Muster (Texas A&M University) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Aggie Muster is a time-honored tradition at Texas A&M University

Texas A&M University

Texas A&M University is a coeducational public research university located in College Station, Texas . It is the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System. The sixth-largest university in the United States, A&M's enrollment for Fall 2011 was over 50,000 for the first time in school...

. Muster officially began on April 21, 1922 as a day for remembrance of fellow Aggies. Muster ceremonies today take place in approximately 320 locations globally including Kabul

Kabul

Kabul , spelt Caubul in some classic literatures, is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. It is also the capital of the Kabul Province, located in the eastern section of Afghanistan...

, Afghanistan

Afghanistan

Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...

, and Baghdad

Baghdad

Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...

, Iraq

Iraq

Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....

. The largest muster ceremony occurs in Reed Arena

Reed Arena

Reed Arena is a sports arena and entertainment venue located at the corner of Olsen Boulevard and Kimbrough Boulevard in College Station, Texas. This facility is used for Texas A&M University basketball games and commencement ceremonies, concerts, trade shows, family entertainment, and Texas A&M...

, on the Texas A&M campus. The "Roll Call for the Absent" commemorates Aggies, former and current students, who died that year. Aggies light candles, and friends and families of Aggies who died that year answer “here” when the name of their loved one is “called”. Campus muster also serves as a 50th year class reunion for the corresponding graduating class. Some non-campus muster ceremonies do not include the pageantry of the campus ceremony, and might consist simply of a barbecue.

Early years

On June 26, 1883, former students of Texas A&M University

Texas A&M University

gathered together to "live over again their college days, the victories and defeats won and lost upon the drill field and in the classroom." The same year, the Ex-Cadets Association established the "Roll Call for the Absent." The event grew into a loosely organized annual tradition but did not have a permanent date set aside until several decades later, when it merged with a different tradition.

In 1889, Texas A&M administrators declared that April 21 (which in Texas is known as San Jacinto Day

San Jacinto Day

San Jacinto Day is the celebration of the Battle of San Jacinto on April 21, 1836. It was the final battle of the Texas Revolution where Texas won its independencefrom Mexico....

, the anniversary of the Battle of San Jacinto

Battle of San Jacinto

The Battle of San Jacinto, fought on April 21, 1836, in present-day Harris County, Texas, was the decisive battle of the Texas Revolution. Led by General Sam Houston, the Texian Army engaged and defeated General Antonio López de Santa Anna's Mexican forces in a fight that lasted just eighteen...

whereby Texas gained its independence from Mexico) would be an official school holiday. Each year on San Jacinto Day, the cadets would have a track and field competition. In 1903, then-A&M President Davis Houston encountered much student resistance to the idea of cancelling the holiday. Houston agreed to retain the holiday as long as the students promised to use it for constructive purposes.

Beginning April 21, 1903, the tradition of Aggie Muster merged with the Texas Independence celebration, featuring both athletic events and banquets to honor alumni. For the next fifteen years, the event would occur unchanged as a day of play and fellowship. In 1918, however, focus changed from play to the World War. Many former students were in the military, fighting overseas, and were unable to return to campus to bond with their fellow students. A&M President Bizzell encouraged former students and the student body to gather together wherever they were on April 21, becoming the first Aggie administrator to officially support the tradition.

A. and M. Day

In the early 1920s, as Aggies returned from the war and settled throughout Texas, A&M clubs, which aimed to reunite former students within a certain geographical area, began forming. With the proliferation of these groups, the Muster tradition began to have a more formal atmosphere. In 1923, the student radio station WTAW broadcast a statewide program for over two dozen Aggie groups who had gathered at points across Texas. The March 1923 Texas Aggie urged that "If there is an A&M man in one-hundred miles of you, you are expected to get together, eat a little, and live over the days you spent at the A&M College of Texas."

The tradition of reading the roll call of the dead aloud began in 1924, with the addition of the song Taps in 1927. The following year, 23 former students were added to the roll call. During the Great Depression

Great Depression

The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...

, Aggies continued to celebrate April 21, calling it "A. and M. Day," and using the gathering to help raise money to support students and alumni, as well as advancing a job placement plan.

World War II

The most well-known Aggie Muster took place during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

in 1942 on the Philippine island of Corregidor

Corregidor

Corregidor Island, locally called Isla ng Corregidor, is a lofty island located at the entrance of Manila Bay in southwestern part of Luzon Island in the Philippines. Due to this location, Corregidor was fortified with several coastal artillery and ammunition magazines to defend the entrance of...

