 Sherman Democrat July 4, 1976 America Always Edition pg.9 AUSTIN COLLEGE TRAINED WWII FLIGHT CREWS During World War II Austin College contributed much to the Allied efforts by training more than 1,000 air crew, paratroopers and flight instructors. Before the war started, Austin College was training pilots under the Civil Pilot Training Program of 1939. During this period, the college helf flight instructor classes and primary training classes which produced 17 flight instructors, 124 ground school graduates, and 87 students who went on to advanced training. Between Dec. 7, 1941 and Christmas 1942, the entire football team and many other men volunteered for military duty and, for the first time, women outnumbered men at the college. The women continued to outnumber the men on campus until the middle of 1943 when the college, after receiving four hours notice, received members of the 77th Flight Army Air Training Corps from Wichita Falls. Thirty-two women were occupying the Y Dormitory that day and the flight trainees arrived by 3 p.m. in the afternoon to help the women move into homes around the campus. The flight trainers filled the Y and two floors of Luckett Hall. After the program was established, 50 trainees arrived each week as 50 completed the seven-week courses in meteorology, air science, and elementary flight. Because of the additional students and income from government contracts, the college was able to maintain its full faculty without disrupting its normal program. Austin College History Susan Hawkins © 2024 If you find any of Grayson County TXGenWeb links inoperable, please send me a message. |