"Army Ground Forces concentrated all ASTP basic training at Fort Benning and Camp Hood (later at Fort Benning only), in order to liberate the ASTP facilities at replacement training centers for ordinary replacement training.63 " ----- Original Message ----- From: "Ellis Hosbach" <ewh@adelphia.net> To: <WORLDWAR2-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Saturday, May 06, 2006 1:25 PM Subject: Re: [WORLD WAR II] U.S. Army - Training for Engineers -Carnegie Institute of ... | | I have previously tried, to the best of my ability, to explain The Army | Specialized Training Program of WWII. As one who participated in the | Program, I feel better qualified than one who has read about it in a book or | viewed a Web Page prepared by someone who most likely also read about it in | a book. Most successful applicants had been enrolled in college prior to | entering the Service. I do not recall if this was a prerequisite. It may | have been. I was in my second semester at University of Pittsburgh when | drafted. It was a program designed to educated personnel in the fields of | Medicine, Engineering and Psychology. It was not an Officers Training | Program. That training was done at various Officer Candidate Schools (OCS) | located on Army Bases such as Fort Benning, GA and Fort Sill, OK. It did | not teach people how to defuse land mines, set charges or build bridges. | All participants were Privates and attended classes at a University, | sometimes with civilian students, and were taught mostly by civilian | instructors. It was hardly looked upon as a "dangerous assignment". | Rather, it was looked upon as a very cushy assignment. He who says | otherwise does not have actual experience. I left XV Corps Headquarters, | Desert Training Center, Indio, CA and was attached to STAR Unit 3906, | Pasadena Junior College, Pasadena, CA from 1 September 1943 until 7 October | 1943. I was then attached to (ASTU) Army Specialized Training Unit 3925, | University of San Francisco, effective 8 October 1943. Eight barracks had | been built on the Golden Gate Avenue side of the Campus as quarters for the | men of the Unit. Military formations were conducted on the Company Street | in front of the Barracks. I remained there until 5 January 1944 when I | voluntarily resigned from the Program rather than repeat classes in Physics | and Chemistry which I had failed. I was given this option because my grades | in other subjects were high enough to raise my average to an acceptable | level. (As an aside, we were permitted to do civilian work on weekends to | earn a few extra dollars. Some lucky ones were hired as Longshoremen and | earned a lot of money. I, along with a friend, worked as a stock boy at | City of Paris Department Store in downtown San Francisco. Hardly a | "dangerous assignment".) After a 15 day delay en route to visit my parents | in Linhart, PA., I reported to Headquarters 96th Infantry Division, Camp | White, OR on 20 January 1944. I served with the Division in various | capacities during the Leyte and Okinawan Campaigns and returned with it to | Camp Anza, CA where it was deactivated on 3 February 1946. | As for Delilah, who appears to have more "guts" than necessary, I wrote to | the list because I did not want anyone to be mislead by her remarks. I | quote from "The Camp White Grenade" issue of Thursday, April 13, 1944. | Headline: "ASTP Students Swell Ranks of 96th; Most Come From Midwestern | Schools". " The new 96th men traded in their books for bayonets as part of | the ASTP curtailment whereby 110,000 men fit for combat duty, where | transferred to Army ground or service units slated for overseas action. All | the new doughboys have had some basic training, and a number of them have | years of service behind them. Some held ratings before exchanging rifles | for textbooks. Virtually all the branches of service are represented. | Average age is about 20." | I do not have any casualty figures to reflect how many of the killed and | injured were ASTP Men. I doubt that a figure, any where near actual, | exists. However, I am sure that someone with a "cause" to advance has | assigned a number. The 96th had 1598 killed or missing and 5614 wounded or | injured. Since they were all good men, none of us gave a damn whether or | not they had been in the ASTP Program. The 96th Infantry Division | Association has held an annual reunion every year since 1958. The 2006 will | be held in Denver, CO July 25-30 and I'm sure there will be a number of | former ASTP Men in attendance. | Ellis Hosbach | Bethel Park, PA | | | | ==== WORLDWAR2 Mailing List ==== | http://lists.rootsweb.com/index/other/Military:_20th_Century/WORLDWAR2.html | This is the link to our archives. You may search or browse. 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Thanks to some very kind people on this list, I have the following timeline for my uncle. He mentions two people in his letters - one named Floyd and another named Smoky. It would be fantastic if someone could tell me who they were. On scoll Nov 3, 1943 trained North Carolina Battery C 8th Battalion 44th FA BN was on return address 44th FA BN was in the 4th Infantry Division. 44th Field Artillery Battalion Tractor Drawn 105mm Howitzers Jan 18, '44 Embarked from New York Jan 29, '44 Arrived in England July 10, 1944 Landed in France on D-Day Wonder how Berlin will look (he is in France) October 1944 Somewhere in Germany Will try to write Been in combat since 6 June. Have seen 5 foreign countries Saw London, Paris, Belgium, Luxembourg. Now in hilly country Mentioned Smoky November 1944 Somewhere in Germany in combat Mentioned Smoky and Floyd Served in the Normandy, Northern France, Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace (Battle of the Bulge), and Central Europe Campaigns. truck ran over a mine and the explosion injured his ankle. Returned to New York on July 10, 1945. (this is when the unit returned but he may have returned sooner) Was in Camp Atterbury hospital in Indiana (probably discharged from there) March 28, 1946 killed in motorcycle accident service number in the National Archives records of enlistment: http://aad.archives.gov/aad/fielded-search.jsp?dt=893&tf=F&cat=GP23&bc=sl ARMY SERIAL NUMBER 35932589 NAME HART#ODA#M HART#ODA#M RESIDENCE: STATE #2 Undefined Code RESIDENCE: COUNTY 235 Undefined Code PLACE OF ENLISTMENT 5124 FT BENJAMIN HARRISON INDIANA DATE OF ENLISTMENT DAY 31 31 DATE OF ENLISTMENT MONTH 08 08 DATE OF ENLISTMENT YEAR 43 43 GRADE: CODE 8 Private TERM OF ENLISTMENT 5 Enlistment for the duration of the War or other emergency, plus six months, subject to the discretion of the President or otherwise according to law SOURCE OF ARMY PERSONNEL 0 Civil Life NATIVITY 52 KENTUCKY YEAR OF BIRTH 22 22 RACE AND CITIZENSHIP 1 White, citizen EDUCATION 2 2 years of high school CIVILIAN OCCUPATION 723 CONCRETE-MIXER OPERATOR* or EARTH-BORING MACHINE OPERATOR or HIGHWAY CONCTRUCTION MACHINE OPERATOR MARITAL STATUS 3 Separated, with dependents COMPONENT OF THE ARMY 7 Selectees (Enlisted Men)