A brilliant student and scholar, my Uncle Kenneth Speas studied languages at the Army Language School in Monterey, California, to prepare him for work in the Army Corps' Interrogation Prisoner of War Department during the Korean Conflict.
His advanced training and skills qualified him for the rank of Major.
The Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center was established just prior to America’s entry into World War II. With a goal to teach Japanese, the school was located in the Presidio of San Franciosco in an abandoned airplane hanger at Crissy Field. Classes began November 1, 1941, with four instructors and 60 students. In 1946 the school moved to the Presidio of Monterey and was renamed the Army Language School. During 1947 and 1948, the curriculum expanded rapidly, teaching more than thirty languages and dialects. Russian was the largest language program, followed by Chinese, Korean, and German.
While Kenneth studied languages and interrogated prisoners, his wife Ruby was on the home front with their three children, Diane, Jerry, and Kenny.
