Memorial to Students who died at the 1999 Bonfire
I am late posting the trip to A&M, but I certainly want to share the wonderful memories that we captured at College Station. I am going to post the Auburn win in a separate post so as to refrain strictly to the week before and the wonderful way that the A&M people treated us and the rich tradition that this University has. Some University fan bases think of tradition strictly in terms of football and their wins and losses, but A&M is not only rich in that but in the military tradition of this fine institution. There was so much of this place that reminded me of Auburn and its traditions. Like Auburn, they are also a Land Grant University. Like Auburn, their student body is very conservation, displaying the kind of values that Cecil Kilgore and Gus Kennedy passed down to their children. I did not see any tattoos and piercing on the students. Like the Auburn Student body, they were friendly to the opponents, welcoming us and wishing us luck. I have also seen this at Auburn many times and the opposing fan base just stared at the welcoming party. We arrived in Bryan, a sister city to College Station, on Monday before the game. The Rutherfords joined us on the same afternoon with the Graces coming in on Tuesday afternoon. The others in the MH club, Martins, Standards, Goodwins, and Lamberts joined us on campus on Thursday. We found a great place to eat called Sodalaks (Beefmaster). We went back three other times that week, but the second time we visited, we met some Aggies about our age that gave us a real welcome and told us of the history and tradition of the Aggies. They invited us to a sports talk show at The Tap the following day. We met them there where we were treated Royally. Dee and Don, took us on campus, spending the afternoon with us, giving us a tour of the campus. It is rich in tradition and very beautiful. The Memorial Student Center is a huge student center where you have to remove your hat upon entering. It is a typical student center with a food court and bookstore, but its distinction is they have a wall with the names of every A&M alumni that gave their life serving this country and the date of their death and the name of the conflict in which they gave the ultimate sacrifice. Also, seven of their alumni were medal of honor recipients and there is a beautiful wall with a likeness of them and a depiction of their act of bravery for winning the medal and a display of their medal. It was very moving to read the heroic acts of these young men. Someday I hope that my 4 grandsons will have the opportunity to visit this campus. On Friday we visited the George H. W. Bush Library, the 41st President of the U.S. This Library was very moving with the service that he had given to his country and his love for it and his family. The game was on Saturday, but that is for another Post.
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