Hector T. Garcia Memorial, Army Specialized Training Reserve Program, United States Army (ASTRP Company A, Unit 3923) Collection

Hector T. Garcia Memorial, Army Specialized Training Reserve Program, United States Army (ASTRP Company A, Unit 3923) Collection Hector T. Garcia Memorial Collection Army Specialized Training Reserve Program, United States Army (ASTRP Company A, Unit 3923) Collection, 1944-2007

Overview of the Collection

Title: Hector T. Garcia Memorial, Army Specialized Training Reserve Program, United States Army (ASTRP Company A, Unit 3923) CollectionHector T. Garcia Memorial CollectionArmy Specialized Training Reserve Program, United States Army (ASTRP Company A, Unit 3923) Collection
Dates: 1944-2007 (inclusive)
19442007
Quantity: 5.75 Linear feet of shelf space, (12 boxes)
Collection Number: Cage 763 (collection)
Summary: The Army Specialized Training Reserve Program (ASTRP) was one of several U.S. Army special programs created during World War II to meet needs for large numbers of soldiers with special technical and professional skills. Washington State College in Pullman, Washington was home to ASTRP Company A, Unit 3923. This collection consists of materials related to ASTRP Company A, Unit 3923, mainly from the years following their military service. It documents the sustained long-term relationships of many members, and the group's post-war activities.
Repository: Washington State University Libraries' Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections (MASC)
Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections
Terrell Library Suite 12
Pullman, WA
99164-5610
Telephone: 509-335-6691
mascref@wsu.edu
Access Restrictions: This collection is open and available for research use.
Languages: English

Historical NoteReturn to Top

The Army Specialized Training Reserve Program (ASTRP) was one of several U.S. Army special programs created during World War II to meet needs for large numbers of soldiers with special technical and professional skills. ASTRP was created for men who were not yet old enough to be eligible for the military draft (17 years old), to provide college training with military scholarships, thus building a pool of personnel especially well prepared for military service as technicians, specialists, and officer training.

Washington State College in Pullman, Washington was home to ASTRP Company A, Unit 3923. In July 1944, its 250 members--17-year-olds from various western states--arrived on campus. From July until December, they received intensive academic and physical training at WSC, lived on campus in dormitories, and participated in competitive athletics. The 181 members who finished the program scattered to a wide variety of military assignments, but after forming strong personal relationships as members of this cohort many of them maintained lifelong connections with the group. Hector Garcia facilitated these connections through sustained research over many years to locate members.

The group held its first reunion in 1951, and began meeting regularly beginning in 1974. Their tenth reunion was held in 2006.

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

This collection consists of materials related to ASTRP Company A, Unit 3923, mainly from the years following their military service. It documents the sustained long-term relationships of many members, and the group's post-war activities. Most of the records are those kept by member Hector Garcia as the informal archivist for the group, and the balance includes papers from Bob Glotzbach, a member who authored a history of the cohort, Fortunate Soldiers (or Soldiers of Fortune) (Glen Ellen, CA: Regeneration Sources, 1997).

The materials include correspondence, company rosters, files related to Garcia's efforts to locate cohort members, reunion files, statistical reports and compilations, collected historical materials, photographs and audiovisual media.

The collection is named in honor of Hector Garcia (1926-2009).

Use of the CollectionReturn to Top

Preferred Citation

[Item Description] ASTRP Company A, Unit 3923 collection

Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections, Washington State University Libraries, Pullman, WA.

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Arrangement

The Garcia and Glotzbach materials have been merged into a single collection arranged in six series:

Series 1: Correspondence, 1951-2003

Series 2: Membership records and member search files, 1984-2007

Series 3: Reports, memorabilia, historical and miscellaneous materials, 1944-2007

Series 4: Reunions, 1974-2006

Series 5: Audiovisual media, 1985-2006 and undated

Series 6: Photographs, 1974-2006

Location of Collection

(MASC STAFF USE) Folder 234: boxed oversize.

Acquisition Information

This collection was donated to the Washington State University Libraries in 2011 by Leah Garcia, the wife of Hector Garcia, the group's archivist, and Bob Glotzbach, a member of the group (accession number MS 2011-06).

Processing Note

This collection was processed in 2011 by Katrina Burch.

Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top

Series 1: Correspondence, 1951-2003Return to Top

Container(s)		Description
		Hector Garcia correspondence
Box	Folder
1	1	ASTRP members, 1974-2000
1	2	Ned Ward, 1974-1997
1	3-5	Bob Glotzbach, 1988-1999
1	6	Correspondence with non-members, 1989-2000
1	7	George Crampton, 1997-2000
1	8	Miscellaneous, 1990
Box	Folder
1	9	Bob Glotzbach correspondence, 1951-2003
2	10-14	Bob Glotzbach correspondence, 1951-2003 (continued)

Series 2: Membership records and member search files, 1984-2007Return to Top

Container(s)		Description
Box	Folder
2	15	Company A records, 1990-1998
3	16-17	Lists (Mailing, rosters, deceased members, and statistical data), 2003-2008
3	18	Rosters and search documents, undated
3	19	Membership correspondence, obituaries, information on Henry Butherus, and rosters, 2006-2007
3	20	Member verifications
3	21	Searches and results, 1988-2002
3	22	Death certificate application forms, circa 1997-2003
3	23	Death certificates and death notices, 1984-2006
4	24	Death certificates and death notices, 1984-2006 (continued)
4	25	Death records, 1974-2006
4	26	Death notices, 2005-2007
		Member search files
Box	Folder
4	27	Joseph Barlow, 1995-2004
4	28	Richard Hal Calkins, 1998-2003
4	29	Richard Kennedy Floyd, 1994-2001
4	30-32	William Claud Moore, 1994-1998
5	33	Robert V. Petersen, 1993-1997
5	34	Samuel Robert Rosenberg, Jr., 1994-1997
5	35	Bernard S. Schwartz, 1994-1997
5	36	Roger H. Walther, 1994-1997
5	37-38	Benito Luigi Bacci, Donald Heyworth Miller, Melvin Gale Roskelley, 1997-1999
5	39	Locating members, 1996-2008
5	40-41	Locating members, 1992-1997
Box	Folder
6	42	Identification of members of Platoons A and B, 1994 December

Series 3: Reports, memorabilia, historical and miscellaneous materials, 1944-2007Return to Top

Container(s)		Description
Box	Folder
6	43	ASTRP historical background and related correspondence, 1944-1986
6	44	Colonel Henry Butherus (correspondence, photograph, news clippings, and memorial information), 1976-2007
6	45	Photographs of Palouse and Camp Roberts, CA (photocopies), draft of Bob Glotzbach's book, and clipping from Forbes magazine, undated
6	46	Memorabilia (news articles, pamphlet, and photographs), undated
6	47	Memorabilia ("life after Pullman"), undated
6	48	Member orders, 1944
6	49	Story and photographs on Mary Lou Neil
6	50	Fortunate Soldiers (bound volume), 1997
6	51	Fortunate Soldiers (draft)
7	52	Data compilation by Hector Garcia (military statistics, post-war statistics, rosters, and information about deceased members)
7	53-54	ASTRP statistics, 1998

Series 4: Reunions, 1974-2006Return to Top

Container(s)		Description
Box	Folder
7	55-56	San Francisco, 1974
7	57-59	Oakland Airport, Oakland, CA, 1984-1986
8	60-61	Pullman, WA, 1990
8	62-63	Asilomar, CA, 1994
8	64-65	Hawaii (Kona) 1994-1997
8	66	Hawaii, 1997
8	67-68	Dana Point, CA, 1998-2000
8	69	Denver, CO, 2002
8	70	Denver, CO, 2002 (continued)
8	71	Seattle, WA, 2000-2005
9	72-73	Sacramento, CA, 2006

Series 5: Audiovisual media, 1985-2006 and undatedReturn to Top

Container(s)		Description
Box	Folder
10	74	Washington State reunion videocassette (VHS), 1990
10	75	Henry and May Butherus videocassette (VHS), 1997
10	76	Fiftieth reunion, Asilomar videocassette (VHS), 1994 May
10	77-78	Oakland Airport reunion videocassettes (2 BetaMax cassettes), 1985
10	79-80	Butherus interview (2 audiocassettes), 1985
10	81	Audiocassette, "Songs of Washington State--WSC Concert Band and Concert Choir" (reproduction), undated
10	82	Interview with Colonel Henry Butherus, Walla Walla, WA (audio recording on compact disc), 2006 September 24

Series 6: Photographs, 1974-2006Return to Top

Container(s)		Description
Box	Folder
11	83	Butherus memorial luncheon, Vacaville, CA, 2007 November 12
11	84	Visit to Butherus home, Walla Walla, WA, 2002 May 13
11	85	"Photos from time at WSU" (photocopies)
11	86	Miscellaneous (includes Butherus memorial, 1997-2007
11	87-88	Unidentified people and scenes from around the Palouse, undated
		Reunions
Box	Folder
11	89-98	San Francisco, 1974
11	99	Ad hoc planning committee meeting for the forty-first reunion, 1985
11	100	Luncheon at Hyatt Oakland, 1986
11	101-140	Pullman reunion, 1990
11	141-144	Asilomar, CA, 1994
12	145-179	Asilomar, CA, 1994 (continued)
12	180-222	Hawaii (Kona), 1997 November
12	223-228	Denver, CO, 2002 June
12	229	Seattle, WA, 2004 September
12	230-233	Sacramento, CA, 2006
Box	Folder
Oversize	234	1944 group portrait and related documentation

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