#1, the below was not written by me, it was taken from a site that dealt with training of an ASTP unit -the only reason I posted it was to show it was a dangerous assignment and that they only accepted those highly qualified - #2 How dare "Ellis Hosbach" question my belief in the US troops and my belief in America? If this is going to be a 'thread' on this list, then you don't need a list. I answered him off-list which is something he did not have the "guts" to take up with me personally, he needed an audience. When the first post was made, the person explained that "He mentioned that he had was sent to "college" for training in order to learn how to defuse land mines, set charges, build bridges, etc." This is a dangerous assignment and the post below backs up that fact. There were more colleges/universities that were also chosen for the military to send people to for this training, not just Carnegie. Now if you got something to say to me, write me at my personal e-mail, and if there is any accusations about non-American thoughts, and being ciritical concerning the United States military, be careful who you say it to. delilah evans, Capt (ret) Bravery is the capacity to perform properly even when scared half to death." -Gen. Omar Bradley ----- Original Message ----- From: "David Dixon" <dixond2@bigpond.net.au> To: <WORLDWAR2-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Saturday, May 06, 2006 2:23 AM Subject: Re: [WORLD WAR II] U.S. Army - Training for Engineers -Carnegie Institute of ... | While as an Australian it is not my place to comment on the US army, as | en ex infantryman, I can't help but to agree with Ellis. In any army you | went where you were sent. You were sent where you were needed. As far as | the casualty rate is concerned - where on earth does the 99% come from. | I doubt if even the Russians sustained that figure (& they really copped | it). | Regards, | Dave | | Delilah wrote: | > ASTP (The Army Specialized Training Program) was for the relatively high | > IQ's of the U.S. Army, all of whom were college age (18 to 24). All or | > almost all of the ASTP students were sent into the infantry when the war got | > rough in 1944. They sent the highest IQ's into the Infantry where combat | > would kill or wound at least 99 percent of them (yes, 99 percent!). | > | > | > | > | | | ==== WORLDWAR2 Mailing List ==== | We welcome tributes of your World War II ancestors. We are an international list. Please remember to tell us what country your ancestor was from and what country you are in now if different. This helps us help you. If you give dates please help us understand the date you are referring to. For example: 4 Nov 1944 or Nov 4, 1944. | | ============================== | Search Family and Local Histories for stories about your family and the | areas they lived. Over 85 million names added in the last 12 months. | Learn more: http://www.ancestry.com/s13966/rd.ashx |

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