The 1919 issue of The Chromascope, Austin College’s monthly newspaper once stated: “We dedicate these pages to the sacred memory of our noble boys who went out from us, called by their country and suffering humanity. ‘Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.’ In giving their lives for us, for our institutions and ideas, they blessed humanity and brought peace to a weary world.” Austin College’s campus history has been extensively shaped by the military, from when the institution was briefly a military institution for young male cadets in the 1890s to when several former students were deployed (and some died) in WWI and WWII. Today, the campus still graduates students who pursue careers in the United States Armed Forces and prepares all students for the long career roads ahead.
At the Austin College Special Collections, there is a War Letters collection, which contains 42 letters–41 from WWII and 1 from the Korean War. All the archival documents were given by Rollin Rolfe, a former dean of students at the college. Rolfe corresponded to the Austin College students fighting overseas in the twentieth-century wars, however, discarded hundreds of letters before realizing the historical values of these documents. Upon viewing the letters, the audience can infer what Rolfe wrote to the soldiers–many of the former students accepted Rolfe’s promise of a warm bath waiting for them at Luckett Hall upon their return. Other students profusely thanked the dean for sending them a copy of the college bulletin, which provided them with a warm memento from home when they were fighting in the devastating conditions of the South Pacific. A number of students asked Rolfe for career advice, as they wondered whether they should attend officer candidate school, seminary, or return to Austin College after the conclusion of the war. (faculty photograph of Dean Rolfe)
After Rolfe had sent textbooks to C.Y. Bartley (’38 and a soldier in the 1st Marine Division in San Francisco), the former student wrote back, “We have very little time to read. Busy all day and it’s usually lights out as soon as the sun sets.” Bartley, like many other soldiers, expressed a sincere interest in returning to Austin College after the war because of the benefits the new G.I. Bill offered for veterans. (photograph of student Bartley)
Robert F. Nicholson, who attended Austin College from 1942-1944, wrote from England in 1944 (prior to the D-Day invasion) and requested a trigonometry book. In his letter, he described the culture on the ‘other side of the pond’: “England is just about as you described it to us one day in class. I’d say more, but we aren’t allowed to write anything uncomplimentary about the English.” (photograph of student Nicholson)
Several soldier’s letters were not as amusing or pleasant as the one authored by Mr. Nicholson. Some detailed the death, blood, and destruction of the war in Europe and Asia. T.J. Bailey (’48 and pictured on the right in a student photograph), wrote from the South Pacific while fighting against the Japanese: “It sure isn’t fun and you know we play for keeps in this game.” Two months before the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, Johnny G. Farmer (’46) speculated about the rumored invasion of Japan during the war’s desperate moments: “I am willing to miss the invasion of the [Japanese] homeland, for that operation will be quite nasty.” Soldier C.A. Winkle, formerly a 1941 graduate of the college, also would have participated in the rumored invasion: “We had been preparing for something big when the glad tidings came.”
Many soldiers in the Pacific, including those who had once attended/graduated from Austin College, wrote letters to their friends describing their loved ones. Shug (soldier’s last name is unknown) wrote to the dean, detailing a portrait of his fiancé: “I tell you, Mr. Rolfe, she is all any man could ask for and far more than I deserve.” He would later add his appreciation for Rolfe passing on his messages to his sorely-missed loved ones, “The world may well be the devils own replica of hell, but you just can’t kill this thing we [illegible] have locked up in our hearts. We may not play as much, nor smile as often, nor even enjoy life as we could have if we did not know some of the things we know, but we’ll be back again. Keep things right for us Mr. Rolfe.” (photograph is of student Shug before the war)
Other letters dealt with post-war plans, with some soldiers committing to return to Sherman and commit to their studies as students. Oscar W. Mueller (who would graduate from Austin College in 1947) wrote from France: “When this mess ends, I’m going to make one stop to pick up my wife and then by the fastest means available I’m heading for old A.C. [Austin College]. The old school means more to me now than it ever did while I had the privilege of being a student there.” A couple of months later, he would write another letter to Rolfe, “Yes, I can imagine that the gum-beating session we shall have when we do get together again will outshine any previous sessions held at A.C. [Austin College], both in length and intensity.” (photograph is of Mueller as a student, c. 1946)
Some soldiers close to home missed life on campus. Warren B. Hunter ’48 wrote from Oklahoma: “You do not realize how much you love the place until you are away for some time. It is the type of thing that grows on a man and never wears off.” (as a 2016 graduate of Austin College, I can definitely relate to this sentence and miss the welcoming presence of the Sherman campus)
**Photographs from the Austin College Library Special Collections. Information taken from the college’s archives and two books authored by historian Light Townsend Cummins.
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