Bonfire '99

Roll Call for the Absent

In many lands and climes this April day
Proud sons of Texas A&M unite.
Our loyalty to country, school, we pray,
and seal our pact with bond of common might.

We live again those happy days of yore
on campus, field, in classroom, dorm, at drill
Fond memory brings a sigh -- but nothing more;
Now we are men and life’s a greater thrill,

On Corregidor 10 years ago today
A band of gallant Aggies, led by Moore,
Held simple rites which led to us doth all to say:
The spirit shall prevail through cannon roar.

Before we part and go upon our way,
We pause to honor those we knew so well;
The old familiar faces we miss so much today
Left cherished recollections that time cannot dispel.

Softly call the Muster,
Let comrade answer, “Here!”
Their spirits hover ‘round us
As if to bring us cheer!

Mark them ‘present’ in our hearts.
We’ll meet some other day
There is no death, but life etern
For our old friends such as they!

by Dr. John Ashton ‘06

I cannot believe it has been a decade since the Bonfire collapse. That makes me feel very old! This is a subject I rarely speak of, which is odd for me. I talk about everything - to a fault.

Why don't I speak much of it? I can't really answer that question. 1999 was an exciting and scary year for me. I graduated high school with intentions of attending Texas A&M University. My graduation present was an apartment down in B/CS where I began attending Blinn, a junior college in Bryan, that very summer. I worked full time at a local bank and made some great friends, some of whom I still catch up with from time to time. Despite the wonderful memories I have from my Aggieland experience, it was also a very scary and depressing time for me. Yeah, I said it, depressing.

My roommate, who was my best friend in high school, went crazy on me (literally). She also worked nights so I was home alone throughout the night all the time. You're probably thinking, "So, what! Big deal!" But at that very time there was an escaped con riding a train back and forth from Houston preying on single women who lived near railroad tracks, and I fit the description. Remember, I was an 18-year-old who was out on her own for the first time. I stayed terrified at night and began having weird dreams about a guy I met when he came to our door selling magazines for school one evening. He knew a friend of mine, so we kept running into each other and eventually we became friends. Long story short, he was one of the Aggies killed in the Bonfire collapse. Before the tragedy, I had been having a recurring dream that he was dead but didn't know it. Freaky. I still remember the dream very well. I'm not trying to say I predicted the future or anything like that. We'll just chock it up to a creepy coincidence, but it did not (and still doesn't) really settle well with me, as you can imagine. I also knew another one of the deceased Aggies through a mutual friend.

Being in B/CS during that time was definitely an experience. It was an eerie yet strangely proud time for me. I witnessed the Aggies come together in the name of honor, loyalty and tradition in such a tragic time. I witnessed firsthand long-time rivals, the Aggies and the Longhorns, unite during tragedy and it was something I will never forget. In the midst of such an emotional time, I was very, very, very, very homesick. I missed my family SO MUCH!

In the end, I decided to take another route. I moved back to the Dallas area where I was closer to family and just felt more, well, at home. At that time in my life, I just never felt at home in B/CS. Do I regret never attending Texas A&M University? A bit. But, the route I chose led me almost immediately to my husband, so it was meant to be! So, while I am not technically an Aggie, I hold them all very close to my heart! I was fortunate enough to attend Silver Taps in December of that year, which was a bone-chilling experience I will never ever forget.

Hopefully Bonfire will be brought back!


And, as always, Gig 'em!