| On October 1, 1918, nearly all of API's able-bodied male
students eighteen or older voluntarily joined the United States Army for
what turned out to be short-lived military careers on campus. The
student-soldiers numbered 878, according to President Charles C. Thach,
and formed the academic section of the Student Army Training Corps.
The vocational section was composed of enlisted men sent to Auburn for
training in radio, auto mechanics, and general mechanics. Both sections
apparently were assembled on the drill field where Ross Square is today
for the swearing-in of the student-soldiers. They heard brief patriotic
talks from Thach and others. The students received honorable discharges
in December following the Armistice that ended The Great War on November
11. Each received "a sixty-dollar bonus check from Uncle Sam," the
Glomerata reported. -- Photo: AU Archives |
