Veteran Receives Ring From Oldest Aggie

Texas A&M’s oldest known Aggie has presented the first Aggie Ring from his newly established Ring scholarship to a fellow Army veteran.

As Col. Tom "Ike" Morris '33 handed the Ring box to Bobby Deiss ’80, he offered emotional congratulations.

Deiss said, “Sir, I don’t know that I’m worthy of this honor. This is the highest honor that I have ever received in my entire life, and I will wear this with pride.”

In the 1930s, Morris helped set the qualifications for ordering the Aggie Ring, chairing the student committee that adopted the official design and restricted the privilege of ordering Rings to seniors.

Last year, Morris made a gift to The Association of Former Students that established this Endowed Aggie Ring Scholarship. Deiss is the first in what will become a long line, as the Morris endowment will pay for at least one Aggie’s Ring every year in perpetuity.

Deiss told Morris, “For as long as I wear my Aggie Ring, your memory will always be with me.”

Deiss met the qualifications to order his Ring — still largely the same as those set by Morris’s committee — last fall and will graduate this fall.

He returned to A&M to complete his degree after a career as a firefighter and paramedic as well as 30 years in the Army including service in Desert Shield/Desert Storm and Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Morris, who celebrated his 106th birthday in August, served during World War II in all European campaigns, including D-Day plus 1 on Omaha Beach and the Battle of the Bulge, and recently received the French Legion of Honor decoration. He was inducted into Texas A&M’s Corps of Cadets Hall of Honor earlier this month.