recruits marched to class in groups, ate in mess halls located in the barracks, and trained in the fields around a campus. The soldiers' week was made up of 59 hours of supervised activity, including at least 24 hours of classroom and lab work, 24 hours of required study, six hours of physical instruction, and five hours of military instruction.
By November 1943 the Army recognized that its replacement training centers were not producing nearly enough new soldiers for the Army Ground Forces, particularly in light of the impending invasion of France. General Lesley J. McNair felt ASTP took young men with leadership potential away from combat positions where they were most needed stating, "...with 300,000 men short, we are sending men to college." Manpower planners calculated that more infantrymen would be required in advance of the planned invasion of Europe. ASTP was not only one of the easiest programs to reduce or eliminate, it also provided a large pool of ready-trained soldiers. In February 1944, about 110,000 ASTP students were told they would be transferred to combat units. From a wartime high of 150,000 students, ASTP was immediately reduced to approximately 60,000 members. The remainder, having already completed basic training, were sent to the Army Ground Forces.
A large number of its trainees, almost overnight, became infantry privates. They could not be used immediately to meet the need for more intelligent non-commissioned officers because of their lack of military training and experience, and because most units, with their privates withdrawn as overseas replacements, had at least a full complement, and sometimes a surplus, of non-commissioned officers. It was desired and expected that ASTP trainees would soon show their superiority over the older non-commissioned officers, win ratings, and become leaders of small units. For its trainees, the ASTP was a series of dis-illusionments. Some, had they not been sent to college, would undoubtedly have gone to officer candidate schools, to the advantage both of themselves and of the Army Ground Forces.
In the spring of 1944 ASTP levels were further reduced at the direction of the Army Chief of Staff General George Marshall. Later, when the defeat of Germany was in sight, and the testing of the new atomic bomb successful, the apparent need for potential junior officer replacements disappeared and the final ASTP groups were largely disbanded. Major General Henry Twaddle wrote, "The underlying reason for institution of the ASTP program was to prevent some colleges and universities from going into bankruptcy. From a strictly mobilization viewpoint, the value of the program was nil." Indeed, a secondary benefit of ASTP was the financial subsidy of land grant colleges, whose male student bodies had been decimated by the diversion of about 14 million men into the various armed forces.
Although considered largely a failure, an unanticipated benefit to the Army of the ASTP was the softening of university resistance to lowering the draft age from twenty to eighteen. Another positive contribution was the number of men exposed to college who might not have attended otherwise. After the war ended, four out of five surviving ASTP alumni returned to college.
Known alumni and positions they have held include the following:
Robert Dole, U.S. Senator and Senate Majority Leader
Edward Koch, U.S. Congressman, New York City Mayor
Henry Kissinger, U.S. Secretary of State, Nobel Prize winner
Gore Vidal, author and politician
Andy Rooney, radio and television commentator
Arch Moore, Governor of West Virginia
Frank Church, U.S. Senator
Roger Mudd, TV newscaster
Mel Brooks, movie actor, director
George Koval, Russian spy in Manhattan Project World War II
Edward Koch, U.S. Congressman, New York City Mayor
Henry Kissinger, U.S. Secretary of State, Nobel Prize winner
Gore Vidal, author and politician
Andy Rooney, radio and television commentator
Arch Moore, Governor of West Virginia
Frank Church, U.S. Senator
Roger Mudd, TV newscaster
Mel Brooks, movie actor, director
George Koval, Russian spy in Manhattan Project World War II
Click here to read the US Army Center of Military History's "Birth and Death of the Army Specialized Training Program," written in 1995 by Louis Keefer and stored on JSTOR.
