Cal Poly World War II Honor Roll

This post about the Cal Poly World War II Honor Roll is part of
genealogist Heather Wilkinson Rojo‘s Honor Roll Project
for Memorial Day 2017.

For the Honor Roll Project, volunteers are taking photos of war memorials and honor rolls, posting them on their genealogy blogs and websites, and transcribing the names of people listed. These transcriptions make the names available for search engines, and the names will be available for people searching for family, ancestors, and friends.

The honor roll I’ve chosen is located at California Polytechnic State University, dedicated to students lost during World War II. During the war years, California Polytechnic College – as it was then known – played a leading role in the war effort in California:

Courtesy University Archives, Kennedy Library, Cal Poly

Established war-preparedness training programs in industrial arts for men and women.

Served as state headquarters for the Food Production War Training Program, providing instruction to 120,000 California farmers.

Japanese-American Cal Poly students who were interned volunteered for the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, the most decorated unit in World War II.

Opened campus to U.S. Naval Flight Preparatory School (V-7 program) trained over 3,600 cadets.

Led drives for scrap iron, paper, and rubber from San Luis Obispo County residents.

Harvested “war crops” like sugar beets.

Held war bond rallies.

The greatest sacrifice was paid by fifty-eight Cal Poly students, who laid down their lives in World War II:

They are remembered. If you would like to pay your respects in person, directions, a map, and the GPS coordinates for the Cal Poly World War II Honor Roll plaque are available here.