A Prolific Poet’s Connection to CMU

In summer 1943, Carnegie Mellon University (then the Carnegie Institute of Technology) transformed its grounds into a training school for the U.S. Army as America ramped up its engagement in World War II. Among the thousands of trainees in the program was Kurt Vonnegut, renowned American poet and author.

Vonnegut enlisted in the Army in November 1942. A month later, the U.S. War Department announced the formation of the Army Specialized Training Program (ASTP). The Carnegie Institute of Technology was among its member universities.

An ASTP training roster dated Nov. 24, 1943, is the only mention of Vonnegut’s name inside the University Archives' ASTP records. His name also appears in the 1942-46 student directory, which is kept separate from the ASTP files.

After leaving Carnegie Tech, Vonnegut did additional training at the University of Tennessee and at Camp Atterbury in Indiana. He became an intelligence scout and traveled with his unit to Le Havre, France. During the Battle of the Bulge, Vonnegut was captured and taken to Dresden, Germany as a prisoner of war. He was forced to labor while sheltered in a slaughterhouse — an experience that inspired his breakthrough novel, “Slaughterhouse 5.”

The International Poetry Forum invited Vonnegut to speak at CMU in 1971. Tickets sold out in a day and the event had to be moved to Heinz Hall due to the author’s popularity. He began his address with a poem dedicated to Carnegie Tech.

Vonnegut returned to Pittsburgh throughout his career. His final appearance in the area came on Nov. 9, 1998, at the Byham Theater.

Recording courtesy International Poetry Forum/Carlow University