Honoring Those Who Paid The Highest Price

May 25, 2018

Howdy, Ags!

For the past century, Texas A&M has recognized 55 Aggies who died in service to our nation during the First World War with oak trees surrounding Simpson Drill Field and a monument which now stands at the arches of the Quad. In the past year, our university has identified an additional seven Aggies who died in service during this conflict, bringing the total number of Gold Star Aggies from the First World War to 62.

Almost 100 years have passed since the war’s end, yet Texas A&M still remembers the sacrifice of these Aggies, as we should. Throughout our campus, we honor these men and the almost 1,400 Aggies lost in military service since the Spanish-American War on markers throughout our campus, in the Memorial Student Center, and in ways that perpetuate both their memories and our university’s traditions. As an example, Aggies killed in action since 2001 are now honored through the funding of Aggie Rings for student veterans. Twenty Aggie Rings have been awarded to date through the Ring it Forward program, each in the name of an Aggie who died fighting the War on Terror. This program was started by Dr. Leslie Easterwood ’90, a professor in the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biological Sciences, as a way to honor her friend Lt. Col. Roy Tisdale ’92, who was killed in 2012. Dr. Easterwood presented the first Aggie Ring funded through this program in 2016 and plans to eventually award an Aggie Ring in the name of every Aggie to die in military service since 2001.

Dr. Easterwood’s actions honor the sacrifices of our fellow Aggies and our fellow Americans, something Aggies have long done. This remembrance perhaps comes more easily and naturally to Aggies than to some and aligns with our core values of excellence, integrity, leadership, loyalty, respect and selfless service.

The trees surrounding Simpson Drill Field, the names engraved on monuments across our campus and displayed in the Memorial Student Center, and now the Aggie Rings proudly worn by 20 Aggie veterans remind us that others have paid a heavy price to sustain our way of life. As we approach Memorial Day, I encourage you to join me, The Association Board of Directors and our staff in finding your own special way to honor the more than 1 million Americans who have given all to our nation. As British author James Allen wrote, “No duty is more urgent than that of returning thanks.”

With gratitude,

Porter S. Garner III ’79
President and CEO,
The Association of Former Students