Texas A and M University - Aggieland Yearbook (College Station, TX)

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fern •5 WORLD WAR II . »■ „ : - X «fc mwm i, Advanced ROTC training, leading to commissions in the Officers Reserve Corps, was given to approximately 7,000 men before the pro¬ gram was discontinued under the exigencies of World War II. By December 7, 1941, some 5,000 reserve officers, trained at Texas A M, were already on active duty helping to weld the army that was to win World War II. An outstanding illustration of that group was the forty-six young Texas A M-trained reserve officers on duty at Corregi- dor and Bataan. Their epic of fighting ability in the face of insur¬ mountable odds is history. Six former students of Texas A M have been awarded the Medal of Honor for exceptional bravery in World War II—all but two of the awards being posthumous.. It is estimated that over 20,000 Aggies served in World War II. Of these 20,000, over 900 sons of Texas A M made the supreme sacrifice by giving their lives that we may live in a free country.

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Since 1876 when its doors were first opened the A M college of Texas has been a strictly military school. Its student body, with the exception of war veterans, has been in military uniform, organized by military units, and has lived under military discipline. For many years Texas A M has been the largest military school in the United States. The Reserve Officers Training Corps was inaugurated at Texas A M in 1920. Since that time basic military training and understanding has been given to over 30,- 000 young men. In World War I fifty-two former stu¬ dents died in military service. Following the war, the New York Sun, in an analysis of war participation by American colleges and universities, declared that Texas A M had furnished a greater proportion of its alumni as commissioned officers than any other school.

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