Honoring the Ultimate Sacrifice

I got this last week from A&M. I should have posted it sooner.

Honoring the Ultimate Sacrifice

May 28, 2021

At the close of World War II, an orchard just outside Margraten was selected as the burial site for Americans who died to liberate the Netherlands from Nazi occupation. The lush green grass and surrounding trees provide a tranquil final resting place for more than 8,300 American soldiers, with another 1,722 memorialized on the Tablets of the Missing at the cemetery's entrance. Among those honored are 21 Aggies.

Though buried far from home, these men are remembered as family by those they liberated. Each year since 1945, families, schools and military organizations from the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany have adopted each of the graves, lovingly placing flowers on birthdays, dates of death and Memorial Day. Today, 76 years after the conclusion of World War II, hundreds remain on a waiting list to adopt a grave and carry on this noble duty of gratitude.

As we approach the Memorial Day weekend, I hope we will all take inspiration from the Dutch, Belgians and Germans who have honored these American heroes as their own. I invite you to join with members of The Association of Former Students' Board of Directors and staff as we each find our own unique way to commemorate the sacrifice of more than 1.3 million American lives lost in service to our nation, including more than 1,100 Aggies.

Our campus honors these Aggies with trees surrounding the Simpson Drill Field, with monuments near the arches of the Corps of Cadets Quadrangle and throughout the Memorial Student Center. We remember and revere them for their service and sacrifice and embodiment of our core values of excellence, integrity, leadership, loyalty, respect and selfless service.

I am exceedingly proud to be a part of a school that recognizes and remembers such sacrifice in significant ways year after year. Like those who have adopted soldiers at the Netherlands American Cemetery, we recognize the debt we owe to those who have sacrificed for freedom here and abroad and our duty to remember them always.

The poet Wallace Bruce said it well, "who kept the faith and fought the fight; the glory theirs, the duty ours."

With Deepest Gratitude,

Porter S. Garner III ’79
President and CEO

Texas A&M Assoc. of Former Students

06/10/21 08:17 PM

#21218

Ron Knight

David

I have lived here since 2013 when I retired and I have visited the many places in Asheville that the tourist visit.

I agree with Kurt to get the self guided tour of the Biltmore with the headphones. I think that is the best bang for your buck. And be sure to take the Trolly Ride as well. It will take you by the Grove Park Inn, The River Arts District and downtown. So be sure to spend some time at the Grove Park Inn, The Great Patio is awesome with views of the mountains and golf course.

Glenn Messmer and I did the real tourist visit when he was here. We took the old Steam Locomotive Train Tour out of Bryson City. It is a half day tour on an old steam locomotive deep into the mountains of Western North Carolina. For about a $100 a person you get a geat meal on board, live entertainment and first class service.

Plus all of the great adventures along the Blue Ridge Parkway.

I welcome you and Martha to my new town.

Ron

06/11/21 07:13 AM

#21219

David Cordell

Bob D.,

Enjoyed seeing you in this photo and especially reading the vignette about you in the paragraph to the right!!

06/11/21 01:19 PM

#21220

Bob Davidson

David -- funny about the picture -- we guys looked like stereotypical nerds and the girls were so pretty and un-nerdlike. I remember Virginia in particular being quick, witty, sharp, and beautiful.

My kids went through the Houston School District from kindergarten to graduation. They were in gifted and talented programs and had teachers who treated them respectfully, like they were smart people. Maybe it's just the change in eras, but in high school I never had a teacher who acted like I was even a bit smart. When I read Brave New World I figured I was a Beta Plus or so -- brighter than the average bear but nothing special. UT was very different.

My dad was brilliant; my mom, somewhat above average. She spent a lot of energy showing that she was right and he was wrong about whatever she could find -- i.e., Dad talking to a friend, "We paid about ten bucks a square foot for the new carpet." Mom, interrupting, "No we didn't, it was $9.43. You have such a terrible memory." She also spent a lot of energy making sure I didn't think I was anything special -- which may or may not have been a good thing. I'm sure she didn't want an arrogant little fuck for a kid.

