Battalion Nov 17, 2009 Print version

bonfire edition

REMEMBERING THE

STACK

thebattalion ● tuesday, november 17, 2009 ● serving texas a&m since 1893

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● first paper free – additional copies $1 ● © 2009 student media

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HOWBONFIREBEGAN Small, informal bonfires had been built on and off campus in preparation for the game against the University of Texas at Austin since at least 1908. These bonfires were typically composed of trash, tree limbs and lumber scraps. Some cadets would steal outhouses to burn in the bonfires.

1928 First known photograph of the Aggie Bonfire

1936 First year Bonfire is regulated by a Corps Commander and considered “legal”and constructed with “non-stolen” materials

1942

1947

First Bonfire built using logs, 25 feet tall

First time two logs are strapped together vertically, creating the first high center pole

defining

BONFIRE Cut The first stage of Bonfire, where the logs are cut down.

Stack The second stage of Bonfire, where the logs are wired into their final shape.

Push The final part of stack, when students work shifts around the clock to finish Bonfire. Also known as super stack, turbo stack and stackapalooza.

Load When students put the logs onto trucks, to take them to the Stack site.

Pots Headgear all Bonfire participants are required to wear for safety. Each residence hall or Corps outfit decorates their pot differently.

Burn The final phase of Bonfire, when the stack is lit.

Y-sticks Branches in the shape of a “Y” that are used to guide logs when they are slammed onto Bonfire.

Center pole The first pole raised at Bonfire. Center pole is made of two logs wired together.

Grodes

Redpot The official leaders of Bonfire, made up of nine seniors and nine juniors who oversee everything from the design of the stack to the safety of the participants.

Yellowpot The liaison between the Redpots and crews, Yellowpots supervise crew chiefs of the residence halls.

Clothes, usually a T-shirt and jeans, students wear every time they go out to Bonfire. Grodes are typically not washed.

Buttpot

Heave

The spokesman for each of the Corps outfits, named because the position goes to a junior, or “sergebutt.”

When everyone carrying a log lifts it up together so they can stand up straight underneath it. The person calling the log will shout two numbers, and everyone holding the log calls back a chant as they lift.

Brownpot The safety coordinators of Bonfire, the five Brownpots are the only people authorized to use chainsaws.

Headache Term yelled whenever a tree is killed.

bonfire edition Amanda Casanova, editor in chief Mattie Williamson, managing editor Matt Woolbright, managing editor for news Staff writers: Melissa Appel, Nancy Barrera, Jill Beathard, Rebecca Bennett, Kalee Bumguardner,

T.D. Durham, David Harris, Meagan O’Toole-Pitts, Katy Ralston, Julie Rambin, Madiha Rizvi, Megan Ryan and Lorelei Willet Copy editors and designers: Nicole Alvarado, Evan Andrews, Nicholas Badger, Brandon Earman, Rachel Latham, Ian McPhail and Micah Stephens Graphics: Gail Ann Hernandez, Ramya Prakash Photographers: Jeremy Northum, Stephen Fogg Videographers: Landon Hagan, Calli Turner

The Battalion would like to thank Cushing Library; Jordan Meserole, Class of 2005; Bryan-College Station Chamber of Commerce; Michael Landauer, Class of 1997; The Dallas Morning News; Boomer Cardinale, Class of 1994; Natural Industries in Houston; and the family members of Bonfire victims for contributing photographs to this issue as well as everyone who submitted memories from their time at Stack.

thebatt.com Check out video footage, photos and audio relating to Bonfire as the sun sets on the memorial.

thebattalion The IndependenT STudenT VoIce of TexaS a&M SInce 1893

Amanda Casanova, Editor in Chief The BaTTalion (ISSN #1055-4726) is published daily, Monday through Friday during the fall and spring semesters and Monday through Thursday during the summer session (except University holidays and exam periods) at Texas A&M University. Periodicals Postage Paid at College Station, TX 77840. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Battalion, Texas A&M University, 1111 TAMU, College Station, TX 77843-1111.

News: The Battalion news department is managed by students at Texas A&M University in Student Media, a unit of the Division of Student Affairs. News offices are in The Grove, Bldg. 8901. Newsroom phone: 979-845-3313; Fax: 979-845-2647; E-mail: metro@thebatt.com; website: http://www.thebatt.com.

Advertising: Publication of advertising does not imply sponsorship or endorsement by The Battalion.

For campus, local, and national display advertising, call 979-845-2696. For classified advertising, call 979-845-0569. Advertising offices are in The Grove, Bldg. 8901, and office hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Monday through Friday. Fax: 979-845-2678.

Subscriptions: A part of the Student Services Fee entitles each Texas A&M student to pick up a single copy of The Battalion. First copy free, additional copies $1. Mail subscriptions are $125 per school year.

To charge by Visa, MasterCard, Discover, or American Express, call 979-845-2613.

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Ol’AgSTORY Bill Matthews Class of 1964

Queen of Bonfire Co-chairwoman’s spirit never will be quenched

By Amanda Casanova | The Battalion

“

We’re still on a journey and coping with the loss of Miranda. God has been good to us, and so many people have prayed for us. We think about her every day and miss her terribly, but we also know she is in a place we can’t even imagine.”

W

hen Miranda Adams earned the pot that marked her as a co-chairwoman for Aggie Bonfire, the 19-year-old from Santa Fe, Texas, slept with the maroon hard hat.

“Her freshman year, I remember her calling and saying she wanted to be involved with Bonfire,” said her mother, Carolyn Adams.

Miranda was the first to attend A&M from the Adams’ immediate family, following a line of older Aggie relatives.

“She decided early on that’s where she wanted to go,” Carolyn said. “She wouldn’t even apply anywhere else.”

A computer-generated design of Bonfire by Miranda posted on a tribute Web site shows flashes of red, orange and yellow sparking from tiers of brown.

Maroon text near the drawing reads, “Fightin’ Texas Aggie Bonfire.”

Early morning Nov. 18, 1999, the stack of thousands of logs collapsed, killing 12 students and injuring at least 27 others. Bonfire was canceled and has not burned on campus since that day.

“She was very excited about Bonfire,” Carolyn said. “We went her freshman year. We didn’t get to see her because she was so tied up at it, but she called and told us how she was just so excited to be a part of it.”

In 1998, Miranda was named as one of the co-chairs from Mosher Hall for Bonfire, fulfilling a dream for the biomedical science major.

Later, Miranda was dubbed the “Queen of Bonfire.” Carolyn said the sophomore worked tirelessly on her pot in preparation for Aggie Bonfire 1999.

— Carolyn Adams, mother of Miranda Adams

However, excitement turned to fear at the sound of a snap. Three hours after the collapse, the Adams received a phone call at 5:20 a.m.

“The Bonfire collapsed,” Carolyn’s sister told her, asking the couple if they had heard from Miranda.

The Adams had not.

After making the 133-mile drive from Santa Fe, the couple checked in at the Memorial Student Center before heading out to the fallen Bonfire.

“They were removing one of the last living victims,” said Miranda’s father, Kenny. “There were several students around who told us they remembered seeing Miranda.”

With little information, the Adams went to the College Station Medical Center and then checked in at the St. Joseph Health System in Bryan.

“Nobody knew anything,” Carolyn said.

At 9 p.m. Nov. 19, 1999, the Adams were given information about their daughter.

“They took us out to the Stack, and we were told she was in the Stack, but that they couldn’t get to her yet,” Carolyn said. “It was very quiet. I remember commenting to Kenny how quiet it was.

I said, ‘It’s as quiet as a tomb out here,’ and Kenny said, ‘Carolyn, it is. It is a tomb for some of the kids.’ Never dreaming that Miranda was one of them.”

Later that night, Miranda’s body was retrieved from beneath the heavy logs.

She was one of the last to be pulled from the stack.

“It was an extremely long day,” Kenny said. “It was hard for not only the families, but for the people that were having to deal with it: the campus, the

administration and how they were going to have to deal with all these deaths at one time. No one wanted to be the person to tell you that your child was no longer with you.”

Media vans lined the streets, rocking the nation with news of the collapse.

Miranda’s older brother, Mark, now 32, who was in the Marine Corps, heard of the collapse while stationed in Okinawa, Japan.

“We were trying to get word to him, and he was just trying to call home to see if his little sister was OK or not,” Carolyn said. “We had to tell him that Miranda was gone.”

Snapshots of Miranda taken from a disposable camera found days later in her car show her beaming beneath her maroon pot, her short light brown hair curling at her shoulders.

“Miranda’s smile was something they all remember,” Carolyn said. “She was a happy person.”

Emblazoned beneath her portrait at the Bonfire memorial is a quote from Miranda that was pulled from a scholarship application.

“Since the first day I set foot on the Texas A&M campus, I fell in love with it. The atmosphere is absolutely wonderful, and I couldn’t imagine attending another school. I admit that the work is very hard, but it is all worth it to get the famous Aggie Senior Ring.”

While Miranda never received the golden ring, her mother wore a Bonfire memorial charm in honor of her daughter.

In July 2006, former student and astronaut Mike Fossum took the charm with him on the space shuttle in memo-

Courtesy Photo

Miranda Adams, a sophomore biomedical science major from Santa Fe, Texas, was a Bonfire cochairwoman for Mosher Hall. ry of Miranda.

“The Aggie family has been very kind,” Carolyn said. “We were overwhelmed by the love and support of the Aggie family that helped us during a very difficult time.”

Since 2001, the Adams have had season football tickets. They also make several visits to the Bonfire memorial.

“We’re still on a journey and coping with the loss of Miranda,” Carolyn said.

“God has been good to us, and so many people have prayed for us. We think about her every day and miss her terribly, but we also know she is in a place we can’t even imagine.”

Ten years later, Miranda’s pot sits in a display case in their Santa Fe house. Ten years later, Miranda is remembered.

“The Aggie family told us they would never, ever forget our children and that has been true,” Carolyn said.

“We appreciate it and love the Aggie family dearly.”

breen

Amiable outdoorsman Family remembers Aggie’s dedication

By Kalee Bumguardner| The Battalion

W

hen you have six older siblings who went to the University of Texas at Austin, and a father who is a civil engineering professor there as well, you take a lot of heat if you tell them you plan to attend that other school in College Station. But that’s exactly what Christopher Breen, Class of 1996, did.

Breen fit right in at A&M. He joined the Corps of Cadets. He was a member of the A&M Pistol Team, Sailing Club and the Wildlife Biology Association.

He also worked on the Bonfire for four years, and was a Brownpot, or safety coordinator, his senior year. “[Chris] loved the outdoors, which was part of the attraction of Bonfire,” said Chris’s father, John Breen.

“He was very good with his hands; he was very good with an axe. He was a sort of natural, I think. Plus, he was very active in the Corps, which turned out very strongly for Bonfire activities.”

After graduating in 1997 with a degree in agricultural development, Chris worked in Harwood, Texas, before moving back to Austin.

In 1999, Chris returned to the A&M campus to help choose the future leaders of Bonfire. When Bonfire fell at 2:42 a.m., Chris, who was standing atop the fourth tier, was killed instantly.

“He never really was up on Stack much, even when he was active, so it’s a classic case of being at the wrong place at the wrong time,” John said. “I had one man tell me that he heard the snap and looked at Chris, and Chris knew just what was happening.”

Bonfire seemed tailor-made for Chris.

Growing up, Chris was active in the Eagle Scouts. Two of his brothers, Michael and Dennis, worked as guides at the Boy Scouts of America high adventure program in Canada. Chris later worked there as a canoe guide.

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Courtesy photo

Chris Breen, Class of 1996, from Austin, Texas, was in the Corps of Cadets for four years and is pictured above with his senior boots and saber.

“I think it was the inspiration of his brothers that got him really interested,” John said. “I always remember his Scout master telling me, ‘Chris, are you going to go on to be an Eagle Scout?’ and Chris said, ‘In our family, it’s not wheth-

er, it’s only when.’ He loved scouting and he was very good at it. He was a very adventurous person.”

Chris was buried wearing his Corps uniform and holding his “Charlie Guide” canoe paddle.

“Chris was very proud of the Corps, and very close to his buddies,” John said.

“Chris was very much an outdoorsman. You’ll notice that on his memorial plaque, he’s actually wearing a hat and there’s a canoe and pine trees in the background.”

When Chris enrolled at A&M, he intended to become a veterinarian, but his plans soon changed.

“Frankly, Chris would have never, ever graduated except for Dean Joe Townsend and Chris Townsend,” John said. “They provided him with an opportunity and he ran with it. Dean Joe was very, very influential. Chris was very proud to graduate in Ag Development.”

Along with his parents and six brothers and sisters, Chris is survived by 11 nieces and nephews, and John said that after his death, the whole family grew closer.

“Of course, we’ve had years of grief with the loss of Chris. We miss him very, very much,” John said.

“It’s one of those things that when you’ve had a loss like this, it brings you closer. Chris always remained a big part of our family; even our grandchildren who were born after Chris died all talk about him as if he were a living person.”

John said that on this year’s 10th anniversary, his family will celebrate a private Mass, as they have every year, instead of coming to College Station.

“We’ll be thinking of all the others,” John said.

“We grieve for them all. Not just the ones who are dead, but the ones who are injured. A lot of them have physical injuries and psychological injuries. It’s probably more difficult for some of those

families because over.” fami fa miiliies bbec eccau ausee iitt is ause iisn’t isn’ sn’ n t ov verr.””

Breen’s memorial Instead of putting quotes from loved ones, or a biography of his life, the Breens decided to put a northwest Indian memorial on death on Chris’s memorial.

Do not stand at my grave and weep.

I am not there. I do not sleep.

I am a thousand winds that blow.

I am the diamond glints on snow.

I am the sunlight on ripened grain.

I am the gentle autumn rain.

When you awaken in the morning’s hush, I am the swift uplifting rush Of quiet birds in circling flight I am the soft star that shines at night.

Do not stand at my grave and weep.

I am not there. I do not sleep.

