JAG and it's character's don't belong to me. I'm only playing in Mr. Bellisario's world. Any characters NOT taken directly from JAG or making cameo appearances from other televison shows DO belong to me.
A/N: Thoughts are in *'s
Even though I know the gist of the storied told here-in, I confess to copying them right off the TAMU homepage so that no detail get lost in the re-telling. I also swiped the info about the human scoreboard from the only other person I've seen on this list who writes A&M/JAG fanfic. I certainly believe it, but it's been too long since I was back to have actually seen it. My husband (class of '82) says it would have to have been a freshman!
Chapter 5
Kate sat back and smiled as Harm took over flying the plane. It was like reading her kids. For all Harm said, there were a hundred things he didn't. And if you were used to squeezing the truth out of teenagers and pre-teens he wasn't hard to read. She just needed to figure out how to mobilize the two of them. God knows they weren't going to do it on their own.
Kate took the controls back for landing at Easterwood Airport despite Harm's protest. After they had parked the plane at the hangar and unloaded their bags Kate sighed. "We can pick up the rental car and I'll run you over to the Hilton. If you don't mind, I'd like to get a shower and then we can find somewhere to grab a sandwich. It's..." she checked her watch, "it's almost 9 so maybe we can find a great Mexican place still open."
"I hate to sound out-dated here, but what are we going to do about the room?" Harm asked.
"No problem. After we eat and go to midnight yell I'll run you back to the Hilton and I can sack out in the plane." Kate shrugged.
"That's not fair - you were the one who had plans for this - I'm just tagging along. I can sleep in the plane-" Kate cut him off.
" I keep a couple of sleeping bags stuffed in the back for these kind of occasions. I rarely need them, but it's nice to have when you do. It's not a problem at all."
" What kind of occasions are you talking about?" Harm was confused.
Kate took a deep breath and explained. "We did have them in here in the event of a crash, morbid as that sounds. But I actually needed them on September 11th." She watched the wheels spin in Harm's mind. "I was supposed to go to a meeting in San Diego to see about breeding our Siberian tiger to one of their males. We were going to ship one to DC for a couple of months but their vet wouldn't hear of it without a personal meeting. I flew out about7 that morning and was about 2 hours into the flight when IT happened. They grounded all of the planes and I was stuck in Missouri. Because of all the stranded travelers I didn't have any luck finding a hotel so I just stayed in the plane."
"It was lucky you were able to do that." Even though he was a pilot, he realized that he had never thought much about all of the people who were on the grounded planes that day. He was a little ashamed that it hadn't occurred to him. He also realized he had just lost the discussion. "It doesn't bother you to stay here alone?" He had to ask.
"Not at all. Now let's go check you in and find some FOOD!"
*****************************************************************************
"Wow! That was great - that's one thing I miss about Texas. You just don't get good Mexican food anywhere else." They were leaving Los Cucos after eating more than either one of them thought possible. Kate would have gone back to the plane and gone to sleep, but she wanted to show Harm what A&M was all about. "Let's go park on campus and we can walk around before yell. Maybe I can walk some of dinner off!"
Harm watched her with amusement. She acted, and almost looked, like she was still a college student. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail and she seemed to be wearing the typical clothing - jeans, boots and an Aggie t-shirt.
When they got out of the car on the A&M campus, Kate held her hands in the air and spun in circles. "Welcome to Aggieland!" she stopped spinning and grinned. "I'm Kate your tour guide so if you'll follow me the grand tour will begin."
She pointed off to her right. "That is the Wiesenbaker engineering building. Straight ahead is the Administration building." They walked out of the parking lot towards the Admin Building. Harm admired the front of the stately building, with it's impressive steps and the towering columns. When they walked to the back of the building to make their way across campus Kate continued the "tour". "Here on the right is the Architecture building and across the field is the Animal Industries building." Kate smiled. "Rumor has it that one is haunted."
As they crossed the street, Kate pointed out the Sterling C. Evans library, the Education building, and the Academic building. She steered Harm around to the front of the Academic building and pointed out the Drill Field and the Memorial Student Center. They sat down on a bench at the fountain between the MSC and Rudder Tower. Kate paused for a moment to gather her thoughts. "I've shown you a portion of the campus, but that's not what being an Aggie means. Being here is about the traditions... of Muster and Silver Taps, Reville and Senior Boots, Elephant Walk and Ring Dance. And Midnight Yell!" Kate smiled. Let me tell you the story and then we can head over to the Stadium.