I pretty much internalized that -- one thing I particularly remember was in 10th grade after we took some sort of standardized test -- Stanford or Iowa or somesuch. When we got our results, Bill Moore said to me, sarcastically, "What did you get 160?" (or whatever the number was -- I don't remember) I'd scored 161 (or one point higher than he'd said) -- which I took to be a total putdown for making a bad score. I asked a couple of other guys I liked, Jean Ward and Steve Gardner -- because they both liked to talk about their scores on tests, what they'd scored and they were both several points higher than me so I figured that everyone else did, too. (Or at least the other kids in my classes.) My mom would have said something like, "You only scored 160 out of a possible 180. You really need to work harder." She wouldn't notice the 99th percentile part.

06/11/21 07:27 PM

#21221

Bob D,

You're another one I can't remember ever having had one word of conversation with back in the day - the other HUGE list for me is people I didn't know at all at RHS - you actually might be on that one too!! hahahahahhha!! I remember seeing you around a lot - we short people notice taller ones more, I think. The thing I remember about you the most was your EXTREMELY alert eyes!!!! You really seemed to be aware of ALL going on around you. Then I found out later that you were the National Merit scholar and that made sense. I rate that honor higher than a scholastic sweater. How come Fussell never won a scholastic sweater (at least I don't think he did, correct)? If he didn't really get one, my guess was that he was reading so much other stuff and into whatever that he must have neglected his school assignments. Or Jean Ward, did he ever win a sweater?

I do remember from my Psych days (that was before the truly psychotic ones kicked in) that the reason they use that combination of math & verbal ability on the SAT and GRE, et al (National Merit a variation of that as well, I guess?) is that the results from that kind of test correlate the most highly with standardized IQ tests (of course those latter tests are not perfect measures of your total intelligence as we well know). Hope I'm remembering that right.

Reminds me of a story about my days working in the factory on Lemmon Avenue about 50 years ago. I worked with several black men at that minimum wage job. One I noticed also had VERY alert eyes and seemed quite smart to me; his pal didn't impress me much. We used to go to the car at lunch and smoke reefer. I found out those 2 guys were both ex-cons in their mid or late 20's. The smart one, and yes I think he was smart, I couldn't say how smart he was or how well he did in school, and the other was not smart in my opinion plus he was REALLY BAD - he would laugh at say, a crippled person walking across a street plus he was in prison for rape whereas the smart one was in for armed robbery. Just more education for an ex-honor student!!!! Oh, and yes, I did hold off 2 other RHS '69 grads with belts in the summer of 1970 as they shot up their heroin - I found out later after I got into the painkillers briefly why they nod off like that after injecting - you just LOVE sitting/lying wherever groovin' with your eyes closed on that opiate high/feeling and since opiates are nervous system depressants, the addict and/or pill popper often nods off. I really envy people that have never had that kind of positive experience on drugs NOR the craving for such, even after they've taken painkillers legitimately for pain - they don't like that?!?!! Quien sabe, senor?

Also I love the fact that someone so naturally gifted as yourself seems to me to be the closest to sharing a similar view and memories as mine of our beloved high school experience!!! tee hee!

06/11/21 08:37 PM

#21222

Another example of our Bizarro World Presidential administration - they just canceled the Trump-era-created office for processing people who are victims of illegal alien crime!!!!! WELCOME TO MARXISM!!!!! You'll NEVER hear that on the corrupt media. Will the Great Ignorati (the left) EVER wake up?!?!?!?!?!?! I'm so GLAD I'm awake and not woke!

TRUMP BBBBBBAAAAAAADDDDDD

ANYTHING ELSE GGGGGOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOODDDDDDDD

And these people are running (ruining) things?!?!?!

06/11/21 08:52 PM

#21223

ALL nations of the world are now at our borders; not just the Hispanics. And our dimwit VP goes to Guatemala; all she can offer as to the purpose of her visit, repeated ad nauseum, is her focus on the "root causes" of the current problem. Well, this shows what a phony she is - EVERYBODY KNOWS THAT BIDEN & SHE ARE THE ROOT CAUSE - THEY OPENED UP THE BORDER COMPLETELY - DUH!! She thinks we're even dumber than she and Joe are!!!!!

And since we have ALL the countries of the world at our border now, what, we're supposed to go fix ALL THE WORLD'S PROBLEMS and that will fix this PARTICULAR problem she & Joe SOLELY caused?!?!? Yeah, makes me want to go back to voting Dem again...........