. At this time, Corregidor was the last American stronghold against the Japanese forces in the Philippines, and Japanese artillery and warplanes were constantly attacking. An estimated 1.8 million pounds of shells pounded the island in one five-hour stretch. The American artillery commander on Corregidor was Brigadier General

Brigadier General

Brigadier general is a senior rank in the armed forces. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries, usually sitting between the ranks of colonel and major general. When appointed to a field command, a brigadier general is typically in command of a brigade consisting of around 4,000...

George F. Moore

George F. Moore (soldier)

George F. Moore was an American soldier. He graduated from A&M College of Texas in 1908 and received a commission in 1909 into the Coast Artillery Corps. He began serving as a Major and Lieutenant Colonel in World War I before returning to Texas A&M as Commandant of Cadets from 1937–1940, where...

, a 1908 graduate of Texas A&M. With the help of Major Tom Dooley, class of 1935, Moore gathered the names of 25 other Aggies under his command. Despite the fierce fighting as the Japanese laid siege to the island, on April 21, 1942 Moore held a roll call—known as muster in army terms—calling the names of each of the Aggies under his command.

Only twelve of the twenty-five survived the battle and the POW camps to which the survivors were sent. Dooley told a United Press correspondent about the gathering, and the reporter sent an article back to the USA about the 25 Aggies who had "Mustered." The story captured the imagination of the country and "helped boost American spirits at a time a lift was badly needed." (T. R. Louder, the last known Corregidor Muster survivor, died on May 21, 2001, and his name was called at Muster 2002 in College Station.)

Association of Former Students Executive Secretary E. E. McQuillen, Class of 1920, is given credit for refocusing San Jacinto Day as a remembrance for fallen Aggies. He changed the April 21, 1943 celebration to be the first known as an Aggie Muster and sent packets to each A&M club, Aggie Moms club, and to military bases around the world with a detailed program of events for April 21. It included greetings from the A&M President and the Muster Poem. The response was overwhelming, with 10,000 Aggies worldwide mustering in 500 locations. The following year McQuillen added a list of recently deceased Aggies to the packets, asking each local group to choose names from the list and call them aloud during their ceremony, and "as each name is called a comrade will answer 'Here.'"

In April 1945, just eight weeks after Corregidor had been recaptured by the Allies, three Aggies conducted a Muster "on the Rock." They wrote letters home to McQuillen to let him know about their impromptu Muster. A year later, on April 21, 1946, an even larger Muster occurred on Corregidor. With the War now over, A&M held a special Victory Homecoming Muster on Easter morning in 1946. Over fifteen thousand Aggies gathered at Kyle Field

Kyle Field

Kyle Field is the football stadium located on the campus of Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas. It has been the home to the Texas A&M Aggie football team in rudimentary form since 1904, and as a complete stadium since 1927. It is known as The Home of the 12th Man...

to listen to a speech by General Dwight D. Eisenhower

Dwight D. Eisenhower

Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...

. Lt. Col. Tom Dooley also presented the "Muster Tradition," and conducted a W.W. II Roll Call. To represent the 900 Aggies who died in World War II, the names of the four deceased WW II Aggie Medal of Honor winners were called.

Muster became a student organization in 1950, and students now coordinate all aspects of the campus Muster in College Station, Texas

College Station, Texas

College Station is a city in Brazos County, Texas, situated in East Central Texas in the heart of the Brazos Valley. The city is located within the most populated region of Texas, near three of the 10 largest cities in the United States - Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio...

Modern Muster

Randy Matson

James Randel Matson is a former United States Olympic shot put thrower. In 1968 he stood , and weighed about .-Early years:...

, the keynote speaker at the 2000 campus Muster, vowed that "'we're here (tonight) to pledge that none of you will be forgotten as long as there are two Aggies left in the world.'"

The largest Muster each year, with over 12,000 in attendance, is held in Reed Arena

Reed Arena

on the campus of Texas A&M University

Texas A&M University

in College Station, Texas

College Station, Texas

. This campus Muster is dedicated to the fifty-year reunion class of that year, demonstrating unity among Aggies. During the day a Camaraderie Barbecue is held at the Academic Plaza around noon to rekindle the spirit of the original Muster celebration. The evening Muster ceremony begins with a keynote speaker. Several poems are read including "The Last Corps Trip", which imagines a Judgement Day in which Aggies are welcomed into heaven

Heaven

Heaven, the Heavens or Seven Heavens, is a common religious cosmological or metaphysical term for the physical or transcendent place from which heavenly beings originate, are enthroned or inhabit...

with open arms. Following the readings, the room is darkened for the Roll Call of the Absent. This Roll Call honors Aggies who have died since the last Muster. As the names are called, a family member or friend answers "Here," and lights a candle in remembrance of that person. Following the Roll Call, the Ross Volunteers give a 21-gun salute

21-gun salute

Gun salutes are the firing of cannons or firearms as a military or naval honor.The custom stems from naval tradition, where a warship would fire its cannons harmlessly out to sea, until all ammunition was spent, to show that it was disarmed, signifying the lack of hostile intent...

