Re me mberi ng Parkites Who Died in World War II A
lthough no permanent memorial was erected to honor the 20 Park men killed in action during World War II, there were, indeed, tributes to their sacrifice. The Alumni Association held a memorial service May 25, 1946; the program listed the names, rank and time of service of all who died. Another opportunity to honor those men came about from the need for more student housing. Park’s dormitories could not accommodate the number of returning veterans, so President George I. Rohrbough
14 >> www.park.edu
sought aid from the U.S. government and arranged for a barracks and three Quonset huts to be built on campus. The barracks was northeast of Old Nickel, and the three Quonsets were east of the science hall along the walkway to Chesnut. The barracks was completed in early 1947 and named for Arthur Dyer, ’33, who was killed during the bombing of Pearl Harbor. At the time he was serving as an Army weather forecaster. The three Quonset huts — Nelson, Phillips and Thomas — also were
named for Park servicemen who lost their lives: Army Air Force 1st Lt. Chester L. Nelson, ’42, killed in action over the Mediterranean; Army Air Force Lt. Leonard H. Phillips, ’38, killed in England; and Army Sgt. David Sleeth Thomas, x43, killed in Aachen, Germany. All four buildings served the campus for years — Dyer as a dormitory until 1967 and the Quonsets as living space and classroom buildings. Dyer was razed in 1967, and at least one of the Quonsets survived until 1990.
by Carolyn McHenry Elwess, ’71, Park University archivist