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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 18, 1946)
4 * I 1946 Thursday Morning, April 18, 1946 The Battalion Page 3 ’03 Rebellion Started Muster Tradition imber- where id ree ls re- any grown v post Hiding' n Ag- some le be- be— : J It was almost noon on April 21, 1903, and Aggieland was strangely quiet. Military Walk was full of gray-uniformed cadets, but they weren’t saying much. In little groups they squatted on the grass, or lounged in the quadrangle formed by buildings which filled the east side of Military Walk. It was an imposing line of buildings in the Victorian style .... Gath- right to Ross to old Main to Foster to the old chapel. To the west emp ty fields spread down to the rail road tracks. It was warm; birds were chirping and bugs were buzz ing. Suddenly the cadets jumped to their feet. Another grey-clad boy had just stepped out from old Main. “Let’s go back to classes,’' he said quietly. “There will be no holiday today. But fellows, when we graduate from here, we’ll sure as heck celebrate San Jacinto day every year.” True to that pledge, the classes of ’03-’06 established a new custom for ex-Aggies. Informally, in Hous- The Aggie Campus as it was known to the Students who staged the “San Jacinto Rebellion of 1903.” Above: Students drilling before Old Main. Below: Military Row showing Gathright, Old Main, Ross, Foster, Old Chapel. ton, Dallas, Fort Worth, San An tonio, and in many smaller cities from the Sabine to the Rio Grande, Aggie graduates gathered every April 21 to renew old friendships and remember their college days. The tradition grew. As the size of A. & M.- classes skyrocketed, increasing numbers of Aggie exes spread across the land. Homesick Texans in the East and on the Pacific Coast celebrated “their day’ with more and more elaborate cere monies. In World War I, musters were held for the first time on foreign soil. But it took World War II to give global significance to the Aggie musters. Corregidor was still hold ing out, even after the fall of Ba taan, on April 21, 1942. There a band of Aggies, including Major General George F. Moore, cele brated San Jacinto day in a bomb proof tunnel while the Japs poured a dreadful barrage of artillery shells upon The Rock. One of the last messages to come from that citadel of the Far East was the report of the Aggie muster. A few days later, the overwhelm ing force of the enemy prevailed, and the Stars and Stripes fluttered down. It was a bitter time for the U. S., but back home the muster report gave hope to many hearts. ‘As long as our boys have the cour 1 V A Personal m ■m I Greeting Hi to the Ex - Aggies from CARL BIRDWELL, manager ‘SERVING TEXAS AGGIES’ age and nerve to hold a college mus ter in the face of defeat, we are bound to win in the long run,” they said. By Spring of 1943 the tide was turning. Aggies who had helped to seize the tiny island of Guadal canal held a San Jacinto muster there. And the story of other mus ters is the story of the success of American arms against odds. Ag gies gathered on the beach-head at Anzio under fire, in Africa, and eventually on the Rhine. This Sunday, with peace in our hands, musters will still be held the world over. At Pearl Harbor, in Tokyo, in Berlin, the boys from A. & M. will get together. But the greatest number will be right here in College Station. Sun day morning, huge Kyle Field will fill up with exes, many of them young men just out of uniform. Others will include veterans of World War I and the Spanish War of ’98. The campus has changed since the “San Jacinto Rebellion of 1903.” Old Main has burned down, and been replaced by the Academic Building, which by now has in herited the name of “Old Main.” Gathright is gone, and the old Chapel. But Military Row still echoes to the marching of A. & M. cadets. Buildings may go, but tra ditions stay on. Batt Answers Exes’ Questions Knowing some of the questions that Exes are bound to ask, the Batt answers them ahead of time: Q. Does old Sully still get shined by the Fish? A. Yes. And the Frogs polished him up a short time ago. Q. Who are all these young women . . . coeds ? A. No, just the wives of vet erans living on the campus who didn’t go home for the holidays. Q. Why that orange — some of the curbs ? A. It’ll be maroon like the rest when more paint is avail able. Q. Do they still paint signs on the water tower? A. Try and find space. Q. Is yell practice still held on the Y steps ? A. No, at Goodwin. There wasn’t enough room in front of the Y. * Engagement and Wedding Rings 287.30 Engagement Ring Only 225.00 TT T" GENUINE.REGISTERED *| Keepsake MATCHED SET See our other famous gen uine registered Keepsake Diamond Rings in a wide range of prices, but all of traditional Keepsake quality, SAMEY PARK Diamonds - Silver - Watches Authorized Keepsake Jeweler