Reflections of a Pragmatic Economist: My Intellectual Journey

2. WORLD WAR II (1943–1945)

21 2 WORLD WAR II (1943–1945) PREPARING FOR BATTLE It was an unseasonably cold and windy day in April 1943 when Mom and Dad accompanied me to Sumner County’s Selective Service office in Wellington, located about 15 miles from our home. There, orders were waiting requiring that I report to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, for induction into the armed services. I do not recall anyone else boarding the train in Wellington that day. I do recall, in vivid detail, my parents, in their clean, worn, and faded clothes, waving goodbye against the bleak Kansas backdrop. The United States had been a declared participant in World War II for only a little more than a year. My parents obviously feared I would soon be engaged in combat.1 And, of course, it was an emotional time for me. I sensed my life was changing, but in ways I could not imagine. After induction at Fort Leavenworth, I took aptitude tests and was assigned. To my great surprise, the tests were intellectually stimulating and enjoyable. I had no idea how they would be used, but I believed I had done well. The Air Force had not been separated from the Army at that time, but my stated preference for Air Force service was realized. I became a “Wild Blue Yonder Guy.” 22 CHAPTER 2 I was sent to Jefferson Barracks near St. Louis, Missouri, for basic training. We were told our basic training would be no different from that taken by Army infantry recruits, similar to the experience of thousands of others going into the Armed Forces at that time. I recall Thursday afternoon inspections with little fondness. We would march in full uniform, sometimes with a rifle, to the parade grounds. It was summer 1943 before we completed basic training, and outside temperatures often were high. Between two and three hours were required to permit each company to pass before the reviewing stand. When we were not marching, we stood at “parade rest.” This was more than many human bodies could endure for long periods, and numerous soldiers collapsed. I could hear the noises related to their fall as they went to the ground. Of course, we were not permitted to offer assistance. Rather, we would wait for the “meat wagons” to haul them away. I judge healthy young men and women were not damaged by such collapses , and I never had one. Dad came to see me when I was in Jefferson Barracks. He traveled by bus across half of Kansas and the full width of Missouri. He rented a room in St. Louis, and I went there to see him. His visit was most enjoyable , but he seemed much older than when I had told him goodbye a few months earlier. Mother told me later she had urged him to travel to see me because he had become despondent after I was inducted.2 When I completed basic training I was told I had been classified as a member of the Army Specialized Training Program and would return to Lincoln for additional testing and assignment. I had never heard of the program and had no basis for forming expectations. After arriving at Lincoln, we were given many competency tests and were told the test results would determine to what university we would go for “specialized training.” I was asked to indicate a preference between engineering and military government. I do not recall that we were given much detail about what either would entail in practice. In any case, I chose military government because of my interest in social problems and public policy. When my test results were interpreted for me, I was told my aptitude for mathematics was superior to that for languages and that I had been assigned to study engineering rather than military government . My image of army engineering was building bridges in a swamp, WORLD WAR II (1943–1945) 23 or some similar place. I asked what my fate would be if I refused the engineering option. The reply was that I probably would be trained for a combat assignment. By that time, my ambivalence concerning the war had largely disappeared. I reflected that combat was the reason I was in uniform, and I rejected the opportunity to study engineering. A questionable decision by an immature soldier! I was then returned to Jefferson Barracks for reassignment. I was alternately given guard duty and...