Chris’ family, in the aftermath of the collapse, felt a lot of hostility toward the Texas A&M administration. As a professional civil engineer, John said the University was irresponsible and filed a complaint with the Texas Board of Engineers. Eventually, Chris’ family found closure.

“About a year ago, we had a wonderful invitation with former President Elsa Murano to meet with us. We went down and spent an afternoon meeting with her in her home, and it removed any traces of hostility that me and my wife [Marian] still had,” John said. “She did a great deal to bring closure for us.

We had a wonderful discussion.”

John said he appreciated how the Texas A&M family has tried to support him and his family throughout the previous 10 years.

What I remember most started on the Friday before Bonfire, Nov. 22, 1963. The Stack was scheduled to be built the following day. I didn’t have a care in the world other than a class after lunch. My outfit, Squadron 5 — The 55th — had the first and second floors.

As I walked into the dorm, several radios were turned on and Ags were gathered around listening. Someone called out to me that the president had been shot in my hometown, Dallas.

As others arrived in the dorm, it had turned very quiet.

Not knowing what else to do, I got my books and left.

As I stepped out of the dorm, I did not put my hat on — it just didn’t feel right. I remember looking at others and everyone was walking uncovered. The usual “activities” that happened every other day on the campus were dropped.

Over the next few days, many discussions were held by school administrators and student body leaders. Should the game be canceled?

At first, the answer was yes, but then it was changed to no — “let’s dedicate the game to JFK.” The most immediate decision was to stop the Bonfire.

No stacking would occur, no midnight yell and the center pole would be left standing. The next week, after the decision was made to have the game, the midnight yell was put back on the schedule.

Texas AMC saw many changes in the four years between 1960 and 1964 — we were officially integrated, the Corps became non-compulsory, women were permitted to attend full time — if they were wives or daughters of facility, employees or students — and the name was changed. We of the Class of 1964 and “late or early bloomers” of 1963 and 1965 were the last class to have Texas A&M College on our rings and diplomas. All of these changes have proven to be good for the University and because of these my daughter is Class of 1996.

So, as you remember the fallen by going out to the Bonfire Memorial, as you walk along the pathway and pass the missing class marker remember that our Bonfire was given up to honor our country’s president.

Also, never forget that too many names of members of the classes from the 1960s are on the wall.

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The Collapse CENTER POLE 70 FEET The center pole was constructed using two utility poles which were spliced together.

Why Bonfire fell Compiled by Gail Hernandez

File Photo — THE BATTALION

James Taylor, a former head of the Rural Electrification Administration timber products group, said in February 2000 that possible decay in the pole may have contributed to the collapse. Cracks, also called checks, could have made the pole vulnerable to fungal infection and decay. However, a report released in May 2000 excluded the quality of center pole as a cause.

BACKGROUND

FOURTH TIER 11 FEET

THIRD TIER 14 FEET

November 1999 marked the 90th anniversary of the Texas Aggie Bonfire. The wedding cake-style, sixtiered stack was designed to be a staggering 70 feet at its completed height — well above the University standard of 55 feet.

On the morning of Nov. 18, 1999, at about 2:40 a.m., 58 people were working to construct the fourth tier of the on-campus Bonfire when it collapsed. The stack, about 5,000 logs and measuring 59 feet high at the time, killed 11 and injured 28. One of the injured died the next morning, bringing the total fatalities to 12.

PHYSICAL FAILURE The structural collapse of the 1999 Bonfire stack was prompted by a containment failure in the first stack of logs. Two primary factors caused this failure: 1) Excessive internal stresses caused primarily by aggressive wedging of the second stack of logs into the first stack.

2) Inadequate containment strength around the first stack. The wiring used to tie the logs together provided insufficient binding strength. The lack of steel cables around the first tier reduced the hoop strength (ability of a cylindrical structure to contain outward pressure due to internal lateral forces) of the first tier and contributed to the collapse.

SECOND TIER 16 FEET

THE FINDINGS

FIRST TIER 18 FEET

ORGANIZATIONAL FAILURE The organizational failure behind the 1999 Bonfire collapse derived from decisions and actions made by students and University officials over the course of many years, resulting in an environment in which a complex and dangerous structure was allowed to be built without adequate physical or engineering controls.

Organizational failure included the absence of an appropriate written design or design process, a cultural bias impeding risk identification and the lack of a proactive risk management approach.

On May 2, 2000, the Special Commission on the 1999 Texas A&M Bonfire released its final report. A cost of $2 million, the report revealed the collapse was caused by a number of physical and organizational failures.

Excluded as contributing factors: ■ Soil failure ■ Stack height ■ The crane incident ■ Quality of center pole ■ Quality of perimeter poles ■ Equipment ■ Weather ■ Seismic activity ■ Sabotage or criminal activity ■ Student drinking or fatigue

SOURCES: U.S. Fire Administration/Technical Report Series Bonfire Collapse, Texas A&M University, Department of Homeland Security

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Gone but not forgotten Family keeps son’s spirit alive

By Katy Ralston | The Battalion

B

rother. Confident.

Friend. Industrious. Boy scout. Pilot. Pianist. Student.

Genuine. Spontaneous. Outdoorsman. Comedian. Caring. Son. Happy. Catholic.

Shepherd.

Seventeen words, forever engraved, but never enough to capture the man that was Michael Ebanks.

“He definitely thought for himself. His brain was extremely organized, and he always had things planned out; he was a good thinker,” said Michael’s father, Jerry Ebanks. “I sometimes describe him as one of those people who would just stand next to something and understand it. He just could figure things out.”

Michael was a man who put his passions into action: collecting cans as a young boy to save up for Space Camp, getting his pilot’s license at 17 and aspiring to be an aerospace engineer.

On Nov. 18, 1999, Michael once again put his passion into action.

Michael was driven to attend A&M in memory of his older brother Keith who was killed in a car accident after graduating from A&M. Adopting one of Keith’s passions as his own, Michael was drawn to Bonfire. It was this passion that kept him there until 2:42 the morning Stack fell.

Jerry said the pain never goes away.

“When the alarm clock goes off in the morning, I go shut it off, put one foot on the floor — well, that worked — and just keep on going from there.

There is not a minute in the day that I don’t think about one or both of them, but at the same time, it doesn’t weigh me down.”

Michael’s parents have found a way to turn the tragedies they have experienced into a way to help others: by counseling other families.

“We have had some pretty rewarding experience to be able to step in and serve that function,” Jerry said.

“It’s not one of those jobs you seek out, but I guess God has given us the strength to do that, and we have the willingness to do so, to accept that duty.”

Jerry said helping families through their struggles has helped their family as well by following their own advice.

The knowledge Michael’s parents pass on is not new or profound. Their message is simply to celebrate the life of a child and realize life moves on and everyone will be OK. “We tell them, ‘Talk about your child and allow your friends to, too.’ It helps keep the memory and the life alive,” Jerry said.

One thing that has kept the Ebanks

family moving forward is the support received from the Aggie community through letters, prayers, acceptance and keeping their son’s spirit alive.

“It was just incredible. It’s made life livable. All the support was just falling out of the sky, especially from extended Aggie family, as I call them,” Jerry said.

“It makes a tremendous difference. You never get over this, but support makes it OK to move on with life.”

Jerry has found a unique way to proceed with life while never forgetting.

He spoke on behalf of the fallen and families at the dedication of the Bonfire memorial, an experience he said he will never regret.

“Even though that was a gutwrencher, it was one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever done,” Jerry

said. “Even though it was hard, they were things I had wanted to say.”

Jerry said it is hard to comprehend why the tragedy happened to those 12.

They died building camaraderie and loyalty with a strength that is hard for those who aren’t Aggies to even grasp.

“None of us can understand why these young people were taken from us; life often doesn’t make sense because we can’t see the big picture. But we’re confident that God has welcomed them home to Himself, and their deaths can have meaning if we learn from the way they lived their lives,” Jerry said in his address.

“The beauty of these 12 and all that they were, combined with the love, support and caring that has been bestowed on all of us, should convince you that God still has created a beautiful world.”

Courtesy Photo

Michael Ebanks was a freshman aerospace engineering major and resident of Keathley Hall. He loved flying and is pictured above after his first solo flight, when he was 16.

frampton

Jeremy’s legacy Learning to live victoriously

By Katy Ralston | The Battalion

W

ritten by Jeremy Richard Frampton before Bonfire’s collapse, the poem “Enough” has been inscribed in the hearts and minds of many Aggies.

“If I stare long enough If I talk hard enough If I touch soft enough If I look good enough If I love deep enough Will I live long enough To love life enough”

Ten years later, his family can say Jeremy loved life enough.

“When I look back at all he did accomplish and most importantly, the relationships — he genuinely loved people and kids — I think he touched so many lives in so many ways,” said mother Judi Hedstrom. “I think he absolutely

accomplished amazing things in the short life he did live.”

Early morning Nov. 18, 1999, the stack of thousands of logs collapsed killing 12 students and injuring at least 27 others. Bonfire was canceled for that year and has not burned on campus since that day.

His father Richard Frampton still sees evidence of the lives Jeremy has changed.

“He touched a lot of people’s lives, I still get e-mails from fellow students at Texas A&M that talk about how Jeremy changed their life and gave them direction,” Richard said.

From building Bonfire to writing poetry, Hedstrom called Jeremy her Renaissance man. When he died, the family was faced with a choice.

“You have to decide if you are going to live like a victim or live victoriously, and I know Jeremy would want us to live victoriously,” she said. “He would want us to go on with life and do everything we could to keep spreading love like he did.”

“

Jeremy Frampton, left, along with his mother Judi Hedstrom and brother Zac.

Courtesy Photo

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He would want us to go on with life and do everything we could to keep spreading love like he did.”

Ol’AgSTORY Christina Class of 2003 I worked on Bonfire my freshman year.

We would get up before daybreak and drive out to cut very early. I remember how cold it was and how gross our clothes got. We weren’t supposed to wash until Bonfire burned. I still remember how big it was before it fell. There was a channel on TV where you could watch a live stream of the Stack, watch crews working on it day and night, trying to get done before the t.u. game. It was a week until it was to burn so they were on full steam. We got a call at 5 a.m. to see if we were OK because my roommate was the Bonfire pot for our dorm (Haas). That’s when we found out it has fallen. I quickly turned on the channel and saw lights and trucks all over. It was the weirdest sight I had ever seen. We quickly dressed and ran down to the polo fields. We were ready to help out if needed. It was the worst day in my whole Aggie experience. When we started hearing about the people stuck inside. I was out there off and on all day. I volunteered that evening to pass out sweaters to all the people surrounding the site, it was a cold night. I can never forget seeing everyone’s faces.

They wouldn’t take their eyes off the fallen Stack, only to cry some more.

I also remember seeing them pulling bodies out. I can never forget that experience. Some students gave all they had for the school and tradition they loved.

Although, I never saw Bonfire burn, this memory will stay burned in my memory for the rest of my life. We will never forget — 11-18-99.

BQ — Judi Hedstrom, mother of Jeremy Frampton

A decade later, Frampton’s family is doing just that. They started in Turlock, Calif., their hometown.

They donated memorial funds to create Jeremy’s House in partnership with Prodigal Sons and Daughters, a nonprofit addiction recovery ministry for young people struggling with drug and alcohol abuse.

The house, which includes a vivid mural of Aggie Bonfire and the life of Jeremy, has become the center of his legacy, living on through the healing work of his family.

But the journey to this place was difficult. The Bonfire tragedy shook the family to its core. Younger brother Zac, a freshman in college at the time, struggled to cope.

“When he died, it threw me into such a greater tailspin, and I had no resources to deal with it, so I plunged deeper and deeper into the world of drugs and alcohol and partying,” Zac said.

After a year of running from the problem, Zac experienced his life crashing down on him through a combination of school, emotional and legal consequences. It was when he hit rock bottom and realized he was broken that he allowed himself to remember the way his brother had lived.

“My brother always had a strong relationship with God; he was a Christian, and I ended up finding the God that my brother had a relationship with the year after he died,” Zac said. “It ended up

being redeeming for me. At first, [the tragedy] kind-of threw me into a really dark place. But at the end of the day, it radically changed my life.”

Zac became involved in the peer support recovery program at Prodigals. As Zac grew and healed he became a leader of a peer support group and is now the director of Prodigals.

“It’s just amazing how it’s come full circle,” Hedstrom said.

The legacy of Jeremy’s tenderhearted compassion lives on through the support and love Zac is able to give.

“My brother really knew how to love people well. He was so good with kids, and young people just loved my brother. He just had that heart,” Zac said. “And I think when I’m sitting in these groups and hanging out with these guys who I am trying to break through to and really help, I can see my brother in all of that, his compassion and his heart.”

Jeremy’s father said Prodigals has touched many young people’s lives, something he is proud of.

“It gives me a very warm feeling that something really good did come out of Jeremy’s death: that Jeremy’s legacy, his memory, is changing young people’s lives,” Richard said.

“It’s unbelievable to me to see how all of the pieces have been put together. To know that my brother’s death was not in vain,” Zac said.

“It’s just a very, very sweet realization that God has had his hand in all of this from the beginning.”

Class of 2003 I remember fighting the nonregs over center pole. I remember helping my ol’ lady make our fish guidon. I remember wearing the virgin stripe at my first cut. Father/ son cut, and my only picture of stack, standing with my dad. Skipped classes, all-night shifts. We finally had a night off, and Stack fell. I sometime wish we were there so someone else wouldn’t have been. I remember our outfit falling out for Muster after someone pulled the fire alarm at 2:30, and the daze I was in for a week that I spent trying to help at Stack. My parents came to get me for Thanksgiving, then when I came back, campus was never again the same.

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bonfi

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Bonfire Memori Architects: Overland Partners Inc. San Antonio Mason Contractors: Brazos Masonry Inc.

Polo Road

University Drive

Granite outer portals are 16 feet tall.

Weisenbaker

Bonfire Memorial

Inner bronze portals are 12 feet tall.

Each bronze inner portal has an engraving of a portrait, signature and written reflection.