Biden, Harris & Co are SO STUPID they don't YET realize that this just CAN'T CONTINUE until November 2022!!!! They are so thick they don't realize, AFTER MONTHS NOW, that their IDIOTIC policies are undermining, the ONLY thing, after self, that they care about - their Marxist Dem Party. Every day that passes it becomes more and more obvious (isn't sunlight WONDERFUL IN AN AWFUL WAY sometimes (I do HATE all my new aged-face imperfections)!?!?!) not only how STUPID these people are but also how they are incapable of ever realizing their unmistakable deficiencies!!!

One last thing - EVERYBODY KNOWS HOW TO FIX THIS CATASTROPHE - GO BACK TO WHAT THE DONALD WAS DOING (along with all their other stupidities they've inflicted on us the last 4.5 months) - AS IF THAT WILL HAPPEN!!! Welcome to Jimmy Carter II - except even more clueless than that administration & more corrupt than Obama & Nixon combined.

06/11/21 08:53 PM

#21224

Here's a little lesson from Walter Williams or Thomas Sowell, can't remember which.

First law of economics: SCARCITY. Repetition is one of the keys to learning, so Jimi Bob says, SCARCITY. SCARCITY. SCARCITY. SCARCITY. SCARCITY. SCARCITY. SCARCITY. SCARCITY. SCARCITY.

I.e., there is NEVER enough of ANYTHING to satisfy human demand.

First law of politics: ignore the first law of economics.

06/11/21 09:07 PM

#21225

Laura Ingraham (a Dartmouth grad - that's Ivy League, right, Mr. Fussell? but today a degree from anywhere may not mean anything, in my mind) today on our pathetic excuse for a Vice President, and these are just a few of her remarks about the worthless VP.

"Not ready for prime time person. No relevant experience. Obviously in over her head."

You can see why Kameleon Harris never even made the 2020 Dem primaries - even Dem voters could see through her!!

"This is what happens when diversity is valued over merit or achievement" - PERFECT DESCRIPTION FOR KAMELEON HARRIS just out of Laura's mouth!!

"Not thoughtful. Not serious. Not deep." quote from another BRILLIANT (and what a sweetheart) Jew, Ari Fleischer, former press secretary, about Harris.

AMEN. Truly an(other) empty (pant)suit - at least HilLIARy is smart.

Not a good couple of weeks for Dems - I hope they unravel sooner than our nation and the world do!!!

06/11/21 10:20 PM

#21226

I'm sorry. I post frequently like this so infrequently, right?

Greg Gutfeld, in dismissing teen molester Jeffery Epstein, said something like

"Hey, sex abuser, sex a-schmuser. I tried to build one."

And Degan McDowell, talking about her tendency to hold grudges (something somebody accused me of on this forum - I guess I need to start holding a grudge about that now!!! hahahahha!!!!), she said,

"Hey, I've never forgotten the guy who stood me up at the high school prom. OK, it was a drug bust. But still....... that guy looks like Uncle Fester now"' she stated happily.

06/12/21 09:12 AM

#21227

Bob Davidson,

Part of the reason that the Houston Independent School District excelled was because my sister, Suzanne Sutherland, a 1971 graduate of RHS, ran the talented and gifted program for several years, ran the language arts program for several years and eventually designed and built charter schools for the district while she was Principal of three different schools at one time. She proceeded from there to training teachers for the school district and now works as a consultant for a private company that trains district personnel. Of course, at this stage she is retired for health reasons, but occasionally consults for the firm when they are in a bind. She holds degrees in Education from Texas Tech University where she graduated in 1973-1974. She was an Eaglette while attending RHS as a sophmore when I was a senior. I attended Texas Tech beginning in 1974 and graduated in 1976. Suzanne currently lives in Sugarland in one of those neat period houses with big porches near the Sugar Mill.

06/12/21 11:25 AM

#21228

Bob Davidson

Steve,

Kudos to your sister. I was friendly with a number of my kids' teachers and liked almost all of them. They all liked their principals and the Vanguard administration and despised the regular administration. Our elementary school (Travis) always had an influencial HISD board member among the parents -- one of them is on the Houston City Council now. The other was a State Rep for a time. Both big, big liberal Dems. The Council member refused to let her son join Cub Scouts because we were homophobic and sexist way back when -- I was a den leader and asssitant cubmaster in those days and ran the recruiting at our elementary school. (I knew all of the kids because I ran the school store for years -- kids earned Travis bucks for good behavior and could spent them on Friday at the school store. For the first two years I brought my preschool daughter to run the register. She loved it and didn't realize she was learning math -- she saw it as dealing with big kids as an equal. (I loved seeing my three or four-year-old doing math with kids twice her size and having them listen to her respectfully and treat her like the store official.) When she was in school, they let her keep being my assistant.) The board member told me off pretty well when her son asked if he could join -- her husband (a nice guy I like from a Democrat aristocracy family) apologized for her fervor. She's always pleasant when we run across one another now so maybe the wokening of Scouting, BSA has appeased her.