"Yell Practice began as a post dinner activity in 1913, when different corps companies
would gather together to "learn heartily the old time pep." It was not until 1931, that Yell
Practice as it is known today, was held before the t.u. (A/N: University of Texas) game. It
began, when a group of cadets were gathered in Peanut Owen's dorm room in Puryear
Hall. Someone suggested that all of the freshmen should fall out and meet on the steps of
the YMCA building at midnight. The cadets notified senior yell leaders Horsefly
Berryhill and Two Gun Herman from Sherman, who could not authorize it, but said that
they may just show up. Needless to say, the word spread quickly, and when the freshmen
began to arrive, there were railroad flares and torpedoes stuck in flower pots around the
YMCA building to light the area. The first Midnight Yell had begun!!!
Today, Midnight Yell is held the night before a home game in Kyle Field and at the
Grove on Thursday nights before away games. Also for away games, a site is designated
for a Midnight Yell in the city of our opponent on the night before the game. For
example, for the t.u. game, it is held at the Texas Capitol in Austin. For a yell at Kyle
Field, yell leaders lead the Fightin' Texas Aggie Band and the Twelfth Man into the
stadium. The yell leaders lead the crowd in old army yells, the singing of the fight song,
and tell fables of how the Aggies are going to beat the everlivin' hell out of our opponent
for the next day. Lastly, the lights go out, and Aggies kiss their dates. If they don't have a
date, all they have to do is flick their Bicks. As the story goes, the flames make it easier
for two dateless people to find each other, and maybe they won't be dateless anymore!
Harm smiled - she was excited about being back. He wondered why he never got this excited about going back to his alma mater. Maybe it was because he lived close enough to do it anytime he wanted to. Or maybe there was something more to this place than meets the eye. Kate and Harm stood up and walked tot he from of the Student Center. There were students coming from all direction and they seemed to be heading toward... was THAT the football field? It was big enough to be a NFL stadium.
When they had found places in the stands, Harm looked around with awe. This place was huge. He had, in fact, seen a couple of A&M games on television, but it wasn't quite the same as being here. Belatedly, he realized that Kate was still talking to him. Something about a dog named Reville?
"...She is the highest ranking member of the Corps of Cadets, and she is a Five-Star General.
Reveille I came to Texas A&M in January 1931. A group of cadets hit a small black and
white dog on their way back from Navasota. They picked up the dog and brought her
back to school so they could care for her. The next morning, when "Reveille" was blown
by a bugler, she started barking. She was named after this morning wakeup call. The
following football season she was named the official mascot when she led the band onto
the field during their half-time performance. When Reveille I died on January 18, 1944,
she was given a formal military funeral on the gridiron of Kyle Field. She was then buried
at the north entrance to the field, as all Reveilles are, facing the scoreboard so that she can
always watch the Aggies outscore their opponent.
Before naming Reveille II, there were several other unofficial mascots, such as Tripod,
Spot, and Ranger. It was not until a later Reveille that she was a full-blood Collie. The
most current Reveille is Reveille VII.
Reveille is the most revered dog on campus. Company E-2 has the privilege of taking
care of Reveille. If she is sleeping on a cadet's bed, that cadet must sleep on the floor.
Cadets address Reveille as "Miss Rev, ma'am." If she is in class and barks while the
professor is teaching, the class is to be immediately dismissed."
"You're kidding, right?" Harm was having a hard time swallowing this one. It had to be one of those tall Texas tales.
"This will really blow your socks off. If you missed the cemetery on the way in, all of the deceased Reville's are buried together at the North end of the stadium. When they built The Zone - this section of the end zone here - they installed a miniature score board on the outside of the stadium so Reville could still see the score." she smiled and paused to let that sink in. Harm still wasn't looking convinced.
"Before they got the addition finished and the scoreboard up, one of the cadets had to stand out there during games and hold scorecards." Kate waited.
"Now I know you're yanking my chain." Harm wasn't about to believe that any school would go that far for a mascot.
"Just ask around if you don't believe me." Kate sat back and waited. She didn't have to wait long. A student in the Corps of Cadets leaned forward.
"She's tellin' the absolute truth. Miss Rev is to Texas A&M what Laura Bush is to the White House."
There wasn't time for more conversation. Yell practice began with band playing the Aggie Fight Song. Harm listened to the speeches, watched the male yell leaders - **whatever happened to cheerleaders?** He wondered - learned the signs to pass the yell back in the stands. Heard tales about "Hank the Good Ag" - somehow he was beginning to get into all of this hokey stuff. It was actually fun. And then the lights went out.
At the same time he looked around to see what was wrong, it occurred to Harm that he hadn't
paid all that much attention to Kate's story about Yell Practice. Before he could form a complete
thought, he felt her hand on the back of his neck pulling his head down. When they came up
gasping for air all he could do was stare at her. Kate smiled and patted his arm. "You'd better be
glad you belong to Sarah. Otherwise I doubt I'd be sleeping in the plane." Then she turned and
walked toward the exit.
