ULM has respected military history

Originally published in The News-Star newspaper, September 10, 2006

In 1939 Northeast Center became Northeast Junior College of LSU. As NJC began its era, which would last until 1950, it was a time of settling in. But in Europe, World War II had begun.

One of the historical documents referenced by Thomas Hatfield in "A Junior College Man" was a radio script of a broadcast by the U.S. Fourth Army for "Fourth Army Presents" on Jan. 28, 1949. With the help of archivist Glenn Jordan in the ULM Special Collections, we found it. The script contains many fascinating historical facts not only about our founding and history, but also about NJC's involvement with the military.

According to the Fourth Army report, flight instruction at NJC began in 1939 under the supervision of Fayette Leroy Severance and was coordinated by Dean Colvert. Under this program, which grew over five years from 10 students to a class of 200 cadets headed by six officers, 36 flight and ground instructors and total contracts of more than $350,000, some 1,500 students (including three women) ultimately received some or all of their flight training for the military. Many became "top-ace" fliers during World War II. One, Henry Florsheim, a student in 1933-34, was later "acclaimed one of the two best bombardiers of all Europe."

One of the most enthusiastic students was Dean Colvert himself, who earned his pilot's license and subsequently became known as the "Flying Dean" in the state of Louisiana.

Colvert established another aid to the war effort. While testifying before a Senate Committee on National Defense, he met Gen. Bull, the chief Reserve Officers Training Corps officer of the War Department. Colvert had tried for several years to establish ROTC at the college but had been refused. Bull contacted his friend, Gen. Campbell Hodges, then president of Louisiana State University, who quickly approved the request.

In September, 1942 the Department of Military Science and Tactics was opened at NJC with an infantry battalion of 350 men. The first officer to head the unit was Lt. Col. Frederick Logan Pond. Pond, from Pennsylvania, held bachelors, masters and doctoral degrees from Allegheny College and Pennsylvania State University. He had fought in World War I and was wounded in France.

Pond was succeeded in 1944 by Capt. Bernard D. Reynolds Jr., a Texas A&M graduate. In 1946, Maj. Joseph Murphy took over and was then succeeded in 1948 by Maj. Hugh W. McClary, a former Monroe resident.

Although we are not sure of the numbers of officers commissioned during those first 10 years, we know that since 1952, 863 of our graduates received commissions.

Have a great day at ULM.

Dr. John Knesel, ULM Professor

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