I was somewhat amused to find that the teachers all particularly disliked one administrator -- my backdoor neighbor for 25 years was a deputy superintendent at HISD. I would charitably describe her as a psychotic monster -- she used to get drunk at least once a month and beat up on her ex-girlfriend in the backyard where we could see and hear them. I liked the girlfriend -- she was the director of a well-known nonprofit social services agency -- and was amazed that she kept going back for more beatings and verbal abuse. We moved in the same day -- our houses belonged to brothers. Hers was from the original owner, a widow in her 90s, who received the house as a wedding present when her husband got back from WWI in 1919. His brother bought our house in 1935 when it came up for sale. The back yards were one big yard with a shared clothesline, a path between the back doors, and an arbor in the middle. Our first conflict was right after we moved in when my just turned two son toddled across the boundry line and she went apeshit over the trespassing and our failure to control the little brat. We called a fence company immediately. The day our guys showed up, hers did too -- we put up a five foot chain link fence; she built a ten foot wooden latice one right next to it. It definitely kept the toddler out of her yard.

06/12/21 12:47 PM

#21229

Bob D.

About being in top percentages doe not always have to do with IQ. I do not know what my IQ. When I was a Freshman at A&M in the Corps of Cadets in AFROTC, I took the Aie Force apitude tests for pilot and navigator. I later found out when talking to a recruiter the I was in the top 95% on the Pilot test and 85% on the Navigator test. these rating were from everybody that had taken the test all over the US and over a span of time. I agree that I am considered really really smart but I had a great aptitude for a pilot or navigator.

Aptitude for something can exceed being really smart.

06/12/21 01:05 PM

#21230

I just read the Biden adminstration does not want to use the term "Mother" as it is not inclusive.

In a Senate hearing: (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra said he would need to refer to the “terminology that was used.” His comments come after Deputy Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Shalanda Young doubled-down on the Biden budget proposal’s use of “birthing people,” insisting it’s more inclusive and equitable, at a congressional hearing Wednesday.

“There are certain people who do not have gender identities that apply to female and male, so we think our language needs to be more inclusive on how we deal with complex issues,” she remarked.

“Our official policy is to make sure that when people get service from their government that they feel included, and we’re trying to use inclusive language,” Young concluded.

06/12/21 04:50 PM

#21231

Janalu Jeanes (Parchman)

Wayne,

What do you think "Fathers" will be renamed, since gay women who decide to transition can't be part of the procreation process of life, unless a third person is hired or paid off for a donation? Will they now be called 'bill-payers' or the 'bringing-home-the-bacon-facilitators?' Or maybe 'the auto-grease-monkeys' who repair the family cars? How shall we describe their position in the family hierarchy if they don't have the correct plumbing?

We can't call them 'plumbers,' can we, since they are non-plumbed?

These new "woke" terms are idiotic and an embarrassment to educated, American citizens. Who started all of this nonsense?

Oh wait! I just had a flash thought.........Yes! It was the usual suspects, wasn't it?!! The very people who are led by those "leaders" who say they want to "FUNDAMENTALLY CHANGE OUR COUNTRY."...for the better....

06/12/21 05:21 PM

#21232

Janalu,

I guess the term that would include men, transgender, and women who cannot or choose to not have children. Then the term would be "non-birther people". There are a lot of "spirm donors" that contributed to the birth of a child but are not "fathers". Being a real father means taking care of,nurthering and guiding a child. The child does not have to be blood relation.

I don't know what term to use for a "birthing- person" who abandons, abuses or even kills their child. They cannot have the term "mother" applied to them.

Happy Fathers Day to all of the real fathers out there.

06/13/21 12:53 AM

#21233

Jamalu,

My son and I have coined a term for the woke mellennial and gen X males. We call them testoserone deficient.

06/13/21 01:00 AM

#21234

Bob D.

