• Home
• Organization
• History
  • Citizen Soldier Origins
  • Birth of The Citadel
  • Mexican War (1846-1848)
  • Civil War
  • U.S. Army Occupation
  • Post Civil War Era
  • War with Spain & WWI
  • Greater Citadel
  • WWII & Korea
  • The Cold War Era
  • Societal Challenges & Change
  • The Global War on Terror
  • The Alamo Battalion
  • Sources
• Events
• Join the Alamo Battalion
• Join the Corps of Cadets
• Photos
• Links
• Contact Us

World War II and Korea

In just 100 years, The Citadel rose from one of the smallest military colleges to be the largest and most prestigious of the state supported military colleges in the United States. The Corps of Cadets numbered 2,000 strong by 1942. The Citadel had the honor of producing the highest percentage of alumni to fight in World War II of any state supported college in the United States. Of the living alumni (2,976) in 1946, records show that 2,927 (all able-bodied alumni) served their country in uniform with 282 killed in combat. With the exception of the United States Military Academy at West Point, The Citadel had the highest percentage of its alumni serving in World War II. Citadel men led operations in the Pacific theater, Europe, Africa, and in international waters the world over. They served in the Army, Army Air Corps, Navy and Marine Corps. Citadel graduates fought in combat from the attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec 7, 1941 to D-Day and VJ Day four years later. Even before the United States entered the war in Dec 1941, graduates fought the axis powers with allied nations. Lt Col George Bray McMillan, U.S. Army Air Corps, class of 1938, was a flight leader with the famous American Volunteer Group known as the "Flying Tigers" in China and Maj Roland F. Wooten, Jr., class of 1936, flew with the Royal Air Force during the Battle of Britain. Both men became "aces" by shooting down multiple enemy aircraft before the war ended. Lt Horace E. Crouch, class of 1940, flew in the first raid over Japan with "Doolittle's Raiders" in 1942 and bailed out of his aircraft over China. Lt Col McMillan and Maj Wooten both earned their pilot wings at Randolph Field, TX. Lt Col McMillan was killed in aerial combat in June 1944. Just a few years after the war ended in 1945, the college and her graduates would again answer the call to serve.

The War in Korea saw Citadel men in action once again. About 1500 graduates remained on active duty after World War II and fought in Korea. Thirty-two were killed in combat. This was the dawn of a new era known as the Cold War. World War II and Korea saw Citadel graduates serving in all officer grades from Second Lieutenant to four-star General.

Of the two state supported military colleges now left in existence, The Citadel became the largest. The antebellum military college kept its small, selective Corps of Cadets atmosphere known as the few, the proud, The Citadel. Several other state supported Land Grant military colleges dropped the mandatory military training requirements for students and became primarily civilian colleges with large ROTC detachments from the 1930s through the 1960s. These distinguished Land Grant institutions include Texas A&M (founded 1876), Virginia Tech (founded 1872) and Clemson University (founded 1893). Since 1842, The Citadel remains today as the premiere college of the Citizen Soldier in the United States and steadfast to its mission to educate principled leaders.

The Greater Citadel      The Cold War