, and buglers play Silver Taps, an especially evocative version of the military's mournful melody of farewell."

Smaller Musters are held in over 300 other locations, including in Kosovo

Kosovo

Kosovo is a region in southeastern Europe. Part of the Ottoman Empire for more than five centuries, later the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija within Serbia...

, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

, Istanbul

Istanbul

Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...

, Seoul

Seoul

Seoul , officially the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. A megacity with a population of over 10 million, it is the largest city proper in the OECD developed world...

, and almost every county in Texas. Names can be called at multiple Muster ceremonies. For example, a person may be honored at the Muster in his hometown, while the Muster in the town where his parents live may also choose to call his name. Many of the smaller Musters do not have the pagentry of the campus Muster. In all cases, a Roll Call for the Absent is held, but the ceremony may take place in conjunction with a barbecue or fish fry, to allow for fellowship.

Keynote Speakers

2011 Toby Boenig '95
2010 Major Stephen G. Ruth '92
2009 Dr. Robert Gates
Robert Gates
Dr. Robert Michael Gates is a retired civil servant and university president who served as the 22nd United States Secretary of Defense from 2006 to 2011. Prior to this, Gates served for 26 years in the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Council, and under President George H. W....
2008 Dr. John Adams '73
2007 Brooke Leslie Rollins
Brooke Rollins
Brooke Leslie Rollins is the president of the Texas Public Policy Foundation, an Austin-based research institute.Under Texas Governor Rick Perry, Rollins served as deputy general counsel, ethics advisor, and policy director. She then assumed the presidency of the Texas Public Policy Foundation...

'94
2006 Bill Carter ’69
2005 Clayton W. Williams
Clayton Williams
Clayton Wheat "Claytie" Williams, Jr. , a businessman from Midland, Texas, was the unsuccessful Republican gubernatorial nominee in 1990 against the Democratic State Treasurer Ann Richards even though Williams initially led in opinion polls by twenty points.-Biographical information:An independent...

’54
2004 Jon L. Hagler ’58
2003 Edwin H. Cooper ’53
2002 Gov. James R. “Rick” Perry
Rick Perry
James Richard "Rick" Perry is the 47th and current Governor of Texas. A Republican, Perry was elected Lieutenant Governor of Texas in 1998 and assumed the governorship in December 2000 when then-governor George W. Bush resigned to become President of the United States. Perry was elected to full...

’72
2001 Dr. Joe West ’54
2000 Randy Matson
Randy Matson
James Randel Matson is a former United States Olympic shot put thrower. In 1968 he stood , and weighed about .-Early years:...

’67
1999 Mike Baggett '68
1998 Eugene Clifton Stallings, Jr.
Gene Stallings
Eugene Clifton Stallings, Jr. is a former American football player and coach. He played college football at Texas A&M University , where he was one of the "Junction Boys", and later served as the head coach at his alma mater from 1965 to 1971. Stallings was also the head coach of the St...

’57
1997 H. B. Zachry, Jr. ’54
1996 Dr. E. Dean Gage ’65
1995 Lee Phillips ’53
1994 Andres Tijerina ’67
1993 Jack G. Fritts ’53
1992 Frank W. Cox III ’65
1991 Adm. Jerome L. Johnson
Jerome L. Johnson
Jerome Lamarr Johnson is a retired United States Navy four star admiral who served as commander of the U.S. Second Fleet, Joint Task Force 120, and NATO's Striking Fleet Atlantic from 1988 to 1990 and as Vice Chief of Naval Operations from 1990 to 1992.He graduated from Texas A&M University in...

’56
1990 M. L. “Red” Cashion
Red Cashion
Mason L. "Red" Cashion is a former American football official. He started officiating in 1952 while attending Texas A&M University, and then worked for various high school and college football conferences, most notably the Southwest Conference. From 1972 to 1997, he officiated in the National...

’53
1989 Thomas Chester "Chet" Edwards
Chet Edwards
Thomas Chester "Chet" Edwards is a former member of the United States House of Representatives from Texas. He represented a district based in Waco, Texas from 1991 to 2011, and served in the Texas Senate from 1983 until 1990. He is a member of the Democratic Party...