Bizzell

New Main Street

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al

Memorial objectives Portals

*To remember the 12 Aggies who were killed and the 27 who were injured in the 1999 Bonfire tragedy. * In order to capture the Aggie spirit and teamwork the Bonfire tradition fostered * To reflect upon the 90-year history of Bonfire as one of the traditions of Texas A&M University and to share that with Aggies past, present and future.

Spirit Ring

The 12 students

History Walk

Miranda Denise Adams , Santa Fe, Texas Christopher D. Breen, Austin, Texas Michael Stephen Ebanks , Carrollton, Texas Jeremy Richard Frampton, Turlock, Calif.

Jamie Lynn Hand, Henderson, Texas Christopher Lee Heard, Houston, Texas Timothy Doran Kerlee, Jr, Bartlett, Tenn.

Lucas John Kimmel, Corpus Christi, Texas Bryan A. McClain, San Antonio, Texas Chad A. Powell, Keller, Texas Jerry Don Self, Arlington, Texas Nathan Scott West, Bellaire, Texas

Tradition Plaza

Black granite center

Spirit ring 170 feet in diameter

12 portals oriented toward the hometowns of those who were killed.

Spirit wall

History walk path - a 1/4-mile timeline in granite symbolizing the 89-year history of Bonfire before the 1999 Collapse.

Tradition Plaza - Marks the entrance to the memorial Spirit wall - Separates the memorial experience from the rest of the world. It has an engraving of the “Last Corps Trip” poem.

History Walk Spirit wall Tradition Plaza

Outer portals face the hometowns of those who were killed.

Bronze portals have written reflections from family and friends.

Portrait Amber light from the notch symbolizes the burning Bonfire.

27 granite blocks form the Spirit ring.

Bronze plaques represent the 27 Aggies injured in the tragedy. It is left blank in recognition of all those who were injured.

Portal and Spirit ring

Black markers are placed to mark deaths that happened in each specified year, the assassination of John F. Kennedy and the Bonfire collapse.

History walk Graphics by Ramya Prakash — THE BATTALION

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Ol’AgSTORY K. Rachelle Goldman Class of 1992

Art for living Jamie saw beauty in others

By Melissa Appel | The Battalion

L

ong before enrolling at Texas A&M, Jamie Hand established a reputation of hard work, extensive involvement and passion for life.

“She was extremely involved in everything,” said her mother, Neva Hand.

“She loved being with people. She was very compassionate; she was very supportive of anything she was involved in.”

It was this same enthusiasm and zeal that brought the freshman environmental design major to the site of Bonfire on Nov. 18, 1999.

Jamie died in the collapse, working on another project to which she was dedicated.

Early on the morning of Nov. 18, 1999, the stack of thousands of logs collapsed, killing 12 students and injuring at least 27 others. Bonfire was canceled for that year and has not burned on campus since.

“Anything she was involved in, she put her whole heart into,” Neva said.

“That’s why she was on the Bonfire stack when it fell.”

Growing up in Henderson, Texas, Jamie saw no limits on how many activities she could devote her time to. As a student at Henderson High School, Jamie was a member of the cheerleading squad, student council and the yearbook staff. She partic participated on the softball, track and basketball basketb teams. She also played the flute in the band. competing, but she was She loved competin team. Jamie acdedicated to her tea this while taking complished all of th Advanced Placement honors and Advan classes, graduating with honors.

With such a dedicated attitude, ded Jamie found it refreshing that refre students at A&M were w similarly involved and passiona passionate about activities. The presence of the Twelfth Man was one of the factors that attracted her to the University.

“She had been a cheerleader for five years, and it was always disturbing that the th cheerleaders were often the only o ones cheering at ball games game — that bothered her,” said Neva.

N “When she got to A&M, A&M it was so different how the kids totally different, whol game supstand the whole porting the football fo team.”

Jamie was also influ-

enced in her decision to choose A&M by familial connections.

Jamie’s oldest sister, Shelley, was a 1992 graduate and had brought the family to College Station on multiple locations.

The Aggie Spirit passed down to the three younger Hand sisters: Melissa was Class of 2001, Jamie was Class of 2003 and Kristen was Class of 2004.

“When she was in high school and she started looking at colleges to go to, she really was looking for what would fit her interests the best,” Neva said. “She wanted to go to A&M, regardless. It was more important going to A&M than it was studying what she was going to study.”

Jamie found a place to call home at A&M in her dorm, Courtesy Photo Keathley Hall, in the FowlerJamie Hand stops to take a picture with Hughes- Keathley (FHK) Reveille VI. Complex.

“When she got there, one of Even with an impressive list of activithe things she discovered right off the ties, Jamie is most remembered for her bat was that FHK was a Bonfire dorm,” caring attitude in life.

Neva said. “She was extremely excited “Believe it or not, when she was very that the dorm she was in was one of the young, she was very shy,” Neva said. main groups involved in Cut and build“I guess as she grew up, she began to ing the Bonfire. Besides her classes and get out of her shyness, and she was very the friends she formed in FHK, I don’t capable, very athletic. Even though she think she had time to be involved in didn’t really talk a lot, she listened. She much else.” was very happy, always pleasant to be As a student in the College of Archiaround.” tecture, Jamie hoped to study and work Jamie treasured her University, as in the graphic design field. Her skill in art came from a young age and was truly evident by her efforts and actions.

“Jamie just dearly loved A&M,” Neva recognized during her senior year of said.

“To her, it was like heaven on high school, when Jamie enrolled in her earth, being somewhere where all the first organized art class.

“She had an artistic eye, and she could students were so tremendously involved.

It was like she had found the people see the beauty in things,” Neva said. who were her soul mates.”

“One of her main interests was art. She loved drawing.”

heard

Devoted to duty Chris found honor in service

By Megan Ryan | The Battalion

C

hristopher Lee Heard knew exactly what he wanted to do with his life the morning before the Bonfire tragedy. Hours before the collapse, he signed up to join the Marines.

Chris was known for his leadership, determination, love for country music and joyful personality. He was born in Sheridan, Wyo., and moved to Houston when he was 5 years old. He was a member of the Texas A&M Class of 2003 and Corps of Cadets.

Early on the morning of Nov. 18, 1999, Bonfire collapsed, killing 12 students and injuring at least 27 others. Christopher Lee Heard was one of the 12 killed in the collapse.

The Heards remember how brave Chris was, and remember seeing it reported that as the Bonfire was collapsing, Chris was shouting to everyone below, “Move out of the way.”

“He was a typical Aggie, very involved in everything. That’s why he was involved in Bonfire,” said Andrea Heard, Chris’s mother.

“He would have been sworn in the following Tuesday, so the Marines came and honored him after the collapse.”

Chris graduated high school from the Marine Military Academy in Harlingen, Texas, with many accomplishments and awards, but the one he valued most was the Marine Officer’s Sword.

“It was the most coveted award for the best all-around students — represented the graduate that would represent the school, leadership, academics, athletics, compassion and leadership,” said Les Heard, Chris’s father.

To this day the Heards keep in touch with

Courtesy Photo

Christopher Lee Heard poses in his Corps uniform in front of the Administration Building. some of Chris’s friends.

“We get lots of calls from his friends and e-mails from around the world,” Andrea said.

“We’ve enjoyed seeing all of his friends go on and catch up with them. But it reminds us that we don’t have him to watch get married and have kids.”

Jason Heard, Chris’s brother, is in the Air Force stationed in the United Kingdom. He and his wife, Amy, remember a road trip they took in Jason’s truck without air conditioning or a radio. They said it was hot and uncomfortable, but Chris managed to make the experience more pleasurable.

“Chris started singing and didn’t stop until

we got there,” Amy said. “He put smiles on our faces and got our minds off our uncomfortable situation. That is how I will always remember Chris, a bright light in my life that got me to see the fun and joy in things. I am a better person because of him.”

His parents remember him every time they find a penny on the ground. They said his grandmother tells the story of walking with Chris one day and watching him toss a penny on the sidewalk. When his grandmother asked him why he did that he responded, “it will make someone happy.”

“We find them at the strangest times, too,” Les said. “When we’re grumpy or sad, we see one and think of him. It’s a reminder that you have to count your blessings, and that’s always how he was, hardly ever complained about everything.”

Shortly after Chris’s death, his parents found that it was difficult to stay in Houston with the memories of him.

“As far as us, we ended up moving to Florida about a year after he died,” Andrea said. “We found that a lot of the things we previously loved in Houston didn’t work as well for us anymore. So we moved to Florida for a new start, and we love it here. We still miss him terribly. Every year we celebrate his birthday and the loss of him. He’s not forgotten here.”

His family often remembers his attitude toward life, and they said they make it a point to see things like he did.

“I will always be grateful for what he brought to my life,” Amy said, “and will honor him by teaching my children his outlook.”

“

He was a typical Aggie, very involved in everything.

That’s why he was involved in Bonfire. He would have been sworn in the following Tuesday, so the Marines came and honored him after the collapse.”

— Andrea Heard, mother of Christopher Heard

At Bonfire ‘92 I met the man I would fall in love with, move away with and marry. Bonfire was even more special to us, we always said, because we were Aggies and that is where we were introduced.

Three years after my graduation, we moved back to College Station and both found jobs affiliated with the University.

My husband’s position required international travel, but in the fall of 1999 he would be home days before Thanksgiving...days before Bonfire...so I kept this happy thought as I went to sleep the night before he was to return. As always, my alarm was set to go off very early, just as NPR relayed the stories from overnight. But this morning, the news was about us. Us Aggies...

Bonfire had fallen and people were hurt and students were ... dead. And all day long I went through the motions for my students. I went through the motions for my colleagues. I went through the motions for my friends. I did not cry. And I read every newspaper article, and I watched all the TV news, and I listened to the radio, and I did not cry. Just after 7 p.m. that night, about 14 hours after waking up to one of the most horrific days I have lived through, my husband’s plane landed at the BCS airport.

He had been on flight after flight for nearly a day. Only focused on our pending reunion, he did not read any newspapers, see the TV or listen to the radio during that time. He did not know. I had to tell him. I had to tell him all of it. He had been gone for weeks, but right then I had to tell him about every minute of the past 14 hours. And I cried. Bonfire will always be more special to us, because we are Aggies and that is where we were introduced.

17 years later, for us, that is still true.

But 10 years from that horrible day in 1999, it is also an anniversary that is difficult, raw and emotional. And when we think about it for too long, we both cry.

1948

1950

1955

1958

To preemptively light Bonfire, a University of Texas fan dropped gasoline and flares on Stack from a plane, but did not succeed

The completion of the Memorial Student Center forces Bonfire to move behind Duncan Dining Hall

Sophomore James E. Sarran is killed at Bonfire when struck by a swerving car, after pushing his buddy to safety

Bonfire collapsed due to rain, classes were canceled so students could rebuild it

Pg. 8a-11.17.09.indd 1

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bonfireedition

page 10a

thebattalion

tuesday 11.17.2009

Excursion into glory

By John K. Ward | Class of 1965

The Last Corps Trip

G

o with me on an excursion.You are passing silently over darkened treetops under a leaden autumn sky. The clouds are a greyish black, revealing patches of intense darkness and occasional brilliant stars. The trees are really full of leaves for this late in the season.You can see the deep green of mature leaves of live oaks in the darkness. There is a faint reddish glow on the horizon, left over from the day that is no more.

Moving silently and effortlessly, you hear the night sounds.

The birds and treetop animals make faint noises as they settle in for a chilly night. An occasional yellow light of a farmhouse glints here and there, scattered across the countryside.

Your late evening passage carries you over a quiet college town.You look downward and see its campus.You see the students wandering the grounds along sidewalks and paths worn in the lawns between the dormitories, class buildings and library of a stately old campus.

Couples pair off, some walking arm in arm or hand in hand. The girls wear poodle skirts and have wool sweaters pulled over their arms. The boys are in trousers and cardigans. It seems the cool weather has caught people by surprise.

Everyone has wrapped their light overgarments tightly around them against the sharpness of the evening.You see one couple and another slip behind a tree for some face-to-face intimacy.

Down the hill, you see the eatery across the worn blacktop street on the back side of the campus. The garish blue-white light of the fluorescents spills out into the parking lot. There is the sound of Fats Domino playing from the juke box system.

Each table and booth has its own chromed box mounted on the wall, with red plastic buttons. Someone drops in a dime and selects more plays. The central juke box rotates and selects another record.

Someone orders a black cow. It comes in a fluted pressed glass container. Others have Cokes in bottles. Someone tears the corner off an envelope of peanuts and pours the peanuts into the Coke. The liquid foams up and runs over. Laughter erupts as he slurps up the foam before it runs over the table.

You sweep up again and away. As you rise to treetop level, you see the stately outline of tall, old college buildings. This may be Southwestern University in Georgetown. It seems that everyone here is just going through the motions. There is no verve; no excitement; no passion.

Countryside goes by faster than anyone could travel by car. The evening is still black, but has not gotten any later or darker than before.

As you descend over another college town, the foliage is different. The trees are more sparse. There is sand spilling over onto the sidewalks. The buildings have a different character.

The architecture is low and 1950s modern. Rooftops have low slopes; the outer walls slope outward to meet the roofs.

The students are like those before, except maybe the girls’ hemlines are longer. The boys are more predominantly in sport coats.You see occasional couples avoiding the light of the campus to be alone together in the shadows.

The crowd flows toward a chapel-like building. They are going to vespers together before they retire to their dorms for study and preparation for a school day. This college town has three small campuses. There is the sound of organ music.

Once again, you sweep up and away. Passing across the rolling countryside, you descend over another city. This time, the atmosphere is more sophisticated. The girls are coiffed more elegantly. The boys are prettier and dress more dashingly.Yet, there is a certain western, country flair to the clothing style.

The sidewalks are edged and the lawns are well-maintained.

Off-campus, the street scene is more urban. Downtown has

By P.H. DuVal Jr. | Class of 1951

streets, curbs and sidewalks.

There are tall buildings. A block off the business district is a seedier section. The students come and go into buildings with painted-over windows. There is the sound of country music.

