In the know.

“All musters are meaningful to me, but the one that really had an effect on me was Aggie Muster in Georgetown, Texas in 2000 when Joyce and I were living in Sun City. The Bonfire had tragically collapsed in the early morning in November of 1999. Twelve Aggies were killed that morning and many more injured. One of the young men that died that morning was a hometown boy and his family had strong ties to A&M. Muster was just five months later and our Muster committee knew there would be a large crowd that would be full with deep emotions.

The Roll Call portion of the Muster Ceremony was held on the steps of the historic Williamson County Court House with many of the family and friends in attendance. It was around dusk. My part was to read “The Last Corp Trip” or commonly known as Judgement Day in Aggieland. In the poem Saint Peter, on the last day was passing judgment on the various organizations that made up A&M to determine if they were worthy of spending eternity in heaven. He is very pleased in the Aggie teams and the 12th Man and he decides that the Aggie Band should “commence to play, for their fates too we must decide on this crucial day”. The drum major so hearing, slowly raised his hand and said, “Boys, let’s play The Spirit for the last time in Aggieland.” Wow! And the chills ran up my back. When the band had finished, St. Peter wiped his eyes and said, “It’s not so hard to see that they were meant for Paradise.” The colonel of the Cadet Corp said as he swiftly took his stand, “It’s just another Corp Trip, boys. We’ll March in behind the band”.

By that time, I had tears in my eyes and a big lump in my throat. I’ll always remember those young fallen Aggies every time Muster is called.”

-Bill Roach, Resident of The Langford, and Aggie Class of ’55

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