On a serious note Ags..my condolences

[HookEm]

It's been 5 years since the tragedy. God bless those young men and women's souls and families. That was an awful thing to hear on the radio...I had just come in from a LONG night,, and I flicked the Ticket on, and all hell was breaking loose. I can honestly say I didn't even care about the game that year......halftime was great...your band was awesome....the TX band that day, what they did was amazing. after looking back on the game, I dont think there's anyway we could, or should have won it. God would never be that cruel...ya'll needed something.

God bless.

[Slow Five-O]

the 2:42 ceremony was great

[Boss Hogg]

http://bonfirememorial.tamu.edu/

[shrp88lx's]

http://stuact.tamu.edu/stuorgs/bcs/

[2cammer97]

Thanks for the kind words Hookem. Thought i'd share an email i got from a good friend of mine. We grew up on the same street and went to school together from Kindergarten on through high school. He graduated A&M as well, and is now at law school at NYU. I don't think he'd mind me sharing....


"Dear Aggie friends,



Five years ago, many of our lives changed forever. When Bonfire fell and 12 of our Aggie family died, everything else in life seemed so irrelevant, so meaningless. Back in November 1999, we were faced with our darkest day and toughest challenge. The response of all Aggies and all those Texans familiar with the University was indeed inspiring.



The first time I get to see the Bonfire Memorial, I will surely be struck by the doorway for Michael Ebanks, a high school friend, opening up in the direction of our hometown, Carrollton. But it is the symbolism of the Memorial as a whole - the unity, the Aggie family, the love we have for one another and the special bond that we share - that will forever remain with me. On cold nights here in New York, that community keeps me warm.



While most of my classmates here cannot grasp what Bonfire was (one of my friends

tried to compare it to a bonfire they have at Dartmouth) or how much the tragedy effected all of us, they can all recognize something special about A&M. They can see it in the ring I wear, the t-shirts I proudly boast, the football games I fly across the country to attend, the countless Aggie friends that have visited me in NYC, and perhaps most tellingly, my oftentimes illogical defense of it all.



I took that community that each of you shared with me in some way for granted back then, with everyone so close by. Whether we cut down trees, played football, or just sat around talking, it seemed like those times would never end. Living half a country away from home and those that you are closest to, however, certainly bring things into perspective today.



It's that community that makes us strong and that appeared so powerfully five years ago. Sure, we don't all see the world through the same colored lenses, but the beauty of it is that, on occasion, none of that matters. We aren't Republican or Democrat, nerdy engineer or slimy lawyer, we are Aggies - true to each other as Aggies can be. And whether you loved Bonfire or hated it, it fostered that community.



At the end of the semester last spring, my buddy Matt drove all the way from Dallas to New York to pick me and all of my stuff that wouldn't fit on an airplane up at school. He made the drive in 28 hours flat. It was stupid, no doubt, and in the end, it cost us a whole lot more than it would have to buy a plane ticket and just ship my stuff across the country. But it was never about getting home. No, that trip was about the community that shared experiences bring you. We drove across the country in 5 days, and neither of us will ever forget it. Extend that out a few months and you begin to see what Bonfire was really about. Sure, parts of building Bonfire were stupid and immature and at times made me feel distant from some of the other people out there. Many Aggies felt this way. But the end goal wasn't about a fire or any stack of logs - it was about one another.



And it still is.



On this night, five years after tragedy struck our campus, I ask you not to dwell on the pain or debate about whether there should be a Bonfire in the future. Instead, celebrate that community that makes being an Aggie so great and so envied across the country. Celebrate what we gained from the sacrifice, however unnecessary, of our 12 peers that died that night: a realization like no other that Texas A&M is a special place, and nobody can take that away from us. I think that’s how they would want it to be. "

[hotrod66stang]

great e-mail. very inspiring/touching. thanks for sharing.

[fixer]

It's been 5 years since the tragedy. God bless those young men and women's souls and families. That was an awful thing to hear on the radio...I had just come in from a LONG night,, and I flicked the Ticket on, and all hell was breaking loose. I can honestly say I didn't even care about the game that year......halftime was great...your band was awesome....the TX band that day, what they did was amazing. after looking back on the game, I dont think there's anyway we could, or should have won it. God would never be that cruel...ya'll needed something.

God bless.


thanks Hookem. its interesting to hear your perspective.