Even so, with the conspicuous wealth being expended, you sense the detachment and a lack of passion and commitment in all the activity. From the windows of the establishments, you catch the scent of marijuana.

Sweeping up and away again, you gather elevation. The silhouette of the Capitol building can be seen against the black sky.

Once again you pass over the dark live oak forests of central Texas.You are struck by the sharpness of the air and the darkness of the early autumn night. Once more, you see lonely lights of individual farmhouses as you speed across the countryside.

In the blackness, to your left, you hear something.

A “boom.” And another.

You turn to look. Beyond the horizon and the trees you see the glow of yellow lights.

The sound becomes more distinct.

It sounds like a bass drum. There are whoops of excitement. There is a trumpet call and more excitement.

“Ta ta. Tat ta. Tatatata Ta ta tata.” There rises a great cry from many voices.

You turn and sweep toward the sound.

Over the treetops, you see the sight of many individuals. Some are in a uniform of sorts. It appears dark, solid green. Some are wearing olive green hard hats. Some have stripes and insignia on their helmets. All are dirty and fatigued from a full day’s labor.

These students are exuberant. They raise their voices together. They sing loudly, if not well. There is a large band, also dressed in fatigues and helmets. They raggedly march around a large stack of cut tree timbers.

All are singing and following the band around the tall spire of wood. There is a little orange outhouse mounted on top of the tallest center pole.

Someone throws a torch up onto the wood. Fire catches immediately, as though there was fuel already poured on the stack. The heat rises quickly from the sudden ignition.

The crowd quickly moves back.

In the rush away from the upwelling flames, the march around the Bonfire is abandoned. The crowd resolves to encircle and watch the fire just beyond the circle of radiant heat.

It was Judgment Day in Aggieland And tenseness filled the air; All knew there was a trip at hand, But not a soul knew where.

Assembled on the drill field Was the world-renowned Twelfth Man, The entire fighting Aggie team And the famous Aggie Band.

And out in front with Royal Guard The reviewing party stood; St. Peter and his angel staff Were choosing bad from good.

First he surveyed the Aggie team And in terms of an angel swore, “By Jove, I do believe I’ve seen This gallant group before.

I’ve seen them play since way back when, And they’ve always had the grit; I’ve seen ‘em lose and I’ve seen ‘em win But I’ve never seen ‘em quit.

No need for us to tarry here Deciding upon their fates; Tis plain as the halo on my head That they’ve opened Heaven’s gates.”

And when the Twelfth Man heard this, They let out a mighty yell That echoed clear to Heaven And shook the gates of Hell.

“And what group is this upon the side,” St. Peter asked his aide, “That swelled as if to burst with pride When we our judgment made?”

“Why, sir, that’s the Cadet Corps That’s known both far and wide For backing up their fighting team Whether they won lost or tied.”

“Well, then,” said St. Peter, “It’s very plain to me That within the realms of Heaven They should spend eternity.

And have the Texas Aggie Band At once commence to play For their fates too we must decide Upon this crucial day.”

And the drum major so hearing Slowly raised his hand And said, “Boys, let’s play The Spirit For the last time in Aggieland.”

And the band poured forth the anthem, In notes both bright and clear And ten thousand Aggie voices Sang the song they hold so dear.

And when the band had finished, St. Peter wiped his eyes And said, “It’s not so hard to see They’re meant for Paradise.”

And the colonel of the Cadet Corps said As he stiffly took his stand, “It’s just another Corps Trip, boys, We’ll march in behind the band.”

GUESTCOLUMN

Will Hurd

The memories of Bonfire’s collapse will burn forever in the heart of Texas A&M.

N

ov. 18, 1999, is a day I, like so many Aggies, will never forget. I was awoken a few minutes before 3 a.m. by a very dear friend, who was actually the first person I met at Texas A&M. She told me there was a serious accident at Bonfire stack and to get over there immediately. I threw on a ball cap and the first clothes I could find and got in my car to drive to campus.

I was unprepared for the image I was about to see; the mix of emergency vehicles, the number of press people already investigating the event and, worst of all, the haphazard pile of collapsed logs. That image will be forever burned into my mind.

It was an image that came back to me when I entered the Bonfire Memorial for the first time just a few weeks ago. I thought I had come to grips with the raw emotions I felt that horrible day almost 10 years ago, but I quickly realized that I hadn’t. It had taken me about five years to be able to hear the song “Amazing Grace” without tearing up. That song has special meaning because immediately following the end of the memorial service at

Pg. 10a-11.17.09.indd 1

File — THE BATTALION

Two women tearfully comfort each other after the collapse.

Reed Arena, the day after the collapse, close to 20,000 students put their arms around each other and stood in silence for close to 5 minutes. Then, from somewhere, someone began to hum quietly that famous hymn. Within seconds, the whole arena was singing.

That is a moment one does not soon forget, the unity and love of the Aggie family.

As Fred Maddox explained, “the 12 young people who died were truly remarkable people. They were scholars, student athletes, active in Boy Scouts, 4-H, church groups; they were leaders.

If you had to choose a dozen students to represent the best of Texas A&M, you probably wouldn’t do much better than these.”

I’ve been conflicted about what the

10th anniversary is supposed to signify.

I’ve worried whether this will force the families to relive such a painful loss, one I can’t even begin to comprehend.

I’ve wondered if new members of the Aggie family know what Bonfire is since many have never participated in it.

Experts in dealing with the psychological aspects of a community loss say after a catastrophic event, have one memorial one year after the event and that’s it.

What I eventually realized is that this 10 year anniversary is not about Bonfire. It is about life. It is about being inspired by the lives of 12 amazing students. It is about the example they set for all of us. It is about appreciating the events in our lives that these 12 will never get to experience; college graduation, their first ‘real’ job, buying

a house, getting married, having children and the simple blessing of growing old surrounded by people who love you. We should not just remember them every decade but every day.

Ten years ago we saw one of the most difficult losses to the Aggie family, but also we saw the power of the spirit that can ne’er be told. Bonfire was a symbol that honored our past and inspired the future. Symbols come and go but the mark we each leave on this earth is eternal. Those 12 fallen angels made their mark, not only on Texas A&M but on the world, and I hope we can all live up to their example.

Will Hurd was the 1999 Texas A&M student body president.

11/16/09 8:42 PM

bonfire edition

page 11a

thebattalion

tuesday 11.17.2009

Remember the night EDITORIALBOARD Editor in Chief Amanda Casanova editor@thebatt.com Managing Editor Mattie Williamson battcopy@thebatt.com Opinion Editor Ian McPhail opinion@thebatt.com

M

ost of us weren’t in College Station to hear the snap. We weren’t there when the flashing sirens pulled onto the field. We didn’t see the fallen logs tumbled upon one another, the praying students in huddles or the families as they mourned. Some of us do not even know the entire story of that awful morning. And while it is a day marked with tragedy, it is a story that needs to continually be told.

As Aggies it is our duty to do more than just wear maroon at Kyle Field or to put a penny at Sully’s feet. Just like we teach incoming Aggies yells and how to “pass it back,” it is imperative that we tell future Aggies what happened that morning. The 99’-Stack did not just fall and kill any 12 people.

They were 12 of us, students who had dreams of becoming doctors, students who were great daughters and sons, students who saved others, and students who stood shoulder to shoulder with their best friends to sing the “Aggie War Hymn.” Just like us.

At the Bonfire Memorial, their voices echo, bouncing off the portal walls.

The trek to the Memorial is long, and the gravel crunches beneath our footsteps. It is a haunting sound as we near the glowing circle. Our job as Aggies is to remember not only what happened that day, but also what these students meant to this University. Each stood for tradition, for spirit, for excellence and for loyalty. We can never forget that.

But the story doesn’t end there.

In the aftermath, students, families and others gathered to honor the Aggie family’s fallen. Aggie rings, notes and flowers dotted the area, and the nation looked wide-eyed at a University that stepped up from the tragedy.

It is a story that is not easy to hear, but requires remembrance. And so 10 years later, we remember this tragedy, this tradition.

In one night the towering Stack became more than an image of a football rivalry. The flames from Aggie Bonfire may never tear into the College Station night sky again, crackling and flaring hues of reds and yellows. But this spirit will live on as long as we decide it will.

We don’t understand everything about Bonfire, but once a year it’s 2:42 a.m. on Nov. 18 again, and we’re bowing our heads and we’re remembering those lives, that night, a spirit. In 10 years, this University has changed, but at the core is the same resounding spirit present in 1999. It is our duty to ensure that spirit continues to embrace this campus for another 10, 20, 100 years.

As important as history is to this University, we as students don’t always take note of the past. Many of us have never even been out to the memorial or visited once before forgetting it existed.

This is a story that cannot be forgotten or dismissed or left to disappear in aging photographs and old headlines. This is a story that we probably did not hear as 9 and 10-year-olds because it’s not a bedtime tale, it doesn’t have the happy ending we would have expected. But it’s true, it’s real, and it’s ours, Aggies. It’s our story of camaraderie and spirit to tell.

Ten years from now, the Aggie rings fitted around our fingers will be a testament to our time spent in College Station. We may not remember all the yells or come back to Kyle Field every football season, but we will still be Aggies, and we will still have a story to tell.

File Photo — THE BATTALION

1963

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In lieu of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination, Texas A&M cancels Bonfire to honor Kennedy

Longhorn attempts at lighting Stack early warrant armed guards at Bonfire

Responsibilty of Bonfire is transferred from Yell Leaders to Redpots

World record height of 107 feet, 10 inches; world’s largest bonfire is no longer a category in Guinness

Iran: Protests, Proliferation, and Policy

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Class of ‘94

The Texas A&M Pre-Law Society Welcomes You to Attend Our Meeting at 7PM, Nov. 17th in Kleberg 113 Guest Speaker- South Texas School of Law

read the fine print.

the

battalion Classifieds Call 845-0569 To Place Your Ad

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bonfire edition

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thebattalion

tuesday 11.17.09

BONFIRE TRAGEDY Editor’s note The editorial staff of The Battalion thought it was important to rerun the story and photos published the morning of Nov. 18, 1999, to bring perspective to Aggies who may not understand the events and chaos of Stack’s collapse. This page was designed to emulate the front page that was originally published.

Stack falls killing at least 4, students still trapped Published Nov. 18, 1999, The Battalion

File photo — THE BATTALION

1999 Battalion staff covers tragic event

By Matthew Woolbright | The Battalion

H

undreds of articles and thousands of pictures were taken of the Aggie Bonfire collapse at 2:42 a.m., Nov. 18, 1999, many by students on The Battalion staff — who could not put emotions aside, yet still had to report on one of the greatest tragedies in Texas A&M University history.

Battalion photographer JP Beato III completed one assignment that night, a volleyball game, when he decided to go back to the office parking lot with some friends and watch a meteor shower. While the group was standing there, they heard “a really loud rumble.”

“My roommate at the time had just left and he came driving back and said ‘Bonfire just collapsed,’” Beato said. “So we ran to our cars, drove to the site.”

Battalion editor-in-chief Sallie Turner was home and finished writing in her journal when she heard sirens outside. She received a call from the sports editor, who told her Bonfire had fallen. After she grabbed her camera,

she rushed to Stack. On the way, Turner called the newsroom.

“We all just went to the site. That was the only thing we knew to do at that point in time,” Turner said.

It was a typical Wednesday night for managing editor Marium Mohiuddin.

At 3 a.m., she was leaving the newsroom. Mohiuddin, Turner and other editors would sometimes stay in the newsroom doing homework or talking, waiting for a phone call from the press room in Huntsville to tell them the paper was finished. As Mohiuddin was leaving, the phone rang.

See Battalion staff on page 4b

Aggie medics recount stories of sorrowful day Students struggle with emotions while giving medical care to injured Julie Rambin

File photo — THE BATTALION

Emergency personnel help those injured by the fallen Stack.

Pg. 1b-11.17.09.indd 1

The Battalion Toby Hatton remembers that night in snapshots.

A clear sky. Cold air. No moon.

“It was such a bad night that people don’t want to talk about it,” Hatton said. “If I really try and think about it, I remember stuff.”

Hatton was a nurse at the time, working with the Texas A&M Emergency Care Team, which provided medics on duty at the Bonfire site. He and some of his friends had been at the site with the other medics, watching a movie and waiting for the sun to rise.

“Around 2 o’clock in the morning the movie finished, and I drove my two friends home,” Hatton said. “As soon as I walked in the house, my cell phone rang, my house phone rang and my pager went off, all at the same time.”

Elizabeth Leiter, who was on-duty with Care Team at Stack, remembers the collapse.

“I looked up and I saw the stack sort of falling over and twisting. It was dead quiet,” Leiter said.

She and the others ran to help the injured. “The first thing I remember was stumbling across a few bodies that were laying on the ground. I knew looking at them that they were dead.”

Care Team members circled the Stack, triaging those injured in the collapse. Leiter spoke to an injured student but was unable to help.

“He was pinned under the logs. He was alone,” Leiter said. “He wanted me to stay with him and hold his hand and tell him everything was going to be OK, but I couldn’t. I told him I’d come back as soon as I could.”

Several minutes later, once all the injured had been triaged, Leiter returned to find the student dead.

Soon, Care Team was joined by Texas A&M EMS and University police, as well as the Bryan and College Station fire departments.

“When I arrived, it was very dark still. They were just putting up the police line tape. People had flashlights. People were pulling their cars up to shine their headlights on the collapse,” Hatton said.

See Medics on page 6b

At least four students were killed early today when the Bonfire stack collapsed into a dangerous heap of heavy wire and logs.

About 2:20 a.m., a crane lifting a log hit the stack too hard, apparently cracking the centerpole at the base, witnesses said.

The stack fell suddenly, trapping workers on and near the stack.

“I heard a snap, centerpole cracked and all of a stack came down faster than anyone could move,” said Aileen Dryden, a sophomore general studies major who was working at the workers’ refreshment stand.

“The next thing I knew, people were going crazy, and there were bodies on the ground.”