’74
1988 Gerald D. Griffin
Gerald D. Griffin
Gerald D. "Gerry" Griffin is a former a NASA flight director and director of Johnson Space Center.Born in Athens, Texas, Griffin attended Texas A&M University, where he studied aeronautical engineering. He joined NASA in 1960 and became a flight controller, specializing in guidance and navigation...

’56
1987 Robert L. Walker ’58
1986 A. W. “Head” Davis ’45
1985 Lt. Gen. Ormond R. Simpson ’36
1984 Jack M. Rains ’60
1983 Haskell M. Monroe
Haskell Monroe
Haskell Moorman Monroe, Jr. was an American educator and university administrator. He served as the 4th chancellor and 18th chief executive officer of the University of Missouri campus in Columbia, Missouri. Before becoming chancellor at the University of Missouri he was on the faculty at Texas...
1982 William B. Heye, Sr. ’60
1981 Frederick D. McClure ’75
1980 Henry G. Cisneros
Henry Cisneros
Henry Gabriel Cisneros is a politician and businessman. A Democrat, Cisneros served as the 10th Secretary of Housing and Urban Development in the administration of President Bill Clinton from 1993 to 1997...

’68
1979 Lee H. Smith ’57
1978 Col. Tom Dooley ’35
1977 Maj. James E. Ray ’63
1976 Charles G. Scruggs ’47
1975 Reagan V. Brown ’43
1974 Sheldon J. Best ’63
1973 Capt. James E. Ray ’63
1972 Larry Kirk ’66
1971 Jack K. Williams
1970 Yale B. Griffis ’30
1969 Mayo J. Thompson ’41
1968 Maj. Gen. Wood B. Kyle ’36
1967 Maj. Gen. Raymond L. Murray ’35
1966 Penrose B. Metcalfe ’16
1965 C. Darrow Hooper ’53
1964 E. King Gill ’24
1963 L. F. Peterson ’36
1962 Eli L. Whiteley
Eli L. Whiteley
Eli Lamar Whiteley was a Captain in the United States Army who received the Medal of Honor for his actions in Sigolsheim, France during World War II.-Medal of Honor citation:...

’41
1961 James W. Aston ’33
1960 Lt. Gen. A. D. Bruce
A. D. Bruce
Andrew Davis Bruce was an American academic and soldier who served as the third president of the University of Houston. He retired from the United States Army in 1954 as a lieutenant general after seeing action in both World War I and World War II and founding Fort Hood...

’16
1959 Olin E. “Tiger” Teague
Olin E. Teague
Olin Earl "Tiger" Teague was a notable World War II veteran and Congressional representative for Texas's 6th congressional district for 32 years, from 1946 to 1978...

’32
1958 Gen. Bernard A. Schriever ’31
Bernard Adolph Schriever
General Bernard Adolph Schriever , also known as Bennie Schriever, was a United States Air Force general. He was born in Bremen, Germany, and after immigrating to the United States, played a major role in the U.S. Air Force programs for space and ballistic missile research.-Early years:Bernard...
1957 No Campus Muster due to Easter recess
1956 Maj. Gen. James Earl Rudder
James Earl Rudder
James Earl Rudder was a United States Army Major General, Texas Land Commissioner, and President of Texas A&M University.-Early life:...

’32
1955 Gen. Otto P. Weyland
Otto P. Weyland
Otto Paul Weyland was an Air Force General, and the post-World War II Commander of Far East Air Forces during the Korean War and of Tactical Air Command.-Early life:...

’28
1954 Texas Governor
Governor of Texas
The governor of Texas is the head of the executive branch of Texas's government and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor has the power to either approve or veto bills passed by the Texas Legislature, and to convene the legislature...

Allan Shivers
Allan Shivers
Robert Allan Shivers was a Texas politician who led the conservative faction of the Texas Democratic Party during the turbulent 1940s and 1950s...
1953 Colorado Governor
Governor of Colorado
The Governor of Colorado is the head of the executive branch of Colorado's government and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor has a duty to enforce state laws, and the power to either approve or veto bills passed by the Colorado General Assembly, to convene the...

Daniel I.J. Thornton
Daniel I.J. Thornton
Daniel I.J. Thornton was a United States cattle breeder and Republican politician who served as the 33rd Governor of the State of Colorado from 1951 to 1955....
1952 Searcy Bracewell ’38
1951 James H. Pipkin ’29
1950 Gen. Louis Henturvey ’29
1949 James W. Aston ’33
1948 A. E. “Red” Hinman ’25
1947 Lt. Col. Lewis B. Chevaillier ’39
1946 General Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...
1945 Lt. Clifton H. Chamberlain ’40
1944 E. E. McQuillen ’20

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