Just days after the attacks on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the Western Herald shows a snapshot of a campus attempting to return to normal life, looking toward the holiday season; while also preparing for U.S. involvement in World War II, and formulating the school’s role.
The U.S. officially entered the war on December 8 and campus began to adjust to wartime, while also reflecting on the impacts of past wars. While the draft had been used in the Civil War and World War I, the attacks on Pearl Harbor and the events leading up to it prompted changes in the system. On December 19, 1941 (the day after this Western Herald was published) the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940 was amended to include (among other things) a requirement that all males aged 18 to 64 register for the draft.
(Scroll down to read "Name Seniors to Navy Post as Teachers," and "Faculty Recall SATC of 1917; Compare student affect of first world conflict with attitude today.")
National Defense Committee Makes Plans Regarding Draft
Name Seniors to Navy Post as Teachers: Norm Russell, Willard Twork, Floyd Smith Receive Appointments
Three Western Michigan students were tendered probational appointments as instructors of industrial arts for enlisted men in the United States Navy, it was made known yesterday. The three, Norman Russell, Floyd Smith, and Willard Twork, will report to the Navy Teacher Training Center in Chicago, Monday, Dec. 22, for a preliminary training of 12 weeks, after which they will be classified as a instructors in Navy schools.
The appointments were received from Lieutenant Commander E. L. Carlson, U.S.R.N.R., after the trio made applications at Chanute Field, Rantoul, Ill. early last week.
Floyd Smith, a senior in the department of industrial arts, has been active in the Industrial Arts Union, of which he is now vice-president. He has been affiliated with the band for four years, and has organized several dance bands under his name. Fraternally he is a member of Sigma Tau Gamma.
Willard Twork, also a senior, has been active in the field of industrial arts, and has confined his activities mainly to that end. He is a member of the Industrial Arts Union.
“Norman Russell, senior, is well known for his photographic ability, and for his editorship of the 1940-1941 Brown and Gold .He has been the staff photographer of the Herald and Brown and Gold for four years, and has taken many photographs for the Kalamazoo Gazette, and for official publications of the college. His pictures have appeared in national publications both for general and college distribution. All pictures appearing in the two textbooks written by Mr. Joseph Giachino of the faculty were taken by Russell. Some of his other photographic prowess was displayed in the souvenir programs given recently at the Men’s Union Informal. He is an industrial arts major and a member of Sigma Tau Gamma, national Fraternity.
Faculty Recall SATC of 1917 in Sprau Hall; Compare student affect of first world conflict with attitude today
By Stan Bradshaw
Reminiscences of the last World war, when a Student’s Army Training Corps unit was set up on the campus, were being recalled this week by various faculty members, who were on campus during the 1917-18 conflict.
The general consensus of opinion seems to be that this war is, in many respects, somewhat similar to the last. The students seem to be taking the impact of the draft and military service much more sanely, some instructors add, seeing in this a reflection of the country as a whole. Problems of special exemptions for athletes and the attraction of uniforms for the “flappers” of the age also predominated.
Barracks Built in 1918
Dr. Theodore Henry, who came to Western in 1917, remembers that in the summer of 1918, the S.A.T.C. was formed and between 250 and 300 Western men received military training. In order to house them, he says, the Barracks were built. Students went to college one-half of each day and drilled the other half, eating in the old cafeteria in the basement of the training school and sleeping in the Barracks.
The old athletic field, the present site of Waldo stadium, was the drill field and in the fall of 1918 did duty as a football field also, Dr. Henry adds. Bill Spaulding, who was football coach at that time, had many arguments with the lieutenant in charge of the company over the question of allowing the football players time off for practice.
Dr. Henry, who taught several classes in military psychology at that time, also believes that the experiment in student training was a failure, due partially to the fact that the instructors were not given any military authority. He would not favor the establishment of another such system, especially after comparing student attitudes in the last war to those in the present.
“Better spirit & Moral today”
“Now,” he says, “the American people are taking the war in stride, looking upon it as a nasty job that has to be done but which will be done well. Just like the boys in the last war, those who are being called into service now are willing to do their duty, and in most instances are showing better spirit and morale, especially since war has been declared.”
Miss Laura V. Shaw, who also came to Western in 1918, recalls that the uniforms created quite a furor among the girls, and that one of the big controversies of the entire year was whether or not the trainees would be allowed to smoke on the campus. President Waldo, finally ruled that there was to be no smoking on the campus, either by the students or by the officers who instructed them. We were one of the very few schools in the country to have such a ruling, she added.