To all my aggie friends..........................

The background is a girl in Austin swears she hates A&M and
everything about it. A friend asked us all to send her moments of A&M to
change her mind. Here is one mans response that reminds us all of what A&M
means. Share this with your other Aggie Friends.

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Remember that e-mail I sent you about writing a letter to the girl who
hates

A&M? Well, here is one of the responses that was sent to her.  I got
teary-eyed!

Dear Kristen:

You may be tired of getting Aggie e-mails by now, but I have one more for you.
My name is Matthew Thomas and I have been an accountant for Halliburton for 
about a year now. Before that I was at A&M. I was in the

Corps of Cadets so that means I could probably write a book of stories for you,
but I will just tell you one today.

In the spring of my sophomore year at A&M the Corps was having a formal dinner 
in the dinning hall. In a tragic accident one of the other sophomores in the 
Corps by the name of David Antonie ate a pecan in his desert. He had a severe 
allergic reaction to the pecan and in his room that night he passed away in the 
arms of his roommate, and at the side of his date, before the paramedics could 
even arrive.

Now, at most colleges this would have been a small side bar in the campus
newspaper. But not at A&M. I got a call at 2:00 AM telling me what had
happened. At 6:00 AM (this is a Saturday morning) I was in a meeting with
other cadets where we talked about how we could help the family.  By 8:00 am
we had flowers at his parents house. At 2:00 that afternoon we helping his
parents around town and around campus.

But that isn't all. At A&M we have a tradition called Silver Taps.
It is where students gather each month to commemorate other students who have 
died during that month. On the day of Silver Taps a notice is placed at the 
bottom of the flag pole in front of the Academic Building.

That night about 10:00 all of the lights go out on campus and thousands of
students all silently walk to the plaza where the ceremony is held. A 21 gun
Salute is fired and a special rendition of Taps is played. The family of the
passed away Aggie stand at a certain spot in the plaza. I will never forget
the night of David Antonies Silver Taps.

Because David was a sophomore in the Corps. We decided to do something
special. When the sun came up that day it rose on a wreath in the plaza,
there was also a picture of David, and the pair of Senior Boots he would
have worn had he lived to be a Senior. Two cadets were standing guard over
this memorial. Every hour on the hour two other cadets dressed in their best
uniform would arrive to relieve the two. This went on until 10:00 that night
when Silver Taps was about to begin.

At 9:30 that night 400 Sophomore cadets in the Corps filed out of our dooms
in our dress uniform and went to the site of the ceremony.   We formed a
human walk way leading up to the ceremony site for the parents to walk up.
We wanted them to know we cared. About 10:00 all of the lights went out on
campus and the students started to arrive. The bell tower started to softly
chime Amazing Grace and other familiar hymns.  The 400 sophomores and the
few thousand students all stood there waiting in silence. Some praying, some
listening to the hymns, some thinking about David and his parents, but we all 
stood waiting in the night.  About 10 minutes before the ceremony his parents 
arrived. They slowly walked between the two lines of sharply dressed cadets. 
As they passed in front of us we would sharply pop to attention. Both of his 
parents were crying, his Mom kept quietly saying beneath her tears, "Thank you,
thank you, God Bless all of you."

Minutes after his parents passed, in the far off distance we began to hear
the perfectly synchronized steps of the Ross Volunteers. The "RV's" are an 
elite group of cadets chosen by their peers to serve in these situations. 
With all 21 of them in perfect step we could hear them get closer and closer.
When they arrived the silent tension grew, we all knew wh at was about to take 
place. Without saying a word a loud crack pierced the night.  It was the first 
seven shots of the 21 gun salute. The next two volleys followed.  Moments after 
the salute took place the 3 Buglers played the slow and mellow version of taps 
three times. After the third time the student body slowly and silently left. 
All reflecting on the life of a cadet that very few of them knew. The only ones 
left were the parents the Ross Volunteers, and a few cadets that knew David.

I know this all may seem strange, and it may not convince you that
A&M is a decent school. But I can without a doubt tell you that the parents
of David Antonie will always remember it. I can promise you that even though
they didn't go to A&M they will be Aggies until the day they die.   In the
thank you letter they sent to the Corps they expressed their amazement that
thousands of students that didn't know David would come to honor him when
they could have been studying or partying at the Dixie Chicken. If you were
able to speak with them you would be convinced. You would also be convinced
if you could talk to the hundreds of other parents that have gone through
the same thing, because this doesn't happen just once, it happens every
time a student on campus passes away. I know without a doubt that this
happens in no place but Aggieland.  

It may seem strange to you that we stand up at
football games, or wear our rings with so much pride. But it is things like
these that make me proud to be an Aggie. It makes me proud to have walked
the same halls as  Medal of Honor winners, it makes me proud to be apart of
a school that cares so much about their students. This is why I get chills
down my spine each time I hear the first few notes of the Aggie War hymn.
This is why I have a hard time singing the "Spirit of Aggieland" without a
tear rolling down my cheek.

You see, I spend my days in cubicle in Houston, but my heart is back in
Aggieland. My heart is back standing at attention at Silver Taps, my heart
in Corps dorm 4 shining my senior boots and polishing my saber. It is with
1000's of others saluting the American Flag as it is raised each morning
before breakfast of a brisk January day. And it is with the freshman of the
Corps, going through the toughest year of their life, not knowing really
why, but knowing it will make them a better person.

You see, US News and World Report can count how many books we have in our 
library and measure the quality of our professors and tell us we are the 
top public University in Texas, but if they could measure spirit, if they 
could measure camaraderie or the lessons learned outside of the classroom, 
then Texas A&M would be the top school in the nation, as it is in my heart.

Sincerely,

Matthew Thomas, Class of 1998