fter the devastating attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, the U.S. military was facing a shortage of naval aviators. During the Japanese strike, over 2,000 Americans were killed and millions of dollars in military assets, such as planes, cruisers and destroyers, were lost. The Navy established four pre-flight academies in the United States and chose college campuses because they had the space and the necessary resources to run such an operation. On February 27, 1942, Navy Secretary Frank Knox sent a telegram to Saint Mary’s College stating that the campus had been selected to host one of the pre-flight establishments. Roughly six months later, the population at Saint Mary’s exponentially increased and the campus was a fully functioning military training site.