Police confirmed that four students were dead and at least four were trapped under the fallen logs.

A College Station Medical Center spokesperson said 12 students were hospitalized, three of which were in critical condition.

Officials reported that Corps of Cadets Company K-2 was working on the collapsed side of Bonfire.

Other Corps units and residence halls on the stack site were the FHK Complex, Moses Hall, Aston Hall, Company D-2, Company C-2, Company K-2, Squadron 16 and Squadron 17.

Bonfire officials said at least 24 workers were on the stack when it collapsed.

Hillary Jones, a University Police Department (UPD) security officer, said the UPD critical-incident response team, urban search-andrescue teams and community fire departments and emergency medical-response teams responded to the collapse.

She said an off-duty officer witnessed the collapse.

Michael Guerra, hall council president for the FHK Complex, was escorting a worker from the site to her residence hall when the stack fell.

“I was in complete disbelief,” Guerra said. “I had just seen it standing; then it was down. It’s something that should never have happened. It’s something that you never expect.”

Guerra said more than 30 people from the FHK Complex were at the site, and at least two were unaccounted for more than 3 hours after the fall.

About 4 a.m., Redpots called for assistance to transport logs and rescue trapped workers. Guerra said precautions taken by Bonfire organizations had saved lives.

“By the time I was able to get back to the site, the rescue efforts were being coordinated,” he said. “One good thing about Bonfire is there is a line of command that went into action tonight.”

“The situation was handled as best as it could be under the circumstances.”

No one officially commented on the plans for this years’ and future Bonfires.

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1977

Nationally famous recording artist John Denver performs at Bonfire

Students begin to be excused from one day of class to work on Bonfire’s construction

College Station Fire Department urges for a smaller Bonfire, 55 feet

A College Station police officer is fired after trying to light Bonfire early; a girl stuffs her hair in her helmet and works on Stack a short time

11/16/09 9:12 PM

thebattalion bonfireedition page2b

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Bonfire question continues Rebekah Skelton | The Battalion In fall 2008 when litigation concerning Aggie Bonfire was cleared, there was much speculation among students that Bonfire would be brought back to campus.

“It’s not just whether it should be in this county or back on campus,” said former Student Body President Mark Gold. “It’s so much bigger than that.”

Former Texas A&M University President Elsa Murano, along with Gold, was the first administrator to make contact with the 12 fallen Aggies’ parents after the lawsuits in 2008.

They were able to meet with 10 of them during winter break.

“The point of conversation was to extend a hand from the University and hear the story of the son or daughter they lost,” said Gold, a senior biomedical science major. “Never explicitly did Murano or I ask ‘Do you think Bonfire should be brought back?’”

Gold said the plan was to finish meeting with the families over the summer and then finish the decision-making process. However, when Murano resigned over the summer, that process came to a halt.

“We’re back in a little limbo; a waiting game,” Gold said.

Administrators and the Student Government Association do not deny the question everybody wants answered is if Bonfire will be returning to campus.

“Everybody’s asking if Bonfire is going to be brought back,” said Student Government Association legislative relations director Logan Nichols, a senior agricultural economics major. “But until all the litigation has been resolved and until all the stakeholders of Bonfire have been consulted a decision will not be made.”

Interim A&M President R. Bowen Loftin said if Bonfire were to return, the tradition would undergo major changes.

“If it were to come back in the future, it would be a different type of process, I’m sure,” Loftin said. “There would be some pretty strict guidelines.

[Former A&M President] Loftin also signed an agreement with the Professional Engineering Licensing saying that if we ever do Bonfire again we will follow their standards of doing so.”

Although a hold has been put on making a decision as to whether Bonfire will be brought back to campus, this year’s administrators and Student Government Association have made sure the 12 fallen Aggies and their families

are remembered.

“Aggies have always been very respectful to those who lost their lives while students here and while serving in other capacities after leaving here,” Loftin said. “Because these deaths happened in the context of Aggie tradition, it’s actually more important than ever before for us to remember what happened.”

Tonight the University will have a commemorative ceremony in Reed Arena for the families of the fallen 12. At 2:42 a.m. Wednesday morning, a candlelight vigil will take place at the Bonfire Memorial.

“The focus is on the 12 fallen Aggies and those who were affected by it,” said Student Body President Kolin Loveless, a senior mechanical engineering major. “And not just those who died, but also those who were injured and those who were there and experienced it.”

Loftin said he hopes this year’s 10th anniversary ceremonies will help the families, victims and students to move forward.

“Ten years has gone by, that’s a long time in the measure of a student’s life. We hope that by having a special event this year some of the families can achieve some of their closure and a sense of moving beyond this. We will never forget those who lost their lives here, but at the same time, we must go on in our lives too,” Loftin said.

Even though the confounding question of Bonfire being brought back to campus does not yet have an answer, Loftin did comment on the current state of litigation and who might be able to make a definitive decision at some point in the future.

“Even though the litigation involving A&M directly has been settled, there is still a lawsuit outstanding against a company, and we have been brought in as a third party, so it’s not totally done,” Loftin said. “I’m interim president right now. I’ll be here for some uncertain time, and it would be inappropriate for me as interim president to set any wheels in motion that would lead to the Bonfire being brought back.

I think the president that the board will select probably sometime within the next year will be the person that will face that particular decision.

But I do think that we should face it with true knowledge of what happened and why it happened.”

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Pg. 2b-11-17-09.indd 1

11/16/09 10:26 PM

kerlee thebattalion bonfire edition page3b

Aggie is honored for bravery

By Nancy Barrera | The Battalion

anice and Tim Kerlee Sr. attend Bonfire Remembrance Day every year at Reed Arena. Janice annually recites a poem “We Remember Them,” after the student body sings “Amazing Grace.”

Nov. 18, 1999, the traditional Texas A&M Bonfire collapsed, taking the lives of 12 Aggies, including their son Timothy Doran Kerlee Jr. Although the Kerlees were in Memphis when the Bonfire tragedy occurred and they didn’t know the exact details, they remember the incident.

Janice said she remembers being awakened by a strong inner voice sensation saying: “Pray for Tim. Pray for protection. Pray for Jesus to protect him.”

A phone call from one of Tim’s buddies from Squadron 16, “The Fighting Falcons,” delivered the dreadful news that Tim was injured in the collapse of Bonfire.

A picture featured in multiple newspapers, which the Kerlees avoided, portrayed Tim trapped in the Stack. Tim, resting on a mass of logs, propped himself up on one elbow while his legs were trapped — Tim was directing the aid teams to other students; he directed rescuers to at least five other students before he allowed them to take him down from the Stack.

In the hospital, Janice and Tim Sr. decided enough was enough and that Tim

should rest in peace. Tim was disconnected from life support. He was the 12th and final Aggie to lose his life from the Bonfire collapse. Tim’s courage and valor to put further lives prior to his own health earned him the Medal of Merit.

“I pray that his story will inspire others to live their lives to the fullest and be the best that they can possibly be,” Janice said.

Tim, a Baccalaureate graduate from Germantown High School in Germantown, Tenn., was an outgoing, funny student who was ready to lend a hand to any person in need, his parents said.

Tim was high on life and desired that everybody experience a taste of his positive energy in various ways. He was an active athlete who enjoyed Ultimae

“

Courtesy photo

We don’t regret Tim’s decision to attend the University, and it is because of Tim that we have become Aggies ourselves.”

— Janice and Tim Kerlee Sr. parents of Tim Kerlee

Frisbee, German Foot Dancing and swing dancing. He was also a “Silver Palm” Eagle Scout.

Tim was also involved in the United Methodist Church in his hometown. He took part in community service as well as the church’s Christian Youth assembly.

He joined the church’s drama club where he worked closely with children and performed for the whole community.

Tim Kerlee graduated from Germantown High School in Germantown, Tenn., as a Baccalaureate graduate.

The Eagle Scout was recruited by A&M and, upon enrollment, he tested out of his freshman year. The 17-year-old sophomore mechanical engineering major maintained a 4.0 despite the amount of time he spent with Bonfire.

“We don’t regret Tim’s decision to attend the University, and it is because of Tim that we have become Aggies ourselves,” said Tim’s parents, Janice and Tim Sr. In spring 2000, the Kerlees moved to College Station from Tennessee. The family built a new life by providing students unofficial counseling and serving further students who were traumatized by the Bonfire tragedy by sharing their experience with them.

Janice wrote “The Chance to Say

Goodbye,” a book dedicated to the Bonfire 12. The Kerlees also began volunteering with the campus ministry at A&M United Methodist Church and serve Aggies in a variety of ways.

“The love that we would’ve given to Tim is the love that we currently offer to A&M students,” said Tim Sr. The Texas A&M’s Parents of the Year in 2003 never filed a lawsuit or assigned blame for the Bonfire collapse. The Kerlees said they are devoted Christians and that they believe hard-hitting as well as happy situations come about for a reason, and no one is to blame.

“We’re proud of you boy. We miss you and we love you,” are the last words the Kerlee family has for their beloved son, Tim.

kimmel

Life well-lived Freshman loved faith, family

By David Harris | The Battalion

“There is living and there is existing. If you are living, life will take your breath. In tasting honey you may get a sting, but life stagnant is worse than death. Bite into life and let the juice run down. Lives are not measured with chances untook. Enjoy the blooms now, in time they’ll be brown. Chances for lovers are often forsook. Forget all the past, look not for your fate. Take life by the horns and live for today. Hard times will come if you rush the gate, but interesting people have suffered worse fate. Take hold of the world and go for a ride, ‘cause not all men live, but everyone dies.” inscription from Kimmel’s Bonfire Memorial portal

E

AGBQ Class of 2007 I had a teacher in middle school who was Class of 1997, and she worked on every Bonfire while completing her degree and would wear her dirty overalls on Fridays before really intense games. She told amazing stories that had me hyped up about seeing it when I got to A&M, but I had missed out on what made it so special at the time.

Medal of merit

J

Ol’AgSTORY

I thought about her every year while I was at A&M, especially on the anniversaries of that fateful night.

I know for a fact that she wanted to be there, even if she couldn’t do anything to stop the tragedy, but to be there in body as well as spirit to help out her fellow Aggies to the best of her ability.

It finally came to me on the fifth anniversary, standing in the early morning in midnights with my buddies. There was a thick fog and a chill in the air, but no one shivered. I remember seeing silhouettes of Corps members and nonregs standing side by side, silent and stoic in a way that poets can only dream about and never be able to express in words.

I felt sorry for students not part of this University, as they will never experience the Spirit that guided the wind that night, every Silver Taps and Muster I attended.

“I finally got his room cleaned up last week,” Walieta Kimmel said. “We just left it.”

Lucas John Kimmel was 19, a freshman at Texas A&M when the Bonfire collapsed in 1999. He was a member of the Class of 2003 and of the Corps of Cadets.

But, below the surface, there was so much more. To his parents, Walieta and James, he was their fifth child. The youngest, which, said his mother, meant he was especially cherished.

“He was born to a family of four kids already,” Walieta said. “They were 10, 12, 15 and 17 when he was born. So, he was the love of everybody in the family.”

Lucas’ love for the outdoors personified him. It gave him the chance to be outdoors, and it gave him the chance to be with the animal life that he appreciated so much. This appreciation led him to A&M in hopes of someday becoming a veterinarian.

“He was an outdoor kid,” Walieta said. “He loved animals. We lived out in the country. He found a baby bird in the field and we rescued it and got it growing up. Dogs, cats, rabbits. That’s why he wanted to be a veterinarian.”

After graduating from Tulosa-Midway High School in Corpus Christi, Lucas came to A&M in fall 1999 following in his brother Matthew’s footsteps. And, like his brother, he was outfitted in Company B-2.

Given his love of the outdoors, it was only natural that Lucas would love being a part of Bonfire. The year prior, Lucas had asked for an axe for Christmas just so he could help with the storied tradition.

Early on the morning of Nov. 18, 1999, the stack of thousands of logs collapsed, killing 12 students and injuring at least 27 others. Bonfire was canceled for that year and has not burned on campus since.

On that fateful morning, just days after Lucas’ 19th birthday, Walieta and James knew something was wrong.

“We couldn’t believe it,” Walieta said. “My son, Matt, was on the way to work, and he said Bonfire fell. And

1983

1985

1986

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The Class of 1984 establishes a $25,000 endowment fund to Bonfire to create a sense of permanence

Bonfire height limit again set at 55 feet, this time by the Texas A&M administration.

Bonfire is aired on cable television

Redpots issue statement in support of all Aggies working on Bonfire, regardless of sex

ven 10 years later, it’s one of the hardest things for a mother and father to look back on.

Courtesy photo

Lucas John Kimmel was a freshman at A&M and member of Company B-2 in the Corps of Cadets.

Pg. 3b-11.17.09.indd 1

I said Lucas was on it. I know he was.

He loved to climb, but he said freshman and sophomores aren’t allowed on stack.

Don’t worry. So, we went through that whole day. We didn’t find out until about 4 or 5 in the evening that they found him.”

He was buried a few days later in front of thousands in his hometown.

The things his parents remember most about their last-born child is his spirituality along with the family ideals he possessed.

“He was an uncle,” Walieta said. “He was very proud of it. In kindergarten, he asked me, ‘Nobody believes I’m an uncle. Can I take her to show and tell?’

And, I was like ‘no, honey.’”

The Catholic Eagle Scout set an example to his nephews and nieces before his death. Many of them attended Texas A&M and carried on the Aggie tradition.

Even 10 years down the road, the lessons he taught the people around him are still prevalent.

“I’ll always remember it,” Walieta said. “He always said, if you put God first in your life, everything falls into place.”

The next year when it fell, she was almost fired from her teaching spot because she wore her coveralls for the next two weeks in support of the tragedy. My school district was ran by oppressive businessmen who didn’t understand the importance of school tradition or common decency.

She promptly quit after that semester and moved to Houston and I never saw my Aggie teacher again.

11/16/09 10:56 PM

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thebattalion

tuesday 11.17.2009

“One thing I learned from being out there right after it happened was the raw emotion of the student body,” Turner said. “The one thing we wanted to do was be respectful.”

