re: 14 Years ago today, the darkest day in Aggie history

It was perceived for what it was, a sad tragedy. I think with all tragedies boundaries and rivalries cease to exist. At the core of most is the true human spirit to stand up and help those in need. I wish the best for those who still mourn the loss of their loved ones, and those who were injured.

It's an ongoing debate amongst Aggies as to where it goes from here. Honestly the ferocity of that debate is part of what made it more sad. More than anything Bonfire was about bringing all Aggies together for one purpose, no matter if they were in the Corps or a Frat or a Non Reg. No matter if they were Class of '99 or Class of '44.

There is an Off Campus Bonfire and they do a good job but it isn't remotely the same. It can't be. If they brought it back on campus it wouldn't be remotely the same either because of liability. The fire at the end was just the celebration, the great part was the months of building by any Ag that wanted to volunteer. That just can't happen again.

The lawsuits that followed the accident only made everything that much more poignant. I don't blame the families but I will never forget seeing one of the Bonfire victim's mother outside of an A&M football game trying to drum up additional sympathy for her case. That was when I knew it would never come back. The ONLY way it was possible is if all the families supported it and it was clear that was never going to happen. Once again I don't blame the families but the reality of the situation is what it is.

It's just gone. Forever. That is part of why it is the wound that won't completely heal.

Don't care how many Musters you attended, you're confused.

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I was at every Muster from 1996-2005.

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I attended many of these as well, my grandfather was one of the Muster speakers during the 90s. They did the Muster Committee meetings at his house that year and you wouldn't believe the planning that goes into the event.

TBird is correct though, it's been going on for a while and was actually done by old army more in the beginning because they were less likely to have friends or family there and people wanted to make sure that somebody answered for them.

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The idea of a return to campus is a pipe dream. I had friends who were on the committee who looked into the idea. Never happen without insurance and insurance wasn't expensive, it was impossible. No firm who could cover it would touch it. (And really can you blame them?)

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I don't think it'll ever come back, either. And that's a damn shame.

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I wish they got to experience what I did, but when has that NOT been the case at A&M?

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True dat. I know my little brother and I consider ourselves privileged to be among the few of our classmates that were able to witness the on campus Bonfire burn with our own eyes, but I wish we could have shared that withour peers.

Very sad. I remember hearing about this back then, but never really heard much of the stories.

I do have a question though, were there safety oversight and all or is it a purely student function? The older pictures of the bonfire look scary as hell to me. 60 feet of multiple layers of lumber pointed straight up. I would be interested to know how they were able to secure them and what went wrong.

One other question, did they work on it at all hours of the night? 2:42 is so late/early.

There was some safety oversight but not not a ton. And the administration suffered the same faults as the students. It's actually an interesting study on groupthink and institutional blindness.

Initially stack (the construction phase) had limited hours but in the last few weeks it went from 6PM-6AM. It wasn't that bad - your dorm or corps outfit would rotate through a schedule - 6-12 one night, 12-6 following morning, then off the next day. The lateness didn't really matter, college students after all.

After about 2AM you'd weed out all but the hardcore.

I would be scared to get anywhere near that even with heavy oversight and being done by pro's let alone be a worker on it.

How did they secure the trees to make the "bundles"?

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How did they secure the trees to make the "bundles"?

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Each log was tied with thick baling wire to four other logs.

But the primary force at work was gravity.

This is a good way to jumpstart some bannings. Prayers sent to all involved.