Whitworthian articles from 1941 to 1944 documented the effects of World War II on Whitworth's community. Articles from volumes 33 through 36 give first hand accounts of students' experiences and thoughts during the war, Whitworth's financial difficulties, and how Whitworth honored their military personal.
After Japan bombed Pearl Harbor Dec. 7, 1941, Whitworth students gathered in their gym to listen to President Roosevelt's war address to Congress and the United States. John Henricksen gave a firsthand account in his column "Green Perspective" that Dec. "The President of the United States was speaking. Every face was turned toward the radio...There shone not one smile anywhere...The President had asked for war," Henricksen wrote.
Later in the column "Do the Students Think?" of that same issue, Henricksen expressed his thoughts about how a Christian student ought to react to this news.
"You and I and everybody else that are saved are not so much at war with Japan as we are at war with the world!" Henricksen wrote. "Our duty is not to kill, but to instill life for Christ!"
However, many students did not take Henricksen's advice. Whitworth students enrolled in all branches of the military, and in Nov. 1942, four officers from all major branches of the U.S. military came to Whitworth's campus to convince students to enlist.
Private Odin Baugh left Whitworth to join the war effort. In the column "This Man's Army" from April of 1942, he wrote a letter describing life in the army. "We stand reveille at 6:15 [a.m.] and shiver the whole time we are doing it--we're located in sunny California. Following this is breakfast...The line is formed not to exceed one mile long, and after waiting for 35 minutes, we are gloriously rewarded with a glass of water and a cracker," Baugh wrote.
The column "This Man's Army" appeared again in May of 1942. This time, Private John Rodkey from the U.S. air corps wrote the letter. Rodkey discussed how only a small percentage of those in the air corps actually became pilots. He described his experiences in radio school.
"If you can imagine a duck with his neck stretched out and 'bashed' on top of the head, that is about how a fellow feels after listening to di-di-di-dah-dit-di-dah-dit, etc, for three and a half hours," Rodkey wrote.
After losing many students and potential students to the war effort, Whitworth and many other colleges found funding tight by 1943. An article in February of 1943 stated this and even expressed fear of Whitworth having to close down.
Despite their financial situation, Whitworth continued to support the war by housing the Army's Secondary Flight Instructors' course, according to the article "Flight Training" in Oct. 1943.
Also, an article in January of 1942 reported that Whitworth elected a war council to build morale and investigate changes in curriculum and the set up of the school year. The war coucil also created a sub-committee to initiate a program that would make students feel they had a part in the war effort.
The article "Whitworth College Serves in the War Effort" published in May of 1942 gave further details about these changes. Whitworth extended its program to a full 12-month school year. That summer, a full quarter of work would be given. The article stated that the army and navy needed men qualified to be officers, and they encouraged young men to have as much college training as possible. Whitworth adjusted their school year to work with those enlisting in the military.
Many students left Whitworth to join the war effort, and they were remembered through Service Flag that hung in the library. According to an article in May of 1942, this Service Flag had 17 stars with each star representing a member of the Whitworth community fighting for the country.
"The stars on the Service Flag represent men and women who have been in college since the passing of the selective service act in October, 1940," the reporter wrote. According to the article, this flag also included an Honor List of other alumni and former students in the armed forces.
According to a Whitworthian article published in December of 1942, the number of stars on the service flag had grown to 45.
That same issue also gave news that two Whitworth pilots were killed when their training planes collided over Half Moon prairie several miles north of school.
Whitworth also honored members of their community who lost their lives to the war by adding gold stars to the Service Flag. According to an article published in November of 1944, there were a total of four gold stars on the Service Flag.
President Frank Warren personally honored those who served in the military by writing a letter to them Nov. 23, 1944.
"Unlike scores of small colleges throughout the land, Whitworth will not be closed when you return...More than ever you are a part of us, and wherever you are, we are there too. We join hearts and hands that Thanksgiving, 1945, will find a world at peace, and you, as God may direct, back again among the pines," Warren wrote.
Warren's message was published in the Whitworthian in Dec. 1944. By that time the following year, the war and Whitworth's efforts in it would be over.
Rachel Bair can be contacted at rachel.bair@whitworthian.com.
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