War Bond Drives

Cadets sell war bonds around Austin

Sixth war bond drive

Detailed orders for Armistice Day parade

War bond pledge

Cash ward to best bond salesmen

Memorandum for war bond dance

     Because the Military Academy was for boys who were too young to be drafted, they used the cadets for domestic campaigns while they were in training. When the cadets weren’t training, the primary campaign for the Cadets was promoting the purchases of war bonds.[30]

     The St. Edward’s Military Academy was seen as highly suitable to help market the sale of war bonds for the U.S. Department of Treasury. The St. Edward’s Cadets convoyed around Texas and took part in city-wide parades gauged at boosting morale and the selling of war bonds. “The Cadets launched a war bond parade to establish their quota of $100,000," the student newspaper chimed.[31] 

     On the 1944 Armistice Day parade, day students were allowed to take their rifles home with them over the weekend so that they could bring them to the parade. Cadets paraded up Congress Avenue all the way to the capitol. After the parade the Cadets separated into small squadrons to their assigned parts of town to canvas and solicit Austinites to pledge to buy war bonds. In total the Cadets participated in at least three war bond drives.[32]

     Among the many awards allotted to the Cadets of St. Edward’s, there was a competition with a monetary reward for the Cadet who received the most pledges for purchases of war bonds.[33] They also held war bond fundraising dances where they raffled off a war bond to some lucky Cadet and their date (assuming they were not a ‘stag’). Interestingly enough, the academy was concerned about Cadets catching polio and therfore were very strict as to where they allowed Cadets to go when they were not on campus.[34]