Being in the teaching profession means that my sister is automatically programmed from college as a liberal Democrat. One of those types that won't fire a bad teacher and assumes that if you just throw more money at the problem it will miraculously fix itself. Poor performing schools get more cash to continue to fail while the good teachers move to private schools. Poor folks should be able to take a voucher so that they can send their excelling student to a private school if they choose. She fought tooth and nail to keep from making teachers return to work becaise pf Covid 19 while the rest of us had to work through it. She is also a big proponent of Obamacare and the Social net for the plebes. However, does she have to deal with it ? No, the plan is not good enough for teachers so they have their own plan through the State of Texas that none of the rest of us get access to.

06/13/21 01:10 AM

#21235

Bob, Wayne and Janalu,

I just attended the Texas Open Jui Jitsui Competition at the Comerica Stars Center in Frisco. My daughter, Makenzie won the Featherweight Women's Division (130# and under) and now will compete in the World Open competition on August 21. She won her first match 15 to 5 and her second match 24 to 0. By the way, she is all girl but she will kick your ass!

06/13/21 01:52 AM

#21236

Janalu Jeanes (Parchman)

Yay Makenzie! Your strength BECOMES you, as if you needed more beauty!

You're a winner! Kudos to you, Sweetheart--

06/13/21 02:08 AM

#21237

Janalu,

You are so nice. I will pass it on to Mak.!

06/13/21 09:35 AM

#21238

Lowell Tuttle

Vaccinated have rights, too

Protect each other

Regarding “It’s either vaccination or job termination,” (A1, June 8): It was hard visiting my mom through a glass door.

It was hard visiting my mom dressed in full PPE, plastic gown, gloves and N95 mask. But it was all that was available to protect her from COVID.

Now we are both fully vaccinated. Now my visits to her are actually more limited than when I dressed in full PPE.

Why?

Because our state government has decided that the rights of those who choose not to be vaccinated are more important than our rights as vaccinated mother and daughter.

I cannot visit her in her room or sit with her at meals. I can only visit in a room set aside to be sterilized between guests. Because the state says unvaccinated people should be allowed to roam freely into vulnerable populations as workers. Managers are not even allowed to know if employees and visiting people are vaccinated. Managers of caregiving facilities make decisions limiting access to families in an attempt to reduce risk for those unvaccinated visitors and workers. We go through the charade of an invasive questionnaire about temps and symptoms when we could just show that we are vaccinated.

There is nothing new about requiring immunizations to protect vulnerable populations. If more medical facilities would take the responsible stance of Methodist Hospital, those of us who made choices to protect each other would not have to continue paying a price for those who refuse.

06/13/21 09:46 AM

#21239

Lowell Tuttle

Steve, that is cool about your daughter.

I am dealing with the TRS BCBS health care plan right now. Got a form signed by brother in law to handle bills that he has to pay (deductibles and co pays.) They are extremely nice and available on the phone...I am thankful for that. And, they offerred to counsel me on which deductible provider bill to pay so it's certain to go against his Max out of pocket.

With all health care plans there is a term which is loosely heard by us. It is "covered expenses."

health care plans have max pays for annual deductibles and co pays. However, that is of COVERED expenses. BCBS has a asterisk on all their claim paid provider forms which says you SHOULD not pay the provider more than the covered expenses allowed by BCBS. I think the key word there is SHOULD. It doesn't say you DON:T have to pay.

Example is ambulance bills. Covered expense allowed is 500. They pay that. You owe whatever the ambulance company charges. In this case, it is the City of Houston charging 1500. That 1000 you pay does not go against your max out of pocket. You should see what a helicopter life flight uncovered expense is. 25,000 to 100,000 is the reality.

So, if we pay all these bills, we hit his max co pay with TRS BCBS at about 6000. Then, for now, the expenses that are/were "uncovered" amount to about 18000 more.

I think that is the kind of account that Holly works on. If you have something, apparently they will come after you. :

Lance says he files them in his trash can.

Next step might be some kind of trust called a Miller's Trust. Attorney...confusion...we are getting close to that step.

06/13/21 10:39 AM

#21240

Sandra Spieker (Ringo)

Steve,

I saw the Ju Jitsu match that MacKenzie competed in on Saturday. Wow! She is is tough and a champion! Congratulations to her and her husband too! I love the martial arts!

06/13/21 12:01 PM

#21241