I'm feeling a little homesick, so I thought I'd share with you one of my most treasured memories and honored traditions of my alma mater, Texas A&M.
Every year, on the anniversary of the Battle of San Jacinto, Aggies come together all over the world to remember fellow Aggies who have passed away that year. Being a military family means that we've been able to attend Muster Ceremonies all over the U.S. It's always a good time and a bit emotional
I still remember vividly the Aggie Muster my family went to in Ohio where I got to answer "Here" for my dad.
Sec Def Gates was at A&M last night to honor our fallen Aggies:
Former Aggie president Gates remembers the fallen
COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- An emotional Robert Gates, U.S. secretary of defense and a former Texas A&M University president, led the annual
roll call of fallen Aggies by saying the names of 22 former students who died in military service.
He began the tradition with its four most sacred words: Softly call the Muster.
Gates left the school in 2006 when former President George W. Bush asked him to head the defense department. The audience was asked
Tuesday night to stand and answer "here" in place of the soldiers. Some of the fallen were recent graduates whose diplomas he had signed.
"It's good to be back home," said Gates, in an online story Tuesday by the Houston Chronicle. "My head and my work are in one place, but my
heart is in another -- in Aggieland."
Gates, who did not attend A&M, did not talk about current news or military developments. He praised Texas A&M.
"Muster is the greatest of Aggie traditions," said Gates. "Muster is the essence of Aggie culture and spirit. The ceremony has no parallel in any other institution in America -- not in the armed forced, not in the CIA, not in business, and certainly not in any other college or university."
Gates said if Bush had not called, his public service career would have ended at the school.
The Aggie Muster tradition is carried out on April 21. More than 300 locations, including Iraq and Afghanistan, participated this year.
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COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- An emotional Robert Gates, U.S. secretary of defense and a former Texas A&M University president, led the annual
roll call of fallen Aggies by saying the names of 22 former students who died in military service.
He began the tradition with its four most sacred words: Softly call the Muster.
Gates left the school in 2006 when former President George W. Bush asked him to head the defense department. The audience was asked
Tuesday night to stand and answer "here" in place of the soldiers. Some of the fallen were recent graduates whose diplomas he had signed.
"It's good to be back home," said Gates, in an online story Tuesday by the Houston Chronicle. "My head and my work are in one place, but my
heart is in another -- in Aggieland."
Gates, who did not attend A&M, did not talk about current news or military developments. He praised Texas A&M.
"Muster is the greatest of Aggie traditions," said Gates. "Muster is the essence of Aggie culture and spirit. The ceremony has no parallel in any other institution in America -- not in the armed forced, not in the CIA, not in business, and certainly not in any other college or university."
Gates said if Bush had not called, his public service career would have ended at the school.
The Aggie Muster tradition is carried out on April 21. More than 300 locations, including Iraq and Afghanistan, participated this year.
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Brought to you by the HoustonChronicle.com
For more in formation on Aggie Muster, look HERE.
Photo credits: Stacy Reeves Photography
1 comment:
i saw you via jessica (shower of roses). i went to aTm for my freshman year of college (1995-1996). ive never been to muster but would go to silver taps. the traditions the school has are AMAZING!!
whoop (hah, you cant make me do pushups through the computer)
r
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