Texas A&M Remembers Bonfire Tragedy

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) â€” Tranquility has returned to the polo fields on the Texas A&M campus. <br><br>Gouged turf has been smoothed and covered with fresh sod. Twelve oak trees have been planted

Friday, November 17th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) â€” Tranquility has returned to the polo fields on the Texas A&M campus.

Gouged turf has been smoothed and covered with fresh sod. Twelve oak trees have been planted with love and emotion.

Aggies everywhere know why they're there.

At 2:42 a.m. Saturday, it will be one year since a 59-foot high tower of logs being stacked for the school's annual bonfire collapsed, killing 12 people and injuring 27 others.

The tragedy horrified the campus and the country, forcing the tradition-rich school to re-evaluate its celebrated ritual leading up to the annual game against its top rival, the Texas Longhorns.

Aggies often brag about their school spirit, and the football team showed it in the face of tragedy. Players asked coaches to cancel practice so they could go to the polo fields â€” where the bonfire was being built â€” and help in any way. It was an easy choice for coach R.C. Slocum.

``A lot of guys felt like they couldn't practice, knowing there were still people lying under that pile of wood,'' linebacker Roylin Bradley said.

``A lot of people think football players get a lot of privileges. We feel the same way they feel about things like the bonfire. The coaches didn't make us go out there. It was from the heart.''

Said offensive lineman Chris Valletta: ``It was like it wasn't real. Standing there looking at the broken stack of logs and knowing there were people inside not living was extremely tough.''

The No. 21 Aggies are again preparing to play the No. 14 Longhorns next Friday. There won't be a bonfire, though, as school president Ray Bowen put the 90-year-old tradition on hold until at least 2002.

In May, a commission appointed and funded by Texas A&M, blamed flawed construction techniques and a lack of adequate supervision for the tragedy. Bowen has said that if the bonfire is reinstated, there will be major changes, including far greater university supervision and a professionally engineered design.

Groups of students and former students talked of building their own unsanctioned bonfires, but halted plans partly because they weren't sure they could do it safely.

Instead, the focus will be on a memorial service held Saturday at the exact time and site of the collapse.

In Austin, where Longhorns replaced their traditional ``A&M hex rally'' with a unity service last year, the campus tower will be darkened from dusk Friday until dawn Saturday in memory of the bonfire victims.

Slocum remembers being torn last year between trying to get his team ready to play eight days after the tragedy and spending the time dealing with the grief.

``In retrospect, playing the game was the right thing to do,'' he said. ``It gave us a vehicle for the A&M family to come together and get through that period of mourning and sadness.

``I felt a tremendous obligation that if we were going to play the game, we had to be ready. We talked about the obligation to those young people and their spirit and devotion and enthusiasm for the game. It was one of the most challenging weeks of my life.''

Before kickoff, there was a moment of silence. Twelve white doves, one for each victim, were released into a cloudless sky. At halftime, UT band members played ``Amazing Grace,'' then removed their white cowboy hats and saluted the Aggies.

``It was a weird time, you know?'' A&M receiver Greg Porter said. ``You're getting ready to play a football game and the team on the other side is actually being nice.''

The Aggies responded. Charged with emotion, they made a late comeback for a 20-16 victory that left players and fans teary-eyed.

``I think they fed off that emotion and really felt like they had a purpose to win the game,'' Texas quarterback Chris Simms said.

Survivors of the collapse are moving forward with their lives.

Chip Thiel was among the most seriously injured. He had a lung punctured and his left leg broken in 10 places. Walking almost painlessly now, Thiel recently returned to the site of the tragedy for another big event in his life.

Thiel, who will graduate next month with a degree in agriculture economics, asked Stephanie McElwee of New Boston to marry him.

She said yes.