WWII Veteran Gets Honorary Degree From Regis University

WWII Veteran, 93, earns honorary degree
9NEWS
KUSA
Janet Oravetz
December 21, 2014

93-year-old World War II vet received honorary degree from Regis University

(Photo: KUSA)

KUSA - Sidney Shafner, 93, began attending Regis University in 1943 as part of an elite group of American men selected for the Army Specialized Training Corps.

"It was right after Pearl Harbor and, I knew sooner or later I'd get an invitation from Uncle Sam," Shafner said. "My brother, my younger brother, and I both enlisted."

In the meantime, he worked hard at Regis toward an engineering degree.

"I didn't sneak out at night to go to Lakeside or Elitchs. Some of the guys did. I studied. I wasn't great, just studied," Shafner said. "In Physics we had to take a chapter a day. That's no joke."

His education was cut short in March of 1944 when he and the other men in the program were sent to training camp in Oklahoma and eventually deployed to Europe. He recalls the time he spent on the Northwest Denver Campus as a highlight of his life. It was here the Philadelphia native saw the Rocky Mountains for the first time and met his wife of 68 years, Esther.

"We were disappointed and surprised," Shafner said. "We had a good deal while we were at Regis. We were surprised but we knew the reason. They explained the reason for us, we were getting ready for intervention in Europe and they needed as many [young men] as they could get to muster and get together."
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