Courtesy of the Bryan/College Station Eagle

September 21, 2001

7 Aggies named as 'Legends'

By JOHN LeBAS
Eagle Staff Writer

Seven former students were honored as "Legends of Aggieland" on Thursday evening in a tribute to America’s armed forces.

Those inducted as "Legends" during the ceremony at the Clayton Williams Jr. Alumni Center include:

- Gen. Patrick K. Gamble, Class of ’67

- Rear Admiral William W. Pickavance Jr., Class of ’68

- Lt. Gen. Randolph W. House, Class of ’67

- Gen. Thomas G. Darling, Class of ’54

- Col. Tom Parsons, Class of ’49

- Col. James R. Woodall, Class of ’50

- Col. Donald L. Burton, Class of ’52

Gamble, Pickavance and House were in charge, respectively, of U.S. Air Force, Navy and Army forces in the Pacific from 1998 to 2000. Together, the three Aggies commanded more than 300,000 military personnel in 43 countries over more than half the globe.

Darling, Parson, Woodall and Burton are the surviving former commandants of the Texas A&M University Corps of Cadets.

"History clearly illustrates the major impact that A&M military graduates have had on our country during peace and war," A&M alum Dennis Goehring said of the former Pacific commanders, who have since retired. "The magnitude of contributions that our military graduates made throughout history is too great to illustrate in any single setting."

Of the former commandants, he added: "This induction to the Legends of Aggieland is only a token of our appreciation for their dedication and leadership in molding our Corps to develop military leadership that truly sets Texas A&M University in the forefront."

The Legends of Aggieland program was started nearly 30 years ago by Dick Hervey and Buck Weirus, former directors of the Association of Former Students, Goehring said.

"They felt it was appropriate to honor people for the sole purpose of giving recognition to some people who did a good job but weren’t in the limelight, so to speak," he said.

Over the years, more than 100 people have been honored as Legends of Aggieland.