Washington State University Libraries, Manuscripts, Archives and Special Collections
Cage 763
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
5.75 Linear feet of shelf space
12 boxes
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.
(MASC STAFF USE) Folder 234: boxed oversize.
Collection materials are inEnglish
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.
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).
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
This collection is open and available for research use.
[Item Description]
ASTRP Company A, Unit 3923 collection
Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections,
Washington State University Libraries, Pullman, WA.
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).
This collection was processed in 2011 by Katrina Burch.
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the online
catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or
places should search the catalog using these headings.
Army Specialized Training Program (U.S.) -- History.
State College of Washington -- History -- Sources.
United States. Army -- History -- World War, 1939-1945.
Washington State University -- History -- Sources.
Teenage soldiers -- United States -- History -- Sources.
Veterans -- United States -- Biography.
Military
Washington (State)
Colleges and Universities
Series 1: Correspondence,
1951-2003
Hector Garcia correspondence
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
1
9
Bob Glotzbach correspondence,
1951-2003
2
10-14
Bob Glotzbach correspondence, 1951-2003
(continued)
Series 2: Membership records and member search
files, 1984-2007
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
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
6
42
Identification of members of Platoons A
and B, 1994 December
Series 3: Reports, memorabilia, historical and
miscellaneous materials, 1944-2007
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, 1974-2006
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
undated
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, 1974-2006
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
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
Oversize
234
1944 group portrait and related
documentation