This and that: The last Friday edition this year
Author John Norberg on his book ‘A Spirit of Service.’ Dining Divas uncover the tucked away Parkway Pizza. And more
Support for this edition of Based in Lafayette comes from Purdue Convocations. Didn’t get what you wanted? Shop our Year End Sale and save $5 on tickets to our biggest spring shows, including Hadestown, TEDxPurdueU: Parallax, Pretty Woman: The Musical, Chicago, and “Vivaldi’s Four Seasons at 300” by Baroque chamber ensemble Les Arts Florissants. Valid through Jan. 1, 2025. Limit 6 discounted tickets per show, zones B & C only. SHOP THE SALE
This and that on Friday …
Q&A: AUTHOR JOHN NORBERG, ON ‘A SPIRIT OF SERVICE’
Author and Purdue historian John Norberg’s ninth book, “A Spirit of Service: Purdue University and the United States Military,” came out this month through Purdue University Press.
The project from Norberg – whose book “Ever True: 150 Years of Giant Leaps at Purdue” was part of the university’s sesquicentennial in 2019 – is part of the College of Engineering’s 150th anniversary in 2024.
Here’s a portion of a Q&A with Norberg, via Purdue Press.
Question: Could you give a brief description of your book?
John Norberg: “A Spirit of Service” uses stories of people to tell the history of Purdue University and the military from the school’s founding through today’s education and training of military personal and leadership in national security and defense research including hypersonics and semiconductors. It is the stories of men and women who lived this history, from ROTC students to a Medal of Honor recipient, from soldiers at the front during the Great War to a man who witnessed the Dec. 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor, from a pilot who led thousands of planes in bombing missions over Germany during World War II to military astronauts, from trailblazing female officers and pilots to 21st century teachers and researchers who are creating the future. It records the stories of Purdue men and women whose patriotism, leadership and heroism have preserved life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for generations of Americans — past, present and future.
Question: What is the goal of your book? What motivated you to write it?
John Norberg: The goal of the book is to show the extensive efforts taking place at Purdue in support of military personnel and national security and defense research and the long history behind it. Today about 500 male and female Purdue students are enrolled in Reserved Officers Training Corps (ROTC), another 2,100 military-connected students are studying for degrees on Purdue campuses. Purdue has an office created to assist military-connected students with their unique needs and G.I. Bill benefits. The Purdue Global online school enrolls more than 30,000 students, nearly 10,000 of them with connections to the military and growing, and the university has another online program with about 1,000 military connected students. The Purdue Military Research Institute (PMRI) provides more active military officers with graduate degrees than any non-military school in the nation. We profiled people who graduated from Purdue and had incredible careers in the military. We profiled Purdue graduates who served in the military and that experience helped them with careers in business. We also wanted to show students of today the wonderful learning and scholarship opportunities that are available to them through the military.
Question: Is there anything that shocked or surprised you while working on this project?
John Norberg: There is so much that interested me. More than 100 Purdue faculty worked on the Manhattan Project that created the atomic bomb. Before he became president of Purdue, Frederick Hovde played an important role in development of the bomb. Purdue Controller (later Vice President and Treasurer) R.B. Stewart was chairman of the advisory board to the Veterans Administration and played a key role in the administration of the Serviceman’s Readjustment Act, the G.I. Bill of Rights. Dean of Women Dorothy Stratton and Helen Schleman, director of Duhme Hall and later dean of women, were two of the highest-ranking females in military service during and immediately after World War II. The book tells the stories of women and African Americans and the military, including Purdue women who became among the first military jet pilots, admirals and generals. It also tells the story of a Purdue Marine who studied at Purdue and became the first African American officer in the Corps. It tells the story of a Purdue military drill team in the 1950s and 1960s that won six national championships. It was the best team in the university’s history. Judges stopped scoring them in the middle of one contest and just sat down and enjoyed it.
Question: Is it common knowledge or commonly mentioned that military training is an aspect of education included in the Morrill Act? Why is that significant in the context of this book?
John Norberg: It’s well known that the federal Morrill Land Grant Act of 1862 provided funds for the creation of universities and required that they teach engineering and agriculture because the nation needed people in these fields. It is far less known that the act required Land Grant universities to teach military tactics. In 1862 thousands of officers were needed by Union forces in the Civil War. The nation had only hundreds of trained men available. While it was too late to train officers for that war, it was decided to train reserve officers at universities for the nation’s future needs.
Question: What are some things/places/organizations students and alumni would be familiar with on campus but might not realize are associated with ROTC, the military training mandate from the Morrill Act, and/or Purdue’s history of military service?
John Norberg: The Purdue Band was formed in 1886 to perform for cadets while they marched. In 1935 the band became known as the All-American Marching Band. From its inception through most of the 20th century it was a military band. So, in 1892 when the Board of Trustees required all male freshman and sophomore students to take military training, participation in the band fulfilled that requirement. In the mid-1960s, with encouragement from the U.S. military, universities, including Purdue, ended the requirement that all male students take two years of military training. Since 1918 the Purdue Armory has played a significant role in U.S. military and university history. The Purdue Airport, the first university airport in the nation, was used to train young men as pilots before U.S. involvement in World War II and helped recruit young men to West Lafayette who would become the nation’s first astronauts.
Question: What is the first war Purdue military students are known to have participated in?