Battalion staff Continued from page 1b

It was not the press room. It was Turner.

“Bonfire has fallen. Scrap the front page, send some reporters and wait.”

Mohiuddin hurried to the site, dropped off the page designer who was with her, returned to the office to redesign the page, then called the press room to say, “Stop the presses.”

“As a journalist, that’s a moment you wait for, to call and say, ‘Stop the presses,’” Mohiuddin said. “But it was such an unfortunate time to say that.”

As she settled back into the newsroom to redesign the front page, Mohiuddin cleared half of it.

“No one knew the severity of anything,” Mohiuddin said. “Bonfire had fallen before and no one was injured then, so I thought the same thing. ‘They’ll fix it, and we’ll go on.’”

At the scene of the fallen Stack When Beato arrived on the scene, notions that this was just another event vanished.

“We knew from just driving up, this was something major,” Beato said. “It was hard to determine what we needed to do as far as covering it.”

Beato and his roommate, also a photographer, decided to park on opposite sides of the perimeter and meet in the middle. As Beato rushed inward, he saw people lying inert on the ground, others searching for friends and many standing in shock. One person who caught his eye was Timothy Kerlee Jr. Kerlee stood out to him because his body was partially trapped within the fallen Stack.

Underneath Kerlee, a rescue crew was attending to an injured Aggie. Unknown to Beato, the crew went to aid Kerlee first. However, upon Kerlee’s request, they moved to the next victim.

Kerlee died in the hospital the follow morning.

The photo Beato took of Kerlee in the logs was on the front page of countless newspapers across the nation and was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.

“I think it just defined what the Bonfire collapse was in one picture,” Beato said.

While Beato was taking pictures, Turner arrived at the site. Mohiuddin was in the newsroom, waiting.

What Turner saw when she stepped out of her car was beyond her imagination.

“I remember being out there and seeing the Stack just incredibly twisted and contorted in a way that I had never seen before. I remember hearing people say, ‘Where’s Jerry?

Where’s Jerry?’

“I remember being incredibly sad, but at the same time in shock, like it wasn’t even real,” Turner said.

“The people didn’t even look real. Everyone looked totally overwhelmed by what they were seeing.”

The first 30 minutes she was on the scene, Turner tried to capture the sights of Stack’s collapse. Her attempt was met with much animosity; the students were angry, and a journalist poking around with a camera did not help.

Turner was pushed down and hit by several Aggies, and her camera was knocked to the ground.

Making sense of chaos Once the shock passed and she grasped the situation, Turner became the leader of the campus newspaper and organized the coverage.

“I just told the staff, everyone at the scene, to gather as much information as they could and we would go from there,” Turner said.

Mohiuddin realized that this was not like the other collapses when four photographers came in and said: “No, scrap the entire front page.”

They described the horror just out the door and across the field.

Then, the photos started coming in.

“I was in the newsroom by myself, just waiting, then it became total chaos,” Mohiuddin said. “Nothing made sense, but we were just in ‘go-mode.’ We had to get the story out.”

The front page included a report that was an accumulation of information gathered by the staff and several photos, including the photo of Kerlee.

Reporters were divided into teams and sent to find out stories about specific Aggies. The Battalion was the only newspaper in the world to print Bonfire news on day one. At 11:30 a.m., the paper was sent to press. It hit the newsstands at 1:45 p.m.

Shortly after the photographers came back to the office and Mohiuddin began designing the pages, an Aggie working in Dallas received a phone call.

Dallas Morning News coverage Michael Mulvey, Class of 1990, was a staff photographer for The Dallas Morning News. He said the assignment was not one he would have requested.

“

“As an Aggie, I was pretty freaked out,” Mulvey said. “It was about 5 or 5:30 a.m. when I got the call and at that point, they didn’t really know how many were in there or how many were living. So at that point, your mind kind of runs, you know? Could it be a few or, like, 30?

I mean, it’s a big pile of logs, so I knew it was bad.”

As a professional photographer, Mulvey was ready to go. After briefly checking CNN to get a sense of the scene, he jumped in his car and drove to College Station.

When he arrived at Stack, rescue efforts were in full swing and everyone was being kept at a distance. After shooting photos for about an hour, Mulvey saw that the world needed another angle to understand.

He called his editors and was teamed with an ABC affiliate in Houston to go up in a helicopter.

“It was pretty obvious you needed another perspective on what it looked like,” Mulvey said.

“An above angle was going to be important.”

Mulvey was in the air for several hours as he looked down at the sight. “[It was] totally a national story and not the national story you wanted for your alma mater,” Mulvey said, “especially knowing that there would be so many people who wouldn’t understand, who wouldn’t comprehend.”

About two hours before Mulvey arrived, the sun began to shed its light on the magnitude of the collapse.

Dawn breaks

“It wasn’t until light broke that you could kind of see the whole scale and massiveness of what had just taken place,” Beato said.

One of the reporting teams searched for who was in Beato’s photograph, and other — JP Beato, fall 1999 photographer staff members were for The Battalion running back and forth from the office to the

It’s definitely a part of my life, a part of my career, and I don’t think it will ever go away. It’s just something that will be a part of me.”

field, taking film from the photographers to be developed and returning with more film, supplies and snacks.

Beato did not leave the area for three days, going without showering and a change of clothes for the entire duration.

“There was so much going on constantly that I felt I could not leave. I had to be out here and continue following this story,” Beato said.

Aggies all around As soon as the first issue hit the stands, The Battalion became a source of news in the nation for the collapse. However, this media outlet was not completely objective.

“Outside news sources called us and said, ‘You’re biased.’ Of course we’re biased! This is our school and our students,” Mohiuddin said.

“We wanted to provide a voice for the students, and we knew we could do it. Other journalists did the job and told the facts, but we needed to tell the students’ feelings, what they were going through and what they were doing.”

With an event as colossal as Bonfire’s collapse and The Battalion’s role as the students’ voice, everything the paper did, said or thought centered on the tragedy.

“Everything in the community stopped at that point in time, everything on campus stopped. Bonfire fell and nothing else mattered,” Turner said.

Turner woke up for classes Wednesday and did not go back to sleep until early Saturday.

Bonfire dominated her life for the next month, changing her perspective forever.

“My classes were put on a backburner. I think I made an Incomplete and a ‘D,’ my lowest grade to date,” Turner said. “I wanted to just be a goofy college kid and in the face of this event, I didn’t get to be that anymore.”

The Battalion staff’s emotional attachment to the tragedy on their campus set apart their coverage from the rest of the world, Turner said.

“Our staff cried...They cried a lot. I think that’s what made the story so powerful, and I think that’s why we can look back 10 years later and know we fulfilled our duty first to our Aggie community.”

Mohiuddin said the emotions and memories from the night Bonfire fell are forever engrained in her mind, as is the complete feeling of disbelief. Later in her career, Mohiuddin would experience the numbness again.

“When 9/11 happened, being at the [Austin-American] Statesman, it was like Bonfire all over again,” Mohiuddin said.

“When things happen, journalists just have to go. Then they get to step back to soak it all in, and it’s hard.”

The first member of the 1999 Battalion staff to arrive on the scene said he thinks of Bonfire every week.

“Every Thursday for the last 10 years around 2:40, it’s always kind-of been a noted thing,” Beato said. “I would always be up at that time.

I’d always be thinking about it in some way.”

As he looks out across the memorial, the lifechanging event is still on his mind.

“It’s definitely a part of my life, a part of my career, and I don’t think it will ever go away. It’s just something that will be a part of me.”

File photo — THE BATTALION

The front page of The Battalion was redesigned Nov. 18, 1999, when the Bonfire collapsed. The issue (bottom left) was printed at 11:30 a.m. that day.

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11/16/09 11:25 PM

mcclain thebattalion bonfire edition page5b

Fitting tribute San Antonio commemorates his memory

By Rebecca Bennett | The Battalion

B

ryan McClain, Class of 2002 and a member of the Corps of Cadets, was a lover of nature and preferred to spend his time outdoors.

As a sophomore at A&M, he was set on pursuing a degree in Entomology, the study of insects; his friends even playfully nicknamed him the “Bug Boy.” The 97-acre Bryan McClain Park, located in Bryan’s hometown of San Antonio, Texas, is a fitting tribute to his memory.

The park’s development was approved in October 2001 by the City Council of San Antonio, with the planned location in a lot behind Bryan’s high school. In fact, the park is used by three adjacent schools for education in environmental studies.

“This park fit perfectly into the things Bryan loved . . . the outdoors, nature and children. So we can’t help but feel that Bryan had a hand in this planning process,” said Kathy McClain, Bryan’s mother.

Kathy said the dedication of the park on Nov. 17, 2001, was a bittersweet day for Bryan’s family and loved ones.

“We felt sadness because the reason

we were there was because Bryan was no longer with us. We felt happiness because we were there to honor Bryan, Bryan’s life and Bryan’s memory.

So many people that Bryan loved and that loved him and also people who were just beginning to know Bryan would enjoy this park for many years to come,” she said.

As of 2007, a disc golf course was added by the San Antonio Disc Golf Club, which had its second Bryan McClain Open Tournament in October.

“If Bryan had lived, this would probably have been a sport he would have loved. Bryan never shied away from a sport. He participated in golf, baseball, karate, soccer, basketball, football, fencing, snow skiing, swimming, horseback riding, hunting and fishing,” Kathy said.

Bryan spent his summers working as a lifeguard and children’s swim instructor at a community pool. In his typical fun-loving manner, he incorporated various water games into his swim lessons.

As stated on Bryan’s Bonfire Memorial portal, he was a “tough” swim coach, but with a loving heart for each swimmer as if they were his own children. The Alamo Area Aquatic Association rewards a Bryan McClain Most Improved Swimmer Award to a deserving male and female student each year in Bryan’s honor.

In concurrence with his affinity for the outdoors, Bryan was enthusiastic about Bonfire. Will Haley, Class of 2002, and one of Bryan’s closest Corps friends, said it was fitting that Bryan was so passionate about the Bonfire tradition.

“He was an active person, a great athlete who liked being outside, the kind of guy who took advantage of every day

Courtesy Photo

Bryan was a member of Squadron 2 in the Corps of Cadets. The Bryan A. McClain ‘02 Bonfire Memorial Scholarship is awarded to sophomores in the outfit.

of life,” Haley said.

Haley said Bryan encouraged his fellow Squadron 2 (Gator 2) members to go out to Bonfire, and once braved a second-story jump from his dorm window to go to Cut after-hours.

Haley said Bryan was a leader among his peers, always eager to include others in whatever was going on. Within his first semester, Bryan was already receiving outstanding recognition by his professors for what they called his true embodiment of the Corps’ determination.

His perseverance and infectious personality quickly gained him a positive reputation in Gator 2, which has

been sustained through the years by the Bryan A. McClain ’02 Bonfire Memorial Scholarship. The scholarship is granted annually to two members of Gator 2 during their sophomore year.

Branson Reed, senior agronomy major and current commanding officer of the unit, is a former recipient of the award.

“We hold Bryan’s memory very dear to us here in Gator 2. There is a memorial that hangs in our dorm hallway just for him … he was intensely focused on the Gator 2, Class of 2002 being the best they could be,” Reed said. “He was a leader in the class and encouraged all of his buddies in the outfit to go help him Bonfire on a daily basis.”

“It amazes me to listen to [the scholarship recipients] talk about Bryan,” Kathy said. “It’s as if they knew him personally. Stories about Bryan are evidently passed down year to year. This makes us extremely happy — it keeps Bryan’s memory alive.”

The park and the various awards named in Bryan’s honor have helped his family cope with the loss and preserve this fallen Aggie’s friendly and loving spirit.

However, no amount of time could adequately heal the heartbreak of a mother losing her child; as Kathy said, her life was forever changed on Nov. 18, 1999.

“Ten years have passed since the death of our son. Our hearts continue to be filled with pain; and a void continues to be present…not one day goes by that we don’t long to see Bryan, to hear his laughter, to feel his hug, to hear ‘love ya,’ and to just share our lives again,” she said.

“The pain we feel will never subside…we will miss Bryan and grieve his loss for the rest of our lives.”

powell

Service-minded Name lives on with multiple memorials

By Jill Beathard | The Battalion

C

had Powell was nominated to the Brotherhood, a recognition given to Eagle Scouts in the Order of the Arrow who are nominated by peers. Chad and his father, Greg, an adult member, waited for a day when they could earn the Brotherhood together.

However, at the induction, someone asked for a volunteer to lead a group of Order candidates as a patrol leader, and Chad raised his hand. He was gone for over a day, performing tasks around the campsite without talking to anyone else and with very little nourishment. While he still did the tasks he needed for Brotherhood, on top of that he also did everything the younger Scouts he was helping had to do. When he got back, Greg asked him why he didn’t stay to do it together.

Chad just looked at him. “Well Dad, we came to serve,” he said.

Greg said that story best summed up who his son was as a person. An Eagle Scout, a track athlete, a computer wiz, a musician, Chad always made time to serve other people.

He also kept up his grades through all of that, graduating as valedictorian of his class at Keller High School in Keller, Texas.

Chad burst into tears when he delivered his speech at graduation.

“I want to thank my parents first, because they’ve always put me first,”

Pg. 5b-11.17.09.indd 1

Chad said.

Chad went to direct his speech to his classmates, recognizing all of his friends and those he said he would have liked to call friends.

Chad’s mother, Jill, said he was always full of humor, intelligent but well-rounded and down to earth.

“He just loved life, to this day I’ll see something and I can hear him, and I can hear the way he’d say it, ‘Awesome.’ You know things so many people just pass by, he took the time to smell the roses. And he always said ‘awesome.’”

Chad is survived by his two brothers, Jeremy and Josh. Jill said that Jeremy called the family a “beautiful five piece puzzle” that will never again be complete.

Josh wrote a poem in Chad’s memory.

Chad became the first in his family to attend A&M in fall 1999. He was a computer engineering major. chad, who preferred Linux programming software, said his goal was to one day put Bill Gates out of business.

