fort jackson, south carolina
aug 1943 - mar 1944
ASTP-University of florida
Due to the 1973 fire at the St. Louis Records Management Center which destroyed his entire military and medical records, there are no records remaining of Carl's application to the ASTP program. The fact that he was based at Fort Jackson, South Carolina for this extended period of time indicates he was attending classes at the University of Florida. Carl's personal records and courses taken at the U of F on a future application for employment with the Department of the Interior verify his participation in the ASTP program. No other records available dispute this time and activity. Based upon that application with the Department of the Interior, Carl was taking the engineering courses offered at the U of F, taking him out of immediate rotation to the front as a medic which up to this point, was his chosen or assigned field. [15]
Exerpt from The Army Specialized Training Program In World War II
By Louis E. Keefer
(Author of "Scholars in Foxholes)
During World War II the U.S. Army ran the single biggest college education program in the nation's history. Now mostly forgotten except by the men who were in it, the Army Specialized Training Program (ASTP) was, even for most of them, a short-lived "blip" in their service careers. Relatively few had the opportunity for more than one or two 3-month terms before the program was virtually terminated less than a year after it started.
But during its short existence, counting its reserve component (ASTRP), the program sent more than 200,000 soldiers to some 227 colleges
Other articles of interest concerning the ASTP including the quick demise of the program and the effect on the soldiers who applied, participated and then were removed from the program only to be put into the infantry, airborne, armor and other combat units.
[16] Extensive Article on the ASTP in WWII from Pierce Evans.
[17] ASTP from the Marshal Foundation
[18] The Florida Gator Archive 1943 - 1944 chronicles the academic invasion of soldiers at the University of Florida.
to take highly sped-up courses in various branches of engineering, medicine, dentistry, personnel psychology, and 34 different foreign languages. Massive arrivals of young ASTPers almost overnight changed many campuses into Army reservations.
The program-patterned after, but with improvements upon, WWI's "Student Army Training Corps" was recommended soon after Pearl Harbor, during the anxious days when it was feared the war might outlast the available number of college trained men ultimately needed to provide the technical know-how to win it. ASTP eligibility was based on brains and previous education: basically, any high school graduate with an AGCT score of 110 (later 120) qualified. Although some older men could qualify, providing they already had some college credits, most trainees were between 18 and 21 years old.
"Soldiers first, students second," as demanded by Col. Herman Beukema, highly-respected, long-time professor of history and government at West Point, who came down to the Pentagon to run the program, the ASTPers were under strict military discipline at all times; wore regulation uniforms; stood all normal formations; such as reveille; were subject to Saturday morning inspections; marched to classes and meals; had lights out at 10:30 PM; and generally behaved -- and misbehaved -- much as all other soldiers.
The standard work week was 59 hours of "supervised activity," including a minimum of 24 hours of classroom and lab work, 24 hours of required study, 5 hours of military instruction, and 6 hours of physical instruction. Col. Beukema told a Congressional investigating committee in January 1944 that ASTP studies were more rigorous than those at West Point or the Naval Academy.
Some ASTPers found such concentrated study exhilarating. Perhaps ASTP's most illustrious trainee, Henry A. Kissinger, from New York City later to become famous as the U.S. Secretary of State, studied engineering at LaFayette College. As his ASTP roommate tells the story, "he didn't just read books, he devoured them. He'd be slouching over a book and suddenly explode with an indignant, German-accented 'B---S---' blasting the author's reasoning. Then he'd tear it apart, explosive words prevailing, and make sense of it."
Despite ASTP's academic intensity, there was still time for many delightful campus social activities (especially those involving girls!). The theme song for many campus commandos -- sung to the tune of "My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean" -- soon became the familiar:
Some Mothers have sons in the Army,
Some Mothers have sons on the Sea,
Take down your service flag, Mother,
Your son's in the ASTP
TS, TS, TS for the ASTP!
Despite a slow start, by Christmas 1943 some 140,000 men were on campuses clear across the nation. This proved the program's high point. Less than two months later, having since November denied rumors about the program's impending demise, the War Department on February 18, 1944, unexpectedly announced that 110,000 ASTPers would be returned to line duty by April 1. About 35,000 others in certain advanced courses would continue their classwork.
Most of the ousted ASTPers went into infantry, airborne, and armored divisions still in stateside training, but scheduled for shipment overseas before the end of 1944. Some 35 divisions got an average of about 1,500 men each (many of these divisions also received significant numbers of former Air Corps cadets dropped from that program about the same time). Other displaced ASTPers were assigned to other units in both combat and service forces.
on another front
At some point, Nila left the Kilbourn Inn Hotel and The Dells. With Carl now in full training in preparation for deployment, Nila sought the better employment opportunities of the larger metropolitan areas of the state. She moved to Milwaukee and found a job at the Ambrosia Chocolate Company. This was perfect for her as she had always said that her first word was "chocolate" so this was ideal!
She found a flat to rent on *North 25th Street just 1.4 miles from the Ambrosia Chocolate factory located on North 25th Street which was just a good
1124 N. 25th St, Milwaukee, WI (Yellow House)
stretch of the legs for her to get back and forth for work. Note the address in the address book that lists the N. 25th Street address with a c/o Fred Brussat and also a 2639 W. Vliet Street address. Perhaps that was due to her move to the downtown retail shop as she would make more money in sales than at the factory and the W. Vliet address was closer and right on the bus line to downtown. Fred it seems was her landlord.
I remember Nila telling me that when she first started at the retail shop that, as a sales girl, she was encouraged to eat all the chocolates she wanted. The philosophy was that it was good salesmanship to be able to recommend to customers the various flavors of the broad selection offered based upon their tastes. However, after a while Nila just couldn't eat any more chocolate as there was just so much one could eat, even for her. That was the other part of the sales philosphy, to ensure the sales girls wouldn't eat the profits!
Ambrosia Chocolate was purchased by Cargill in 2015 and continues to produce chocolate products. The factory on North 5th no longer stands and the land now is occupied by the Bradley Center.
Click the image to go to The Story of the Ambrosia Chocolate Mold. [20]
Wisconsin Dells Events, March 23, 1944
As did many couples of the era, Carl and Nila looked to a future together. It was natural, for as long as men have gone to fight wars and women stayed at home to prepare for their return after battle, the ritual of marriage has been practiced. This couple was no different and a life together is just what they both needed to give them hope and help them survive in those difficult times. Besides, they loved each other.
The timing of the disolution of the ASTP program put Carl back on the fast track of deployment to the front as a combat medic and coincides with their engagement announcement.
Nila visited Carl at Fort Jackson, SC after his return from Florida as evidenced by the Columbia, SC bus token she saved from the occasion. She gave the token to me years ago. This was one of the few things I was able to salvage from my home after Hurrican Katrina in 2005. I am showing both sides of the token. The actual size is about the size of a dime.
Why did South Carolina Electric and Gas run the bus system? Postwar WWI population growth and the popularity of electric home appliances such as irons, vacuum cleaners, and electric toasters put increasing demands on utility companies. Meanwhile the profitability of the trolley systems declined drastically in both Charleston and Columbia, undoubtedly because of the mass production of family cars and cheap oil prices. In fact, the last trolley car was replaced by bus systems in 1936.
