C1 Cover_S06.qxd - Penn GSE - University of Pennsylvania

the
spiritofservice
18 | Penn GSE | Fall 2007
On May 26, nearly 65 years after the fact, Bill Castetter Gr’48 stepped up to receive the eight
medals he had been awarded for service during World War II.
Pennsylvania Congressman Jim Gerlach did the honors, noting that Castetter “gave distinguished
service to our nation, and it’s a shame that it took over 60 years to get him this recognition.”
The awards Castetter picked up on that spring day were the
Bronze Star, Good Conduct Medal, American Campaign Medal,
European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, World War
II Victory Medal, Army of Occupation Medal, Combat
Infantryman’s Badge, and Honorable Service Lapel Button for
World War II.
Castetter had entered the Army as a private but, once his superior
officers learned he was a college man, they sent him to Officers
Candidate School. On his discharge, he had reached the rank of
captain, serving with a cannon company in the 180th Infantry
Regiment of the 45th Division.
The service for which he received his eight medals included 581
days of combat, served in units that took on the enemy in Sicily,
Italy, France, and Germany, and a post-war stint as a military governor
in occupied Austria. “I had three responsibilities there,” he
explains. “One was to gather any Nazis who were still loose.
Second, gather up all the war materials. Third, get the people in
that sector of Austria fed. The government would provide the
food, but I had to see to it that people got the food.”
By war’s end, he was so eager to get on with his life and his education
that he neglected to pick up his medals. “At the time, I wasn’t
interested,” Castetter explained at the May ceremony.
A Full Career
Stateside, Castetter was headed for graduate school at Stanford.
Although a native Pennsylvanian, he had earned his bachelor’s and
master’s degrees from the University of New Mexico, where his
brother served as provost, and intended to go west to finish his education.
But fate intervened when his father fell ill. “I came back East and as a result, I went to Penn for a
couple of courses,” he says. “Finally, I decided to take my Ph.D. there.”
While serving as professor of education and dean of men at Lebanon Valley College, Castetter pursued
his degree at Penn GSE, focusing his studies on educational administration. As with his Army
superiors, the GSE faculty recognized talent when they saw it. Early on, he was tapped to help the
state of Delaware with a post-war reorganization of its educational program.
The call from the state officials came to the GSE higher-ups, none of whom could manage the
commute down to Delaware every day. Castetter explains, “So they looked at me and they said,
‘There’s Castetter. Let’s send him down. He has a car and he’s not married and he can come up here
to the GSE on weekends and finish his courses.’ That’s how I got involved in it.
CANDACE DICARLO