Davenport was sent to join the 27th Division in the Philippines to prepare for the invasion of Japan. But he and others said they were glad the action they planned was unnecessary.

"Before the invasion could be mounted, why,they dropped the atomic bomb, and Japansurrendered," Gen. Davenport says.

The general says the war had a profound effecton a wide cross-section of the nation.

"It made a major change in my life, and it madea major change in the lives of anybody who was inthe military service or who produced anything thatthe military used," Davenport says.

Donald B. Cole '44-'43, a Navy landing craftofficer, took part in landings at Guam, LeyteIsland, the Lingayen Gulf, the Bataan peninsulaand Okinawa.

"Guam has a reef all around it," Cole says. "Myboat got stuck on the reef. I opened the ramp tolet the soldiers out. The water came in, and theboat sank," Cole says. The boat was latersalvaged, he says, because "the water was not verydeep."

That ordeal--and the war overall--more thancompensated for the time Cole lost in college.

"It helped me grow up," Cole says. "It gave ussome opportunity to go out on our own. It wasquite a maturing experience."

Radcliffe at War, Too

Learning from taking part in the war was notlimited to men; Radcliffe students like DartheaPark Stalnaker '44-'47 of Portland, Ore., alsomobilized in America's effort.

In June 1943, Stalnaker enlisted in WomenAccepted for Voluntary Emergency Service (WAVES),the Navy's program for women.

Stalnaker was sent to boot camp at HunterCollege in New York. "It consisted mostly ofmarching," she says.

Stalnaker's interests were not confined to theground, however. "I was fascinated with the ideaof flying," she says. So she was assigned to abase in Atlanta, Ga., where she trained pilotswith flight simulators.

But the training machines were not Stalnaker'sfirst stop. "When I first got there, everyone hadto draw lots. And three of us got two weeks ofkitchen duty before we could begin our training,"she says. "That's where I learned how to sweep."

In Atlanta, Stalnaker was also able to takeprivate flying lessons. Later, she learnedcelestial navigation in Quonset, R.I., and taughtit to sailors in Corpus Christi, Texas.

"One of my happiest memories in the Navy waswhen I was entrusted to fly the plane from Newark,over Philadelphia and Washington, down to SouthCarolina," she says. "It was very beautiful. Allthe lights were coming on, and the sun wassetting. It was very mysterious and beautiful."