I was searching for information about the class of 1944, as well as a particular individual from that class. Today I had a client that told me his Dad, Clifford H Estes ’44, was in the "Ghost" Class of 1944. I have heard of this before, in that supposedly the entire class enlisted as a group. I would love to find more information about that and about Mr. Estes. Apparently he also taught at TAMU in the 50's. I have searched the internet thru every search word I can think of, as well as the Aggie Network website, and only find a basic Silver Taps notification about his passing in 2004. I figured this would be a good place to ask as well as you guys know stuff. Anybody have any more info or ideas on where to dig more stuff up? It is a fascinating story and one I'd like to know more about. Thanks.

My father was '44. A&M went on a trimester system after the war began in order to produce officer candidates more quickly.

The class was mustered into the service in the spring of 1943. Individuals went to basic training in various branches (mostly Army), then to OCS, then to officer branch school. Though he was in Coast Artillery at A&M, my father, who majored in Petroleum Engineering, wound up in a combat engineer regiment that was sent to Europe, arriving in Le Havre, France, in early January 1945. He served through the end of the war and was part of the Army of Occupation.

He believed that the US would get into a war with the Soviets and toyed with the idea of staying in the Army, but his father--who was damned if he was going to stay home while his son went to war and became ship's surgeon on a troop transport that was nearly sunk off Okinawa--told him to get the hell back to A&M and finish his degree.

And he did, as did many others from the war years. He graduated in 1948. Their class yell was, "Class of '44! We went off to war! Now we're back for more!" or words to that effect.

I have found the photo and entry for Clifford Estes in my father's "Longhorn" annual, as the Aggieland was called in those days. He was a 1st Lt. in the Corps, second in command of the Infantry Band. (There were two major units in the Band in those days; the other was the Field Artillery Band.) He was from Hereford, majoring in Fish and Game. He was in the Fish and Game Club and the United Science Club.





[This message has been edited by OldArmy71 (edited 1/7/2014 10:34p).]

Thanks for the info, OldArmy. You've got a lot of impressive history in your family.

fishnvet, I found this after a quick Google search:

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/statesman/obituary.aspx?n=clifford-harrison-estes&pid=2057271&fhid=4302

You might be able to find some info in the book, Texas Aggies Go To War, which I believe can be purchased through the Corps of Cadets Association. Just a thought.

My grandfather was class of '44 as well. He passed a year ago so I can't ask him for more specifics, but we talked quite a bit about his time at A&M. I'll have to get the timelines from what we wrote down, but he enlisted with a portion of his class, but left the Army as a Captain. I'm not sure if he was enlisted through the war and commissioned upon graduating after the war or if he commissioned during the war.

He had a good deal of resentment towards the way it was handeled, I think because of the process when he came back to A&M after the war to finish school.