Missouri University of Science and Technology - Rollamo Yearbook (Rolla, MO)

Page 31 text:

ROLLAMO History of The Students Army Training Corps After many days of speculation and uncertainty, the Students’ Army Training Corps was formally introduced into M. S. M. on October 1, 1918, at 11 o’clock, by a very impressive ceremony in which the vocational training unit, the home guards, and the students participated. These exercises, owing to the delay of the induction blanks, did not mark the actual enlistment of the students. Two weeks later, however, the induction papers were signed and the students of M. S. M. began the difficult task they had so anxiously anticipated — to be at once a student and a soldier. It is unnecessary to dwell upon the hardships encountered, for who can forget the bugle call as it sounded at 5:45 in the morning, the old straw ticks, the setting up exercises, the drills, the meals in the mess hall, and the super- vised study periods, to say nothing of the “top soak ' s’’ daily lecture, kitchen police, and other duties either regular or superimposed, which are too numerous to mention. While enumerating the hardships, however, we should not forget to men- tion the pleasant moments spent and the benefits derived during the reign of the S. A. T. C., though they were few and are hard to recall. We should not forget that we were afforded an opportunity to become intimately acquainted with our fellow students, to learn of their virtues and deficiencies and hear them snore, sing, talk and catcall after taps. These conditions were submitted to with the true “Miner” spirit until peace was declared. The signing of the armistice, however, naturally removed the incentive and inaugurated a period of unrest and dissatisfaction which only ended with the mustering out, December 14, 1918. Retreat on that memorable day will never be forgotten by those who participated. As “Old Glory’ was drawn down, it brought with it a feeling — not of joy — which is hard to de- scribe. Perhaps we realized at that moment the defeat of our purpose. Per- haps we realized that many men had done more than we, and that our oppor- tunity to serve our country on the battlefield had ended. We could only con- sole ourselves with the thought that we had done “our bit,” that we had put ourselves at the disposal of our country, that we were a minor part — but never- theless a part — of that great machine built by our government to take care of an emergency, and that the ending of that emergency so much sooner than expected was all that prevented us from taking a more active part.