right|300px|thumb|The 2007 Aggie Muster at [[Reed Arena: The Ross Volunteers stand at attention as candles are lit for the deceased]]

Aggie Muster is a tradition at Texas A&M University which celebrates the camaraderie of the university while remembering the lives of alumni who have died, specifically those in the past year. Muster officially began on April 21, 1903, as a day for remembrance of fellow Aggies. Muster ceremonies today take place in approximately 320 locations globally. The largest muster ceremony occurs in Reed Arena, on the Texas A&M campus.

Early years

On June 26, 1883, alumni of Texas A&M University gathered together to "live over again their college days, the victories and defeats won and lost upon the drill field and in the classroom." The same year, the Ex-Cadets Association established the "Roll Call for the Absent". The event grew into a loosely organized annual tradition, but did not have a permanent date set aside until several decades later, when it merged with a different tradition.

The most well-known Aggie Muster took place during World War II in 1942 on the Philippine island of Corregidor at the entrance to Manila Bay. At this time, Corregidor was the last American stronghold against the Japanese forces in the Philippines, and Japanese artillery and warplanes were constantly attacking. The American artillery commander on Corregidor was Brigadier General George F. Moore, a 1908 graduate of Texas A&M. With the help of Major Tom Dooley, class of 1935, Moore gathered the names of 25 other Aggies under his command. Despite the fierce fighting as the Japanese laid siege to the island, on April 21, 1942, Moore held a roll call—known as muster in army terms—calling the names of each of the Aggies under his command.

Only 12 of the 25 survived the battle and the POW camps to which the survivors were sent.

Association of Former Students Executive Secretary E. E. McQuillen, Class of 1920, is credited with refocusing San Jacinto Day as a remembrance for fallen Aggies. He changed the April 21, 1943, celebration to be the first known as an Aggie Muster and sent packets to each A&M club, Aggie Moms club, and to US military bases around the world with a detailed program of events for April 21. It included greetings from the A&M President and a poem by Dr. John Ashton of A&M's class of 1906, which he had written at McQuillen's request. Entitled "The Heroes' Roll Call" and also known as the "Roll Call for the Absent", it also commemorates the 1942 Muster and is designed so that the number of years since 1942 can be inserted. The response was overwhelming, with 10,000 alumni worldwide mustering in 500 locations. The following year, McQuillen added a list of recently deceased Aggies to the packets, asking each local group to choose names from the list and call them aloud during their ceremony, and "as each name is called a comrade will answer 'Here'."

Muster became a student organization in 1950, and students now coordinate all aspects of the campus Muster in College Station, Texas. On April 21, 2015, the university dedicated a monument on Corregidor designed by College of Architecture students.

Modern Muster

thumb|right|Muster at [[Camp Leatherneck, Afghanistan in 2012]]

Randy Matson, the keynote speaker at the 2000 campus Muster, vowed, "we're here (tonight) to pledge that none of you will be forgotten as long as there are two Aggies left in the world." This campus Muster is dedicated to the 50-year reunion class of that year, demonstrating unity among Aggies. During the day, a Camaraderie Barbecue is held at the Academic Plaza around noon to rekindle the spirit of the original Muster celebration. The evening Muster ceremony begins with a keynote speaker. Following the 1999 Aggie Bonfire collapse, additional verses of "The Last Corps Trip" honoring those who died were written. Following the Roll Call, the Ross Volunteers perform a three-volley salute, and buglers play "Silver Taps", a version of the US military's melody of farewell. This is to ensure that each alumna and each alumnus who has died in the preceding year will have someone say "here" for them. The event is streamed live on AggieNetwork.com.

Keynote speakers (College Station)

  • 2019 Dwight A. Roblyer '84
  • 2018 Kathleen Gibson '81
  • 2017 Eddie Joe Davis Jr. '67
  • 2016 R.C. Slocum
  • 2015 Will Hurd '99
  • 2014 Bill Youngkin '69
  • 2013 Bill Jones '81
  • 2012 John R. Hoyle '57
  • 2011 Toby Boenig '95
  • 2010 Major Stephen G. Ruth '92
  • 2009 Robert Gates
  • 2008 John Adams '73
  • 2007 Brooke Leslie Rollins '94
  • 2006 Bill Carter ’69
  • 2005 Clayton W. Williams ’54
  • 2004 Jon L. Hagler ’58
  • 2003 Edwin H. Cooper ’53
  • 2002 Gov. James R. “Rick” Perry ’72
  • 2001 Dr. Joe West ’54
  • 2000 Randy Matson ’67
  • 1999 Mike Baggett '68
  • 1998 Eugene Clifton Stallings, Jr. ’57
  • 1997 H. B. Zachry, Jr. ’54
  • 1996 E. Dean Gage ’65
  • 1995 Lee Phillips ’53
  • 1994 Andres Tijerina ’67
  • 1993 Jack G. Fritts ’53
  • 1992 Frank W. Cox III ’65
  • 1991 Adm. Jerome L. Johnson ’56
  • 1990 M. L. “Red” Cashion ’53
  • 1989 Thomas Chester "Chet" Edwards ’74
  • 1988 Gerald D. Griffin ’56
  • 1987 Robert L. Walker ’58
  • 1986 A. W. “Head” Davis ’45
  • 1985 Lt. Gen. Ormond R. Simpson ’36
  • 1984 Jack M. Rains ’60
  • 1983 Haskell M. Monroe
  • 1982 William B. Heye, Sr. ’60
  • 1981 Frederick D. McClure ’76
  • 1980 Henry G. Cisneros ’68
  • 1979 Lee H. Smith ’57
  • 1978 Col. Tom Dooley ’35
  • 1977 Maj. James E. Ray ’63
  • 1976 Charles G. Scruggs ’47
  • 1975 Reagan V. Brown ’43
  • 1974 Sheldon J. Best ’63
  • 1973 Capt. James E. Ray ’63
  • 1972 Larry Kirk ’66
  • 1971 Jack K. Williams
  • 1970 Yale B. Griffis ’30
  • 1969 Mayo J. Thompson ’41
  • 1968 Maj. Gen. Wood B. Kyle ’36
  • 1967 Maj. Gen. Raymond L. Murray ’35
  • 1966 Penrose B. Metcalfe ’16
  • 1965 C. Darrow Hooper ’53
  • 1964 E. King Gill ’24
  • 1963 L. F. Peterson ’36
  • 1962 Eli L. Whiteley ’41
  • 1961 James W. Aston ’33
  • 1960 Lt. Gen. A. D. Bruce ’16
  • 1959 Olin E. “Tiger” Teague ’32
  • 1958 Gen. Bernard A. Schriever ’31
  • 1957 No Campus Muster due to Easter recess
  • 1956 Maj. Gen. James Earl Rudder ’32
  • 1955 Gen. Otto P. Weyland ’28
  • 1954 Texas Governor Allan Shivers
  • 1953 Colorado Governor Daniel I.J. Thornton
  • 1952 Searcy Bracewell ’38
  • 1951 James H. Pipkin ’29
  • 1950 Gen. Louis Henturvey ’29
  • 1949 James W. Aston ’33
  • 1948 A. E. “Red” Hinman ’25
  • 1947 Lt. Col. Lewis B. Chevaillier ’39
  • 1946 General Dwight D. Eisenhower
  • 1945 Lt. Clifton H. Chamberlain ’40
  • 1944 E. E. McQuillen ’20

References

  • John A. Adams '73 Softly Call The Muster