Page 74 - Anthology

Benefiting from the generosity of the Alfred Noyes Scholarship, available to dependents of WWI
Veterans, I was able to attend and graduate from New Mexico State University from 1939-1943, taking
ROTC all the while. I participated in the U.S. Army Specialized Training Program (ASTP); the purpose of
the ASTP was to provide the continuous and accelerated flow of high-grade technicians and specialists
needed by the U.S. Army.

ASTP Insignia

The lamp of knowledge suggests academic learning.
The sword represents the military profession.

My first flight experience was in a Taylor craft, single engine aircraft similar to the one pictured above. In
my junior year I earned the civilian’s pilot’s license, which eventually led to placement in the Army Air
Corps . However, in April 1944 the U.S. Army ordered all personnel in training whether ground or air
1
forces, to join the Infantry.

“The Taylorcraft L-2 Grasshopper is an American observation and liaison aircraft built by Taylorcraft for
the United States Army Air Forces in World War II. In World War II, the AAF began using the L-2 in much
the same manner as the observation balloon was used in France during World War I--spotting enemy
troop and supply concentrations and directing artillery fire on them. It was also used for other types of
liaison and transport duties and short-range reconnaissance which required airplanes that could land and
take off in minimum distances from unprepared landing strips.”