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"U.T. Air Raid on Aggie campus"

16,200 Views | 61 Replies | Last: 2 yr ago by aeon-ag
TERRY L
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Dad found this article in his scrapebook tonight he thinks it was from 1947. No idea what newspaper it is from.

"Student Fliers' Bombs Fail to Ignite Bonfire"
A.& M. Men Toss Rocks At Invading Aircraft

Two home-fashioned fire bomb crashed down on the Texas A&M campus at College Station as two University of Texas students staged a one-plane "air raid" on their traditional rivals.
For a few minutes, officials of both schools said today, the encounter took on most of the elements of warfare.
The two students-whose identities were withheld by university authorities-swooped down toward a 40 foot high pile of wood on the Aggie campus in a borrowed Taylor-craft plane at 8:15 a.m. yesterday.

Prelude to Game
The wood had been heaped for a bonfire that was staged last night as a prelude to the University of Texas-Texas A&M football game tomorrow in Austin.
"We just wanted to fire up a little school spirit by touching off the bonfire," one of the "bombardiers" explained to Dean of Men Jack Holland of the university after his return to Austin.
The episode almost ended tragically when the plane ran out of gas on the return trip. The youths crash landed in a field near Austin.
Dean Holland said the fliers pulled in for their bombing runs at about 50 feet.
"They made five passes at the field and dropped two bombs" he related.

Jugs of Gasoline
"The bombs consisted of one-gallon jugs of gasoline with railroad flares stuck in the top."
"They lighted the flares and pitched."
"When the jugs smashed, the flares ignited the the gasoline.

Rock Barrage
"Everytime they flew over the bonfire, they said, a large group of A&M students threw rocks at them.
"They said they were sweating it out."
The "raid" created a major sensation on the Aggie campus. Hundreds of students rushed to the wood pile to defend against the attackers.

Fire Hoses Strung
Fire hoses were strung to extinguish the blazes caused by the bombs.
"Our boys put out the fires without any trouble," Bishop Clements, assistant director of information at A&M told The Press.
"As a matter of fact, neither bomb hit the woodpile. Both landed about 20 feet away.

Use Bomb for Fuel
The young fliers later related that they were preparing to toss a third bomb when they realized they were about to run out of gasoline.
They saved the jug, using it to limp back to Austin after the crash landing.
Dean Holland said he was notified while the "raid" still was in progress.
"We found out that the plane had taken off at the University Airport, a private field near our campus." he said.
"I had the name of one of the boys. I left word there for him to report to me as soon as he got back."

'Poor Judgement'
The boy did-and promptly was suspended temporarily from the university by the faculty disiplinary committee.
"It was just a college prank." Dean Holland explained. "But it showed poor judgment. There is general regret on the part of the student body and faculty of the university that the incident took place."



trueaggie2782
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AG
Good Bull
Karrde
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AG
quote:
"It was just a college prank." Dean Holland explained.


Can you imagine the trouble they'd get in these days? Seems like all the fun has gone out of school rivalries.
Raptor
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quote:
"Everytime they flew over the bonfire, they said, a large group of A&M students threw rocks at them.
"They said they were sweating it out."
The "raid" created a major sensation on the Aggie campus. Hundreds of students rushed to the wood pile to defend against the attackers.



Rocks?

Hell in my day we used potato guns!
PJB C-1NRB
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AG
Wow!!

I heard this story during the Campus Muster this past April but I was told long ago that a few cadets who were cleaning their rifles at the time, heard what was happening and then went to stack. They loaded their rifles and fired at the plane hitting it a couple times. I figured it crash landed somewhere but that was all I could remember from the story.

I was told about this back in 1998 during the Aggie Bonfire by one of the Reds but I could not remember his name. I thought it sounded pretty good.
William_C_G
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AG
I have heard a similar story, but thought that it had occurred in the 1960s or possibly early 1970s. In the version I heard, the Aggie students had shot at the plane and had driven it away. Any chance this sort of thing happened more than once?
Karrde
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AG
http://www.utexas.edu/student/housing/index.php?site=8&scode=0&id=1053&menu=&st_alone=1&no_images=1&print_page=1

This link would place it between 1948 and 1957, to coincide with Holland being Dean of Men. I couldn't find any info on Clements being an info director here.
Karrde
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AG
Actually, '57 is only the date of that particular source. It appears Holland was a Dean through '74. That's a pretty wide range.
Aggie1
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AG
This particular story was around in my fish year of 1961, so it had to be before then... it was the basis on which we all had to have a turn at night time guard duty during the bonfire building process...

