Albert Starke Drischell was born in Brooklyn, New York, on August 3, 1924. His parents were Desmond J. and Ella Lehrmann Drischell, and he had two younger siblings, Ralph and Ruth. He graduated from Baldwin High School in Baldwin, New York, in 1941, and joined the United States Army on January 14, 1943. He spent time at Camp Upton on Long Island, after which he was transferred to Camp Swift, Texas, for basic training with Company C of the 803rd Military Police Battalion. In April 1943, he was admitted to the Army Specialized Training Program, and he took engineering courses at the New Mexico College of Agricultural and Mechanical Arts between May and November 1943. After failing a course and being removed from the program, he moved to Fort Custer, Michigan, where he took classes on military government. In March 1944, Drischell was transferred to Camp Reynolds, Pennsylvania, as part of the 517th Replacement Company, 52nd Replacement Battalion. After arriving in Scotland in May 1944, he was later sent to England, remaining there until March 1945. While in England, he participated in a touring army theater group and unsuccessfully attempted to obtain re-classification as a conscientious objector because of his religious beliefs.
In March 1945, Drischell traveled to France as a member of Company A of the 318th Infantry Regiment. At the end of the war, he was stationed in Austria, where he remained until late August 1945. He was then transferred to Paris to participate in one of the army's dramatic groups. After returning to the United States, Drischell attended the Carnegie Institute of Technology and the Hamma School of Divinity, from which he graduated in 1966. He was later a pastor for Lutheran churches in Buffalo and Bemus Point, New York. He married Patricia Snedden Drischell on August 25, 1951, and the couple had three children: Kim Drischell Knoll, Laurie Alden, and Desmond Brady Drischell. Albert S. Drischell died in October 2004.
From the guide to the Albert Starke Drischell collection, Drischell, Albert Starke collection, 1943-1945, (William L. Clements Library, University of Michigan)