Chad decided to take part in Bonfire because he saw it, characteristically, as an opportunity to serve and a chance to help out his school.

Early on the morning of Nov. 18, 1999, the stack of thousands of logs collapsed, killing 12 students and injuring at least 27 others. Bonfire was canceled for that year and has not burned on campus since then.

His parents said if he could give any advice to students, it would be to get involved with your school, learn, to be your best, to remember how you got there, to take responsibility for your actions, and to put safety ahead of everything else.

Some of his best advice can be taken

from his example.

“He had this uncanny ability to always be helping everybody else and doing things for other people, but not lose sight of his personal goals,” Greg said.

The Special Olympics track meet in Keller is called the Chad Powell Memorial Special Olympics Track Meet, named after him because he worked as a volunteer at the event every year while he was in high school. There is also a scholarship in his honor called the Chad Powell Rockin’ with the Cross scholarship, funded by the profit from a Web site that provides tablature for Christian music, which Chad, a guitar player, helped start.

Perhaps the most touching memorial, however, is Chad’s Chapel, an open-air structure built mostly by volunteers at Sid Richardson Scout Ranch in Jacksboro.

The chapel is used for formal services during camp, as well as for individual prayer time and classes.

Chad was a swim instructor at the camp for three summers and had organized a Bible study for staff members while he was there.

“One of the things that Chad had always said was that he wished they’d had a place to meet when they were up there, so that was the inspiration that came to us to do that so that the boys would have a place to meet to carry on,” Greg said.

Greg, an architect, designed the chapel, and he and Jill raised the funds for it, asking for donations in lieu of flowers at Chad’s funeral. They built it over numerous weekends with help from Scouts and other people who had know Chad throughout the years, even some soldiers

Ol’AgSTORY Terry Hutchings Class of 1970 I remember working on the ‘69 Bonfire as a civilian student. I was a senior; it was to be my last Bonfire.

We had a lot of Davis Gary Hall residents working on the Bonfire that year. Our job was to carry the oak logs from where they had fallen or been stacked, on the ground, to the flatbed trailers and then drop them onto the trailer beds.

Some of the logs were enormous and required 20 or 30 people to carry them. Some of the guys had stuffed towels inside of their sweatshirts and on top of their shoulders for some padding.

I also remember the hot “trashcan” coffee that was brought out to us at the cutting and loading sites. It didn’t taste very good but it sure warmed us up.

My best Bonfire memory is: when the torches were thrown onto the base of the Bonfire and the aviation fuel ignited the Bonfire. The fire got very hot very quickly, and we all had to back up several feet. That, of course, gave us an even better overall view of the world’s largest Bonfire. While standing there looking at the roaring Bonfire, I remember thinking how incredible and unique this whole thing is and that other schools do not undertake anything remotely as great as this Bonfire.

Scott Simonds Class of 1998 who had stayed at the camp one summer and had Chad as a swim instructor.

“It was quite an effort on a lot of people’s part, a lot of emotion, and a lot of laughing and singing silly songs that Chad used to sing, a lot of memories were shared over the fire, because it seemed like it would always end up being cold the days we were working,” Jill said.

“He would be honored but embarrassed at so much attention headed his way.”

The chapel is open on one side and has seating that faces into the chapel.

All of the rock material is natural stone from the ranch. The chapel is located in a secluded spot off of some trails Chad used to run on.

“It’s a very serene, quiet place,” Jill said. “We’ve been up there and there have just been individual Scouts there having their prayer time, having their study time.”

Jill said that after Chad’s death, she and her husband heard a lot of positive stories about things he had done that they never knew about. “Because to Chad that was just living, he didn’t come home and say guess what I did today that was awesome, that was just living. I think everyone could learn something from his [humility],” she said.

“He was a true servant leader, he lived to serve, and he led through service, by example.”

Lived in Hart Hall 94-97 and helped build three different Bonfires. Some of the funnest times of my life. All of the traditions that went along with Bonfire within the dorms were really fun. We used to love to go and mess with the Corps or the other dorms and raise hell and yell and scream at them and throw toilet paper in their trees. Rarely did anyone ever throw a punch, but it was fun to see how riled up we could get the Walton guys. I loved every second I was involved with it and wish the Aggie students today could all get to experience what I did.

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Bonfire broadcast internationally on satellite television

Aggies Against Bonfire hold debate with pro-Bonfire students

88 faculty members petition A&M president, calling Bonfire a “needless waste”

Bonfire size reduced by 20 percent after Student Senate calls for size reduction

11/16/09 11:42 PM

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thebattalion

tuesday 11.17.2009

Surviving the Stack Aggie injured in collapse reflects on Bonfire tragedy Madiha Rizvi The Battalion He had been on the second stack of Aggie Bonfire, about 40 feet up from the ground, when the pile of logs came crashing down on him. Accounting major Bill Davis found himself crushed under the massive weight of Bonfire.

“They were lots of cavities which naturally formed. My right arm was folded beneath me such that my right hand was under my chest, my elbow was anywhere from underneath me to almost to my side,” he said. “The cavity I was in was the width of my chest, or circumference of my chest and a little bit more because I was lying on my elbow.”

Davis had seen numerous sunrises before, after waking up near dawn to work on the Stack and cutting down trees. This time, the sun came up in the sky as he was trapped below.

Parts of his body were shattered including his femur, left elbow and all the bones running through it. Other parts of his body were cracked and lacerated, leaving the impact of the logs on him in many ways.

Firefighters assigned to him were initially unsuccessful in extracting him from underneath the logs, but Davis kept up his spirit by talking to them. “[They were] making sure I was OK, trying to assess my needs and keeping me from panicking and going into shock,” Davis said.

One of the firefighters crawled through all the caverns and crevices formed in the collapse and climbed up through the debris to find Davis’ legs and feet.

“At that time, he did not know that my femur was fractured nor did he know my pelvis was cracked,” Davis said.

After four hours of being trapped under the stack, Davis remained alive. He was the third from last person to be pulled alive from the Stack.

There were many people, Davis said, who did not know whether he was alive. His roommate who had been at the Stack heard rumors that Davis was in the hospital with a broken arm. He answered the same to Davis’ mother when she called.

His mother came into town the morning of the collapse and realized the full extent of what had happened. She released the information about Davis’ condition and then visitors kept coming in.

He was in the Intensive Care Unit for six

Aggie Medics Continued from 1b

Jay Sartain arrived on site around the same time as Hatton. Sartain was a captain in TAMU EMS, a member of the Corps of Cadets and a senior psychology major at A&M. “The first person that I came upon when I was standing upon the logs was Tim Kerlee Jr. He was very badly injured,” Sartain said.

“I went up to him and asked him what’s the problem. He told me, ‘I’m OK. Please help my buddies — they’re trapped below me.’ That’s the most poignant thing about Bonfire. There’s this kid, and he has severe injuries, fatal injuries, and he’s telling me to go help those people.”

Many of Hatton’s friends were also in the Corps of Cadets, including Bryan McClain. Hatton knew that McClain had been working on site that night. As Hatton approached the Stack, he was stopped and told to put on a pot. Though he did not have one, there was a pot on the ground a few feet from the collapse. It was McClain’s.

“When I put it on, I knew he wasn’t ever going to be wearing it again,” Hatton said. “I knew that Bryan was dead.”

Hatton remembers little more than a scene of chaos.

“You could hear people screaming from within the collapse itself. People moaning. People saying they need help over here, they need help over here,” Hatton said. “From when I got there to about 5 or 6, I really don’t remember anything.”

The worst part, Hatton said, were

days, during which the hospital allowed his friends to come and visit him in pairs with permission from his parents.

Davis remembered how they would walk in with worried expressions, unsure how he felt.

“I broke both my cheek bones and cracked my upper jaw and my mouth was wired shut.

They were concerned about my well being and were very gentle with the questions.”

He reassured them with the help of a notepad and pen, writing down jokes he could think of so that they would know he was his normal self.

“I had to write it all. I’ve always been a jovial person, so subconsciously I was telling them I was OK.” At the time, he said he had no idea of how severe the Bonfire collapse really was. He became aware of the deaths after he had been moved to a regular hospital room.

“I turn on the TV, basically catching up with the world. So in a lot of ways, for six days, the world stopped for me,” Davis said.

He said he understood people visiting him were going through emotional turmoil, while he dealt with a more physical trauma.

“I wasn’t going through that helplessness because for a while [there were] people who were out on the field thinking about how they could help, but they couldn’t. It was frustrating,” Davis said.

Davis said Bonfire shaped him as a person, affecting how he approaches life today.

“Having gone through my injuries and the collapse and lived, being trapped underneath for four hours, in the hospital for three weeks, going through several months of rehab on my arm and my leg, you really learn not to take the small things like walking for granted,” he said.

Davis used a wheelchair for a month, and could not use crutches because his left arm was broken. He said he went from walking fine one day to not being able to stand on his feet the next day. “[It is] a shocking reality to be placed into.

[You experience] mental struggles, go through some low morale times, but you realize you have to go pushing yourself through it.”

He said he jokes about his injury – since he can’t reach his left shoulder with his left hand, if he has an itch, he scratches with his right hand.

“I can’t bend my left arm. But it does not prevent [me] from doing anything. You find ways around,” he said.

Davis said it is very important to him that people knew what Bonfire was and how impor-

those who were trapped alive within the Stack. Because the Stack twisted as it collapsed, the logs were intertwined with each other. Moving one log would cause other logs to shift, possibly causing further injury to those trapped inside.

“You’d hear a call for help, and it got fainter as the night went on and into the morning, and it stopped when the sun came up. By this time, we knew we wouldn’t be able to get to them without Bonfire collapsing more on top of them and killing them. You would hear it and it would stop, and you’d think they had finally passed away. Each time it would get less and less audible,” Hatton said.

“You couldn’t get there and help them. You couldn’t comfort them.

You couldn’t do anything.”

Toby Hatton doesn’t know how many people he helped that night.

“I block out the part where for seven hours I stood there holding a bag of IV fluids in each hand, watching them slowly meticulously lifting logs off a body and lifting the body up so we could get to the one underneath who was alive,” Hatton said. “My friend sacrificed his life so the other one could live. He was holding the logs off of him just enough so that he could survive.”

Standing at the perimeter, Bryan’s friends saw that Hatton was wearing Bryan’s pot. They called to him, asking if Bryan was still alive.

“I knew that Bryan was dead, but I couldn’t tell anyone,” Hatton said.

“His friends were asking me. I couldn’t tell them.”

When Hatton was relieved later that morning, he took Bryan’s pot to his commanding officer so it could be given to his parents. Though the official

“

In a lot of ways, for six days, the world stopped for me.”

— Bill Davis after being in the Intensive Care Unit for almost a week

File Photo

Rescuers transport one of 27 injured students to receive further medical care. tant it was, not only to him, but the campus as a whole.

“It energized the Aggie spirit. It affected everybody,” he said.

Davis was a part of Bonfire crew in the year before the collapse. He reflected on Bonfire, and what each phase of it meant to him. He said the experience of camaraderie and friendship among those who cut trees for the stack from sunrise to sunset were some of his best experiences.

On a typical day during cut, he would wake up at 4:30 a.m. He and his friends would get to the field in a car or truck and walk over to their assigned areas, usually with four to five other guys assigned to an individual tree.

“You are sweating the whole time, your arms hurt, you’re getting sore so you’ve got to take turns cutting on the tree,” he said. “Your jackets are coming off because you’re getting hot even though it’s so cold outside. You are getting blisters on your hands. You are starting to feel that ache of tiredness and maybe by this time it is 9 or 10 o’ clock [a.m.] and you are already up for five hours and your day is not even halfway done.”

He used to print off jokes for his crew so they could have a friendly atmosphere, keeping conversations flowing so they would not feel

the slump towards the end of the day.

Davis said as he looks back at this experience, he reflects on all he learned through the experience.

“These are long tiresome days and you are relying on others,” Davis said. “You have to pick each other up.”

Davis said the people who used to work on Bonfire with others spent their blood, sweat and tears cutting down trees and tearing them across, stacking them up the center pole.

“It breaks through the common social norms that organizations have, whether it is politics [or] anyone’s perception of a socioeconomic status. Bonfire cut through all the stereotypes,” he said. “Who you were was determined by what you did and not where you came from.

More specifically, how hard you worked.”

Davis said everyone takes away something unique from Bonfire or in any scenario of life – based on the experiences.

“I realize ultimately you leave behind a legacy of how you live your life, and if you live your life so serious that you are always worried about the certain ways you act or the way you are perceived by others and you miss out on experiences then you are really cheating yourself,” Davis said. “Appreciate everything you have, even the small things.”

File Photo

announcement had not been made, Hatton told Bryan’s buddies that he had died.

“I went ahead and told them, told them all. I’ve dealt with patients dying and telling families, but it’s definitely a lot different when it’s a friend of yours,” Hatton said. “These were really good friends, basically family.”

Sartain said the magnitude of the event didn’t impact him until the next day.

“When you’re up there in your emergency medical mode you aren’t thinking about that. It’s just your work, you’re trained to do it, and you just do your job,” Sartain said. “It didn’t really dawn on me until I had a chance to pause and think about it.”

After the collapse, most TAMU EMS and Care Team members with-

drew from public, Hatton said. Occasionally, due to the presence of reporters, they required a police escort.

“Most of us did not go to the memorial that night or the next day. I don’t know if it was from being tired or just not wanting to face it,” Hatton said. “I really don’t talk about it much.” llapse Even now, memories of the collapse nd rearen’t often aired. Names, faces and orked grets haunt many of those who worked that night. Leiter said she just wished she could have done more. nd I’d “This kid had been alive, and talked to him, and he’d talked too me,” aid evLeiter said. “If I had stayed and said ed over erything to him that I’ve wished the years that I would have said to him, I would at least have been able to go to his parents and say I was there holding his hand, and he wasn’t alone.””

Rescue workers remove an injured student from the Bonfire collapse.