AAAAAg
txdawg80
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As I was attempting to google this story, I came across another story about two small schools here in texas, where the plane was actually brought down. I know nothing to do with A&M football, none the less interesting.

quote:
The Airplane Incident

At the height of the Tarleton-North Texas Agriculture College rivalry, frequent raids by opposing students were common. Bonfires were the primary objectives, and as described in the J-TAC newspaper (Tarleton’s school paper), the students were driven by “the desire to cause premature conflagration of the accumulated rubbish.” On Nov. 29, two days before the traditional football game, and in retaliation for the burning of the NTAC bonfire by Tarleton students the night before, an NTAC student and accomplice flew over the Tarleton campus and attempted to bomb the bonfire. In their efforts to repel the air attack, Tarleton students on guard threw various objects at the plane. L.V. Risinger hurled a 2x4 into the air which struck the propeller and disabled the aircraft. The pilot glided over what is now the Hall of Presidents and crash-landed in a clump of trees. While the NTAC student and his buddy were launching the air attack, three truck loads of NTAC students were attempting to invade campus by land. Both the land and air attacks were repulsed. The NTAC students were captured, given a block-T haircut and sent on their way. The Homecoming bonfire has been dedicated to L.V. Risinger, defender of the bonfire, who died in 1994.
MouthBQ98
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AG
That's pretty funny. Imagine what people would do today if someone pulled off a prank like these. There would be all kinds of different "authorities" from out of every bureaucracy and Agency even remotely related to the even and all fighting over camera time in front of the news talking about how the situation best needs to be dealt with, and how to prevent it in the future.....

Talk about crushing the "living" out of life....
lotoarmy
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AG
Lighted flares in what had to be glass jugs (in those days) in an low wing loaded airplane in turbulence near the ground - this couldn't have been too smart. Wonder what ever happened to these guys?

Last of the Old Army<BR>
CanyonAg77
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AG
The pilots were darn lucky they didn't win a "Darwin Award". Three one gallon Molotov Cocktails inside the plane with them? Buzzing the stack? Not flight planning well enough to have fuel for the 2 hour, 180 mile round trip?

Well, they were teasips, so what would you expect?
WBBQ74
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My late father was a junior that fall and remembered/recounted this "event" to me. Seems like when he would tell me this story, gunshots were involved. If this happened today, the kids on both sides would be drawn and quartered....and sued. Good old fashioned pranks used to NOT be a criminal offense. Sad reflection on this litigious society we have descended into. But another good bull story. Gig 'em.

"Recall.....Step off on Hullabaloo..."

[This message has been edited by WBBQ74 (edited 5/21/2007 8:29a).]
Madman
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Good story that sounds look good fun. But of course lawyers put an end to all fun stuff eventually.
wisdom
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AG
I remember hearing this story, and I was under the impression that it took place sometime in the 1950s. Lighting jugs of gasoline and tossing them out??? It is amazing that the sips didn't set their plane on fire.
TERRY L
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Remember guys this is an old (really old) newspaper article. Probably from the Abilene or the Sweetwater paper. There may have been some guns involved and that tidbit was not told to the reporter that wrote the story. It could have been '48, Dad was there when it happened but couldn't remember the exact year .

There have been several attempted air raids during the years. Dad and Mom both remember one around '52 or '53 and the plane crashed killing those onboard.

Enjoy!
Duck Blind
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AG
I worked with an older man in Austin who claims he was the pilot. This was back in the late 90's, and he was in his mid 70's (best guess.) I had no real reason NOT to believe him. He was a retired Colonel from the Marine Corps, had incredible war stories, and the medals on display to prove it.

If anyone else thinks they know this guy, PM me and I'll give you his name.

Gig em.
JazzAg
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well???


who won the game??
TERRY L
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Okay.

Dad just told me that there were guns fired. He said that the vets back from WWII took their guns and went up to the top of the dorms and fired at the plane.
Aggie Infantry
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AG
quote:
Can you imagine the trouble they'd get in these days? Seems like all the fun has gone out of school rivalries.