John Norberg: In 1898 war broke out between the United States and Spain. It ended in months and six Boilermaker students and alumni took part. In the summer 1916, before American involvement in the Great War in 1917, the Purdue Battery B student Artillery unit was sent to Texas to guard the border with Mexico. A revolution was underway in Mexico and Francisco “Pancho” Villa was a key leader. His forces were crossing into the United States stealing supplies and killing Americans. President Woodrow Wilson sent Gen. John “Blackjack” Pershing and thousands of regular army soldiers into Mexico to capture Villa and scattered his troops. That left no one to guard the border so Wilson sent in National Guard units from around the nation, including those at universities such as Purdue. They stayed through the summer under harsh weather conditions.
Question: Is there a particular battle or war that Purdue military students/ROTC are associated with? How many different wars have Purdue military students participated in?
John Norberg: Purdue students, faculty, alumni and administrators have taken part in all U.S. wars and military actions beginning with the Spanish American War. The book tells the stories of Purdue students in the Great War taken from their diaries and journals as they fought through France — brutal battles leaving thousands of men dead on the battle fields. It also describes the young men on their visits to Paris, their first taste of wine and French cooking before and after the battles. Sixty-seven Boilermakers died in the Great War. More of them died of flu than from battle injuries during the influenza pandemic. During The Great War and World War II, Purdue was essentially a military camp. There were more military personnel in training at Purdue during World War II than regular students. Five hundred Boilermakers died in uniform during World War II.
FOR MORE: For more of this Q&A and to order “A Spirit of Service: Purdue University and United States Military,” check Purdue Press here.
THIS AND THAT/OTHER READS …
J&C sports reporter Sam King had the destinations for several top Purdue volleyball players – including McCutcheon grad and All-Big Ten outside hitter Chloe Chicoine, once the top recruit in the nation – after they entered the transfer portal at the end of the Boilers’ NCAA tournament run. Here’s the full story from Sam King: “Purdue volleyball stars choose transfer destinations, Boilers fill roster voids.”
Meanwhile, this video on Facebooks is how Purdue volleyball coach Dave Shondell sized up the changing landscape in college athletics, where the portal works both ways.
State Affairs reporter Rory Appleton had a Q&A with David Rosenberg, Indiana’s outgoing secretary of commerce, who appeared to have few regrets about the Indiana Economic Development Corp.’s work on the LEAP district near Lebanon and the criticism tossed the IEDC’s way about how transparent the quasi-public agency’s been in recent years: “I’m very, very happy with how things have played out, and I think it's only the beginning. I think that district will continue to expand and grow.” No mention about water or about how the LEAP pipeline from western Tippecanoe County worked out – or, in this case, hasn’t worked out – but here’s the full Q&A: “Indiana commerce secretary on LEAP, the state’s future and what he would have done differently.”
The answer to this headline is, Yes, Party City locations in Indiana are closing. At least, that’s according to the company’s announcement earlier this week. Lafayette’s location, at 311 Sagamore Parkway N., is among 17 in Indiana. Here’s more, via USA Today: “Are Party City locations in Indiana closing? What to know about bankruptcy filing.”
DINING DIVAS AND DUDES: PARKWAY PIZZA AND SUBS
Dining Divas and Dudes is a team that has been reporting and rating new restaurants, hidden gems, international fare and updated menus from old favorites for years now via Visit Lafayette-West Lafayette at homeofpurdue.com. Here at Based in Lafayette, we feature some of Dining Divas and Dudes’ latest finds.
Recently, they took in Parkway Pizza and Subs, 405 Sagamore Parkway S., Suite B-1 (tucked away behind Lindo Mexico). The reaction to the menu of “everything from pizza and burgers to a pretty full Mediterranean menu,” from the review: “When you come here, you really need to bring an appetite and some homies because they do not mess around with the portion sizes! Everything was seriously so, so good, and there was just so much of it. … I give this joint a 100/10. Mind blowing goodness all around. Wow. Wow. Wow.”
Check the full Dining Divas and Dudes post/review here: “Slice of Heaven: the Ultimate Pizza and Sub Experience.”
Support for today’s edition comes from Purdue Convocations. Didn’t get what you wanted? Shop our Year End Sale and save $5 on tickets to our biggest spring shows, including Hadestown, TEDxPurdueU: Parallax, Pretty Woman: The Musical, Chicago, and “Vivaldi’s Four Seasons at 300” by Baroque chamber ensemble Les Arts Florissants. Valid through Jan. 1, 2025. Limit 6 discounted tickets per show, zones B & C only. SHOP THE SALE
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Tips, story ideas? I’m at davebangert1@gmail.com.
Hope! Re Party City: I observed that Big Lots announced closing all its stores. A 2025 story might be about what Greater Lafayette's master plan is regarding the increasing barren footprints left in our strip malls, including excessive asphalt parking. Are these housing and greenspace opportunities? Maybe instead of building new out on the edges, reuse and build our interior--and with interesting architecture.
As a child who grew up on University Street across from the Armory, that I walked past 4 X a day to attend Morton elementary school, I thoroughly enjoyed your extensive reporting. It was exciting when the different branches of the army in full dress uniforms used to march out in parade formation. They all were so handsome to me as a little kid. Thank you so very much for bringing back these wonderful memories of 70 years ago.