Knox College - Gale Yearbook (Galesburg, IL)

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For instance, one member of the class of 1940, Captain Milton Whaley, was among the defenders of Bataan peninsula. Nearly all of those receiving commissions at the 1941 Commencement were in the service, several of them over- seas. By the middle of April most of this year's advanced course students had received their orders to report for duty on or very shortly after May 15. In a few short years military science had become far more important than the average college course. Knox men were graduating into positions where they must manage and command-and be re- sponsible for-a hundred or more men. The college was now a factory vital in the Qaaluaiu See rqcfiae .Smaice 14 country's war effort. As Colonel E. D. Porter, the Knox P. M. S.8CT., put it, the freshmen are the raw materials and the seniors are the hnished products. The workings of this factory were not monotonous. In addition to the regular class periods, which totaled two hours per week for the basic students and four hours per week for the advanced members, there were parades, military teas, the military ball Cone of the season's biggest social functionsj , co-ed sponsors-plenty of color along with the undeniable thrill of being military, The Knox Battalion, more than 200 strong, was a snappy looking out- fit when lined up the length of Wfillard Field with Old Main as a background. Much of the success of military train- ing at Knox was attributable to the out-

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CHAPTER TWO Training for Leadership The declaration of war gave Knox mil- itary students a clearer idea of the impor- tance of learning their subject well. The Monday drill periods, the assignments, and the discussions in class took on a significance far greater than ever before. Here was a chance to learn things which might mean the difference be- tween life and death for both self and country. Here was a chance for training in leadership. Knox students had recognized the value of R.O.T.C. training before December 7. The military science department had the largest enrollment in its history, 227 men, at the beginning of the school year. More than ninety per cent of the freshman men took the courseg many sophomores who had not taken military their first year enrolled as basic students. There were twenty-two juniors and twenty-two seniors in the ad- vanced course preparing to receive their second lieutenant's commissions at gradu- ation and thus join the army's yearly group of 10,000 new, college-trained officers. Competition for the limited number of vacancies in the advanced course each year ran high among the underclassmen. Among other things, advanced students were not required to register for the draft. The fact that Knox's enrollment drop- ped no more than it did was attributable to the existence of the R.O.T.C. and Civilian Pilot Training courses. The Knox military department is one of the oldest in the Mid- 7lw fb g dle West and the only such infantry unit in the state with the exception of the one at the University of Illinois. The Knox unit has consistently been given the highest possible rating by inspecting officers of the Sixth Corps Area. Actual active service by members of the unit while in school was limited to a short period of airport patrolling Cillustrated on the opposite pagej. Guarding the air- port was an emergency duty carried out by the R.O.T.C. unit at the request of the mayor of Galesburg during the week fol- lowing the declaration of war. But gradu- ates of the advanced course were seeing- and were to see-plenty of active service. EYES RIGHT! Company B, led by Cadet Captain Blanc, passes in review before the five co-ed sponsors of the military unit. The parade was in honor of the sponsors who were presented their insignia by the company com- manders earlier in the afternoon. 13

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standing abilities and personalities of the commanding ofhcers. Colonel E. D. Porter, who was promoted to the rank of Colonel of Infantry in January of this year, was head of the department and the Professor of Military Science and Tactics. His wide range of knowledge Galena! po, Zm -d Cacquired from years 4-f Man of service in the reg- ular army - includ- ing service in the Philippinesb, his military bearing, his efficiency, and his amiabiliry made him respected and admired by the men in the unit. As one student stated it, Fd certainly like to serve under a man like the Colonel when I get in the armyf, Lieutenant Harold R. Ford, a graduate of Knox in the class of 1938, returned to his Alma Mater to teach after two years as a young commissioned officer in the service. He acted as adjutant and taught the fresh- men and juniorsg the latter particularly profited by his Hrst-hand advice relative to solving the problems they would face when detailed to active duty. lnlllf Olil7llQl.iRS FRONT ANU QIIiN'l'l2R include the four' company eonnnanders, Cadet Captains Draper. lilane, Heller, and Fnlle, and Cadet I.ieutenant-Colonel Meliamy in the from row. ln the second row .ire the :ompany guidon bearers and behind them are the cadet first and second lieutenants of Lhe unit. As this pit- ture was snapped, Draper was present- ing the insignia of the infantry. cross- ed rifles, lo his eoinpany'x sponsor. Martha Wfelsh. The other captains followed suit immediately thereafter. .JJ ba! 1 -1 15