The calls of those trapped inside are the hardest memories for Hatton to come to terms with.

“I still to this day don’t look, nor do I try to consciously recognize, the two people who were stuck inside Stack,” Hatton said. “I had to leave before the memorial and stuff started being built. It was time for me to move on.”

1990

1992

1994

1996

Redpots tied a yellow ribbon around the third tier to show support for soldiers in Saudi Arabia

Bonfire moves to Polo Fields on the east side of campus

Stack collapses. One student falls but is uninjured. Rebuilt version called “Bonfire II”

Sophomore Greg White killed in car accident driving back to campus after cut

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self thebattalion bonfire edition page7b

Self-less Aggie’s love of God lives on

By Lorelei Willett | The Battalion

J

erry Don Self was taking part in a ceremony to become a new Brownpot when Bonfire collapsed 10 years ago. He was one week away from receiving his senior boots.

“Jerry had a lot of enthusiasm and was very hardworking. He had a big and goofy grin,” said Mike Self of his son.

Early on the morning of Nov. 18, 1999, the stack of thousands of logs collapsed, killing 12 students and injuring at least 27 others. Bonfire was canceled for that year and has not burned on campus since then.

Having grown up in Arlington, Jerry attended Lamar High School and played football and baseball before becoming a member of Squadron 13 and later, Squadron 17 of the A&M Corps of Cadets.

“Jerry Don Self was the type of person I would describe as being ‘one-of-akind.’ He always had a smile on his face with a happy-go-lucky attitude, [and he] made you feel important by valuing the time he spent with you,” said Stephanie Sinclair Lance, Class of 2001.

Lance remembered calling Jerry to make sure he was OK and leaving a message before hearing the news about her friend.

“On the TV screen flashed three

names of those Aggies who had died. One of them was Jerry. I immediately broke down and cried. No one should have to find out their friend has passed from a TV,” Lance said.

In the days following the tragedy, students paid their respects to those who had died through candlelight vigils and memorial ceremonies. Self’s father remembers hearing about a group of freshmen cadets that got through security to raise the flag over the scene.

Lance said she found it difficult to visit the Bonfire site. “I didn’t want to see where Jerry and the eleven others had lost their lives. I really missed my friend. The day I chose to go [to the site] also happened to be what would have been Jerry’s twenty-first birthday, Dec. 6, 1999,” Lance said. “There was so much memorabilia left by others. I left my flowers not far from a pot that had a message to Jerry on it. He was loved and looked up to by so many.”

According to the Dallas Morning News, Jerry planned to become an electrical engineer after completing a stint with the Air Force. Mike, however, does not bear any ill will to the Aggie tradition of Bonfire. “I believe Jerry would want the Bonfire tradition to continue,” he said.

Chris Mycoskie, a family friend, made a memorial Web site for Jerry where people may post sympathies and memories for his family to read. Many refer to Jerry’s church involvement and his relationship with Christ.

Postings from the Web site range from loving memories of friends and family to notes of sympathy from people who have never met Jerry. Most allude to the fact that he, ironically, was entirely selfless.

Jerry Don Self smiles for the camera at a birthday dinner.

At right, Self wires a log from a swing at the top of Stack.

“I remember going through his room one time and I found this list of goals,” Mike said. “One of them was to be Christ-like.”

Lance said she had never met anyone so strong in their faith in God as Jerry, so much so that it inspired many around him to become stronger in their own faith.

“He was interested in people from all walks of life and never judged anyone until he got to know them. He had an infectious love for life that was contagious to everyone around him,” Lance said.

“I still miss Jerry. But I know God had a purpose and even bigger plan for him.”

Courtesy photos

west

Aggie spirit Cadet loved A&M, friends, family

By Melissa Appel | The Battalion

F

or Nathan Scott West, working on Bonfire was just another way to show his love and devotion to Texas A&M University, its spirit and its camaraderie.

The sophomore ocean engineering major’s love for the University began as a Boy Scout growing up in Bellaire, Texas.

“His best friend in the Scout troop was a die-hard Aggie, so Scott kind of adopted that,” said his father, Richard West. “That started in middle school and had quite a long history. Getting him to take off that old dirty A&M hat in high school was one of those endeavors his teachers never really succeeded at doing. We had to make him apply to some other schools, just in case he didn’t get in.”

At Westbury High School, Nathan was involved in the cross-country team, the swimming team and his Scout troop. He was active in his youth group at Bellaire Methodist Church and enjoyed volunteering in his community.

“He was a quiet, more introspective type of person,” Richard said. “He was very sharp and had almost a photographic memory. He had a real dry, quick sense of humor. He could be goofy and he liked to have fun, but he was pretty quiet overall.”

One of Nathan’s goals for after college was to become a Navy Seal, so he decided to join the Corps of Cadets. West spent his freshman year in the Corps as a member of Squadron 5.

As a sophomore, he was a member of Company C-2.

“Besides Bonfire, he was really passionate about the Corps and his major,” West said.

“There were guys in his original outfit that said they wouldn’t have been half as strong if it hadn’t been for Scott doing stuff to make them push. He used to do stuff just to aggra-

Courtesy Photo

Nathan Scott West wanted to go to A&M since he was in middle school. vate his upperclassmen.”

As a cadet, West quickly became involved in building Bonfire.

“There were stories of him jumping out of the window to go work on Bonfire instead of staying in his hole [dorm],” West said. “About a week before [the collapse], he called up and said he was going to be perimeter guard again that year and he was all excited about that.”

Early on the morning of Nov. 18, 1999, Bonfire collapsed, killing 12 students and injuring at least 27 others. Bonfire was canceled that year and has not burned on campus since then.

The passion for Bonfire West possessed mirrored the love and passion he showed in other parts of his life. It was one of the qualities his friends and family came to appreciate most.

“He made a few friends, but he made really good friends. The ones he did have, he was really tight with,” West said. “He used

to give these huge hugs to everybody. We had to warn him not to hug his grandparents like that or he would break them.”

West spread his love of Bonfire and the University to his family as well. His father participated on the father-son cut, and West had given his sister Kristin a tour of the Bonfire site only a few weeks before the scheduled burn. Kristin became an Aggie herself, graduating with the Class of 2004.

As much as he incorporated his family into the University, West found that the University had brought him into the Aggie family as well.

“The other thing that always stands out from the whole Bonfire collapse and tragedy was the response from the Aggie family.

They really came together, and we really can’t explain how much they meant to us,” West said. “The people at the cemetery had to make the kids leave — they wouldn’t leave [the funeral]. An anonymous Aggie donated his Aggie boots to Scott. He just showed up at the church the day of his funeral and gave us his boots and left.”

This aspect was personified for Richard West, who is an architect and served on the committee for the Bonfire Memorial.

“I was also on the jury for the Bonfire Memorial, and I have never seen more people put more heart and soul into the designs that came through there,” West said.

In all that he did, West was devoted to his University, its tradition of excellence and his role in it.

“He just loved A&M. He wouldn’t be doing anything else,” West said. “He was just a normal, A&M-type of kid: smart, dedicated, very much into what he believed in, and wouldn’t have gone anywhere else.”

“

The people at the cemetery had to make the kids leave — they wouldn’t leave [the funeral].

An anonymous Aggie donated his Aggie boots to Scott. He just showed up at the church the day of his funeral and gave us his boots and left.”

— Richard West, father of Scott West

Ol’AgSTORY Alan Bell Class of 2002 There are no words I can write to summarize or signify my Bonfire experience. Some of the attributes Bonfire instilled in me and the other workers can be replicated by other student organizations, but I doubt there is any one group that can put them all together in the way that Bonfire did. It developed leaders, created life-long friendships, embraced tradition, encouraged stewardship, instilled a can-do attitude all while having the wild and crazy fun college kids want.

In hindsight, being affiliated with Bonfire had nothing to do with how much money your parents had, what religion you were, what type of car you drove, where you were from or any other divisive characteristic.

All that mattered was if you were willing to put forth effort and sweat for something that would likely not yield individual honors or gain you acclaim of the scholastic kind.

To this day, my nearest and dearest friends are those from my dorm who all participated in building Bonfire.

However, even when Bonfire was on campus, a good portion of the student body didn’t understand it.

I’m not delusional.

Bonfire wasn’t perfect. We were wild, loud and unrefined. But we also injected a spirit into campus that could be matched by no other group.

When Bonfire collapsed, so did that spirit. I salute those who have tried to carry on those traditions.

Many students faced pressure to let the Bonfire culture die off, and they went through great lengths to keep the tradition alive. I’ve long felt that before you could really respect and embrace A&M’s large traditions, you had to first fall in love with the smaller less-recognized traditions.

Bonfire served as that medium for me. I knew very little about A&M and what I meant to be an Aggie before I enrolled in school, but the time I spent with Bonfire allowed me to fall in love with Texas A&M and everything that represented.

1997

1999

2002

2004

Parson’s Mounted Calvary supplies the t.u. outhouse to cap off Stack, instead of the Band

Bonfire collapses on Nov. 18 at 2:42 a.m., killing 12 students and injuring 27

After two-year suspension of Bonfire following 1999 tragedy, University President Ray Bowen says Bonfire will not return

Dedication of the Bonfire Memorial at the five-year anniversary of the collapse

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bonfire edition

page 8b

thebattalion

tuesday 11.17.2009

A spirit unshaken The football team that took on a giant and carried the hopes of all Aggies T.D. Durham The Battalion Nov. 26, 2009, the Texas A&M football team will face off with the Texas Longhorns at Kyle Field, but “Beating the Hell Outta t.u.” won’t be the only thing on the minds of the athletes that day.

On Thanksgiving this year, exactly 10 years will have passed since the 1999 game against Texas, a contest that brought two rivals closer than ever before and united the Aggie family.

Eight days before the Aggies defeated the Longhorns 20-14 in College Station, Bonfire collapsed and killed 12 current and former A&M students.

Former Texas A&M athletic director Wally Groff said he remembers the call he got that night.

“I was in town and asleep when someone called me,” Groff said. “It was early in the morning, and I wasn’t sure who it was, they told me the terrible news.”

The Texas A&M football team took action immediately the next day, cancelling practice to help clear the thousands of logs from the site of the tragedy.

Former Head Coach R.C. Slocum said he called a team meeting to discuss the plan for the day and what the team could do to help.

“The whole team showed up over there,” Slocum said. “I think that helped, too, helped the team and helped the students. For the team to be working together like that, that was something special.”

Former A&M quarterback Randy McCown took the trip with his fellow teammates out

to the polo fields and said the team jumped right into the strange scene.

“It was a tough atmosphere there at Stack. They were 12 hours into the removal phase,” McCown said. “I think the people there saw the determination in our eyes, and it just made sense for us to help.”

McCown said moving the logs helped bring the team even closer together during the time of hardship.

“It was amazing teamwork moving those logs,” McCown said. “I grew up on a sawmill and I remember thinking that there was no way these 20 or 30 guys could move this huge log, but we did. It was one of those things I’ll never forget.”

After a day of helping with the fall site, the Aggies got back to work on the field to prepare

File photo — THE BATTALION

Members of the 1999 Texas A&M football team help carry the fallen logs at Stack the day after the collapse. The team cancelled practice in order to help remove the debris.

for the Texas game, in itself a difficult decision.

“Everything was up in the air about whether or not the game was going to be played,” Slocum said. “But I felt strongly that we should play the game.

Everyone was so torn apart at the time, I thought it would be good for our students to be here with their families and I thought it would be good for the Aggie family.”

Slocum said he knew practicing would put a toll on his players, but the players understood the significance of the work.

“I said, ‘Let’s take a few hours a day, practice and get ready to play,’” Slocum said. “I didn’t expect a ‘rah-rah’ type of deal, and the guys didn’t either.

They just quietly did their work and got prepared for the game.”

That Saturday, the Aggies took the field in College Station after the numerous pregame activities honored those fallen only a week earlier.

“The pregame ceremonies were spectacular,” Groff said. “I vividly remember that they released white doves before the game. It was real evidence that the teams had total respect for each other in that time of mourning.”

McCown said the respect was evident from the Texas team, but the rivalry was still present as well.

“Leading up to and after the game, there was a lot of respect between both teams,” McCown said. “But when the ball kicked off, it was all back to business.”

When the record-breaking crowd for a football game in Texas assembled at Kyle Field, the rivalry was renewed. McCown said the team knew what needed to be done.

“It was one of those things where you didn’t have to state the obvious,” McCown said.

File photo — THE BATTALION

Former A&M Head Coach R.C. Slocum and the Aggie football team stand outside Kyle Field before a game.

“The look in everyone’s eyes; everyone knew what had to happen on the field that day.”

As the game commenced, the Longhorns quickly took the lead on two drives led by freshman quarterback Chris Simms.

The Aggies trailed 16-6 going into halftime.

“The whole time I coached, I’ve never more felt more pressure to win a football game.”

Slocum said. “I just felt like we absolutely had to win that game. We just had so much sadness, and that week had been so hard that we didn’t need any more hardship.”

In the second half, the Aggie defense found its fire, holding Texas to just two first downs.

Ja’mar Toombs led the Aggies in rushing with 126 yards on 37 carries, and brought A&M within three points with a 9-yard touchdown run in the third quarter.

“Ja’mar Toombs played like he was possessed that day,” Slocum said. “That was one of his better games at Kyle Field.”

With 4:02 left in the fourth quarter, McCown found receiver Matt Bumgardner for a 14-yard touchdown pass that turned out to be the gamewinning play.

“The fact that they won meant so much to the Aggie family,” Groff said. “The team felt like it was just something that they could do for their fallen comrades.”

Slocum said the team and the A&M family were closer that week than ever before.

“Everyone was all in one mental state at that time,” Slocum said. “We all were feeling the same hurt, we all felt the need to win the game, but we all recognized the relative importance of the game compared to what had taken place that week.”

McCown said the win and the support from all sides showed the character and spirit of Texas A&M University.

“It really shows a testament to the fortitude of being an Aggie,” McCown said. “That in the hardest of times, we will not be shaken and we will not give up.”

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