I remember the steam tunnels, quadding, etc...
BigJim49 AustinNowDallas
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AG
It was probably 48 when we tied Tu in Austin 14-14. I was in school at the time. I know it wasn't 50 or 46.

What most don't know is that we set their bonfire on fire SEVERAL times even though they had guards set up.
lotoarmy
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quote:
He was a retired Colonel from the Marine Corps, had incredible war stories, and the medals on display to prove it.
Sips in the Marines! Now I know you are pulling my leg!


Last of the Old Army<BR>
DecadePlan
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Eff t.u. and their fire-bombing, liberal turbo-props!!!!!!

Their women are loose and their pantiloons are filthy!
CDub06
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AG
That's pretty good stuff.
fossil_ag
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In the November 1952 (my Fish year) a fellow (reported at the time a former Ag) buzzed the Bonfire stack one night close to midnight. He was stationed at Navy Kingsville and flying a Navy version of the T-28 trainer.

Apparently during his dive on the stack he made some mistake on his pullout and pulled more Gs than the airframe could withstand. One droptank was ripped off and landed near the stack which was then located on Simpson Drill Field, then the wings were ripped off and the aircraft crashed at approximately where Olsen Field is now located.

I (and about 1900 other Fish) were rousted out of bed with screams of "T-Sips On Sully!!!" Barefoot and dressed in underwear we converged on the Drill Field and Sully's statue, wild- eyed and ready for battle, armed with treelimbs and whatever else we could pick up on the way. Of course, no one knew a single fact but the sight of that wing tank was enough proof we were being bombed. Some of the kids who had been guarding the stack reported hearing the plane diving in, the "dud-bomb" landing near the stack, followed by the sound of another bomb going off somewhere to the west of the drill field. (1952 was not that far removed from WWII so we had been brought up on war movies ... for a while we were convinced War had come to Texas A&M!)

We milled around for most of the rest of the night and finally went back to our holes ... still ignorant of what had happened. We got the story the next afternoon in the Batt.

Talk of this event died down quickly and the Batt never mentioned it again. I suspect the administration had a policy of keeping the lid on events of this nature to stave off retaliatory attacks on a possible offending campus ... whether guilty or not.
AW 1880
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AG
Good bull.
AgDave95
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AG
fossil_ag

You had me until you said you got the rest of the story from the Batt...then I stopped believing it.
TERRY L
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Okay Dad is saying that something similar happened in '54. He and Mom were living in the married student "barracks". They and neighbors were playing cards when they heard a reved up plane fly by. They ran outside and followed it over to the horse pasture on now West campus where it crashed. Dad and his Buddy were the first ones to get to the crash site. The wings had come off the plane and the flight instructor and the student pilot were both killed. They were both Aggies. The had buzzed bonfire and pulled to many g's pulling up before the crash.
fossil_ag
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AgDave ... Well, sir, the version printed in the Batt the next day was a lot more believable than some of the wild rumors floating around the milling crowd that night. It was well into the next day that word began filtering out that the plane had crashed just off main campus, that it was a military plane and not tea-sip invaders and that the object that hit the drill field was not a bomb.

In those days Fish did not have the luxury of reading daily newspapers or listening to radios in the dorms. Our First Sergeant was the judge of what information was suitable for Fish to know.

Our standard answer to a question from an upperclassman in those days was "Sir, being uninformed to the highest degree of accuracy, I hesitate to articulate for fear I may deviate from the true course of rectitude, Sir. In short, Sir, I am a dumb Fish, Sir, and do not know, Sir."

Thus, we accepted every word printed in the Battalion as gospel ... and a quantum leap in our knowledge with each issue.
Aggie Infantry
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Ahh - the FOUR FISH ANSWERS.

"Yes Sir"
"No Sir"
"No Excuse Sir"
and
"Sir, not being informed..."

Does anyone have the Fish Answer when asked about the time of day? Something to do with the alignment of the planets, phase of the moon, etc...
aeon-ag
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U.T.? univeristy of tennesse is a long way to fly a small plane!
AgKJ
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quote:
it was a military plane and not tea-sip invaders


Whew! Thank goodness it was just the German or the Japs, and not 'sips!
Unrelated Picture Guy
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PJYoung
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