[Letter] 1945 April 1 [to] Dr. Stoughton
Dublin Core
Title
[Letter] 1945 April 1 [to] Dr. Stoughton
Subject
Army Specialized Training Program (U.S.)
Easter
Description
Krimmer writes that it is Easter Sunday and many in his camp are praying that the war will end soon and they can return home. He write of the A.S.T.P. exams and says that Army life is generally good. He asks for the Wagnerian to be sent.
Creator
Krimmer, Burton Mark
Source
Wagner College Archive, Horrmann Library
Date
4/1/1945
Contributor
Wagner College, Staten Island, NY
Is Part Of
A complete index to the letters in this collection can be found here: http://library.wagner.edu/wagnerarchive/StoughtonPDF/Correspondence index.pdf
Format
application/pdf
Language
eng
Type
text
Identifier
Krimmer1
Document Item Type Metadata
Text
April 1st, 1945
My dear Dr. Stoughton,
Today, more than on any other day since I have been in the army my thoughts turn back toward Wagner College. Most probably because today is Easter Sunday, one of the most religious times of the year. All of us here in camp have opened our hearts to God in the fervent prayer that the war will be over soon so that we can go get back to our families, civilian activities, etc. It is a prayer that can never be repeated too often because among soldiers, home and family are the number one topics of discussion.
But we have a war to win and from what I have seen of the army’s methods of producing soldiers I am sure that we will be victorious. At the present time, I am in the midst of my basic training which is a 15 wk. program. By the end of my training I am supposed to be a fighting infantryman and I have no doubt that I will because our training, without going into detail, is the most rugged imaginable.
[Page 2]
After basic, 95% of us will go overseas. The other 5% will be placed in O.C.S. and A.S.T.P. The only branches of A.S.T.P that are open are the Engineering and Japanese language schools. I have taken exams for the latter school and passed them but it seems that you need an especially high grade in the Army Classification Exam (130) in order to gain admittance. Since I only made 127 I am going to be given a retest. I hope I will qualify at this time.
On the whole, Army life has agreed with me. The warmth of sunny Florida is an ideal spot to train. All the fellows have healthy tans and although we gripe about the food and call the company commander names behind his back we know what we are here for and we are going to finish it. For good, we hope.
Meanwhile, I hope things are going along normally at Wagner. I know that you are going to leave and I do feel very badly about it, as do most of other students, probably. You have made Wagner a fine institution. One which I hope I will be able to return to as soon as possible.
Respectfully yours,
Burton Krimmer
P.S. Could you possibly arrange to have the Wagnerian sent to me. I would certainly appreciate it.
My dear Dr. Stoughton,
Today, more than on any other day since I have been in the army my thoughts turn back toward Wagner College. Most probably because today is Easter Sunday, one of the most religious times of the year. All of us here in camp have opened our hearts to God in the fervent prayer that the war will be over soon so that we can go get back to our families, civilian activities, etc. It is a prayer that can never be repeated too often because among soldiers, home and family are the number one topics of discussion.
But we have a war to win and from what I have seen of the army’s methods of producing soldiers I am sure that we will be victorious. At the present time, I am in the midst of my basic training which is a 15 wk. program. By the end of my training I am supposed to be a fighting infantryman and I have no doubt that I will because our training, without going into detail, is the most rugged imaginable.
[Page 2]
After basic, 95% of us will go overseas. The other 5% will be placed in O.C.S. and A.S.T.P. The only branches of A.S.T.P that are open are the Engineering and Japanese language schools. I have taken exams for the latter school and passed them but it seems that you need an especially high grade in the Army Classification Exam (130) in order to gain admittance. Since I only made 127 I am going to be given a retest. I hope I will qualify at this time.
On the whole, Army life has agreed with me. The warmth of sunny Florida is an ideal spot to train. All the fellows have healthy tans and although we gripe about the food and call the company commander names behind his back we know what we are here for and we are going to finish it. For good, we hope.
Meanwhile, I hope things are going along normally at Wagner. I know that you are going to leave and I do feel very badly about it, as do most of other students, probably. You have made Wagner a fine institution. One which I hope I will be able to return to as soon as possible.
Respectfully yours,
Burton Krimmer
P.S. Could you possibly arrange to have the Wagnerian sent to me. I would certainly appreciate it.
Original Format
http://library.wagner.edu/wagnerarchive/StoughtonPDF/Krimmer1.pdf
Date Digital
2014
Citation
Krimmer, Burton Mark, “[Letter] 1945 April 1 [to] Dr. Stoughton,” Wagner College Archives and Special Collections, accessed April 25, 2024, https://wagnercollections.omeka.net/items/show/16326.