[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 13]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 17167]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    THE FIGHTING AGGIES OF TEXAS A&M

                                 ______
                                 

                              HON. TED POE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 8, 2009

  Mr. POE of Texas. Madam Speaker, Texas A&M University was founded in 
1876 as a land grant college under the Morrill Act. The university 
began as an all male military school until after World War II. Aggies 
have been serving with honor in the armed forces since the Spanish 
American War of 1898. In fact, Texas A&M is the largest provider of 
military officers outside of the Nations service academies. General 
George S. Patton said, Give me an army of West Point graduates, and 
I'll win a battle Give me a handful of Texas Aggies, and I'll win a 
war.
  During the Spanish American War, eighty-nine Aggies served in the 
Army, and sixty-three Aggies served as officers. When the United States 
became involved in World War I, 702 A&M graduates served in the 
military, and 668 graduates were officers. Texas A&M trained over 4000 
troops during World War I.
  It was World War II, however, when Texas A&M exhibited its expertise 
in training soldiers as well as scholars. Twenty thousand Aggies served 
in World War II; fourteen thousand of these men were officers, and 
twenty-nine were generals. In order to speed up the process of sending 
more Aggies to the front lines of the war, Texas A&M instituted a 
twelve-month, three semester training program to prepare its soldiers. 
The entire graduating classes of 1941 and 1942 enlisted in the armed 
services immediately following graduation. Seven Congressional Medal of 
Honor winners during the second world war were graduates from Texas 
A&M. They included MAJ Horace S. Carswell, Jr., class of 1938; LT 
Thomas W. Fowler, class of 1943; LT Eli Whitely, class of 1941; SGT 
William Harrell, class of 1943; 2LT Lloyd Herbert ``Pete'' Hughes, 
class of 1943; LT Turney W. Leonard, class of 1942; and SGT George D. 
Keathley, class of 1937.
  Six Aggies were survivors of the 131st Texas National Guard Field 
Artillery, best known as the Lost Battalion because it was three years 
before the fate of the men was known. They were captured on Java in 
1942, and then transported to Burma, where they were forced to build 
the infamous Railway of Death depicted in the movie Bridge Over River 
Kwai.
  Membership in the Corp of Cadets is now voluntary at Texas A&M 
however, the university continues its tradition of training men and 
women to serve their country through military service.
  And that's just the way it is.

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