"Aggies by the Sea" tells the story of Texas A&M University at Galveston, an unusual educational institution that began operation in 1962 as a maritime academy with only twenty-three students and now enrolls more than 1600 undergraduates studying the sciences, technology, business, and cultural aspects of the sea. Filled with lively anecdotes, reminiscences, and biographical sidebars, this lavishly illustrated book presents history with a bounce.

Starting its life as an attack transport in World War II—and one of the last five left afloat by war’s end—the USS Queens saw action at Iwo Jima and other hot spots in the Pacific theater. After the war, the ship became the SS Excambion, one of the “Four Aces” of American Export Lines: the only fully air-conditioned ships in the world at the time. In 1965, the versatile Excambion underwent yet another transformation—into a floating classroom. Recommissioned as the USTS Texas Clipper, the ship began a third life as a merchant marine training vessel with its home port in Galveston. For the next three decades the Texas Clipper would be home to merchant marine cadets, and by the time it was retired in 1996, it was the oldest active ship in the U.S. merchant marine fleet. Finally, the Texas Clipper, after protracted bureaucratic wrangling, was designated to be sunk in the Gulf of Mexico as an artificial reef to provide habitat for marine life. In 2007, the ship was towed to its final resting place, seventeen nautical miles off the coast of South Padre Island. Now, 136 feet below the surface, the venerable Texas Clipper lives on as the home to a wide variety of underwater species. Filled not only with meticulously researched technical and historical data about the ship’s construction, service record, crew procedures, and voyages, The Ship That Would Not Die also features lively anecdotes from crew members, passengers, and officers. More than 140 color and black-and-white photos illustrate the ship’s construction, its wide variety of shipboard life, the exacting process of making the Texas Clipper ready to become an artificial reef, and its final sinking in the Gulf of Mexico.

When their country calls, Texas Aggies go to war. From the Spanish-American War and World War I to Operation Iraqi Freedom, Aggies have been in the forefront of America’s armed forces, producing more officers than any other school outside the service academies. More than 20,000 Texas Aggies served in World War II, for instance, including more than 14,000 as commissioned officers. Trained in leadership and the knowledge required for warfare, Aggies have served with distinction in all branches of the military service. In this first-ever compilation of the impressive war record of Texas Aggies, stories of individual soldiers, airmen, sailors, and marines are displayed with an abundance of statistics, maps, and tables. These narratives include • First-person accounts of Aggie heroism in battle in all the wars in which A&M former students have fought; • The horrific experiences of some of the eighty-seven Aggies who were stationed at Corregidor and Bataan; • The perils of five Aggies who participated in the raid over Tokyo with Jimmie Doolittle; • The heroics of the seven Medal of Honor recipients from Texas A&M during World War II; • James Earl Rudder’s leadership of the Ranger assault at Normandy on D-Day; • Examples of vigorous support and devotion to duty given by Aggies in Korea, Vietnam, and the Middle East. Texas Aggies Go to War celebrates the school’s distinctive Corps of Cadets and its military contributions while honoring the individual sacrifices of its members. Those who fought and those who remember them will find here a comprehensive account of the distinguished war record of this school. This book was initiated and sponsored by a group of former students who provided funding through the Texas A&M Foundation. All proceeds from the book will be used to benefit the Texas A&M Corps of Cadets.

A collection of articles forming a handbook of information on Metropolitan Universities, their unique mission and characteristics. It addresses the questions and concerns of faculty, students, administrators, state educational policy makers, and mayors or city managers, all of whom are involved in institutions located in or near the urban center of a metropolitan area. Johnson and Bell collected articles forming a handbook of information on metropolitan universities and their unique mission and characteristics. It addresses the questions and concerns of faculty, students, administrators, state educational policy makers, and mayors or city managers, all of whom are involved in institutions located in or near the urban center of a metropolitan area.

The Grand Battle begins with the search for allies in the Northern Kindoms and ends in The Burning that will change all Owldom forever.Soren and his band are sent to the mysterious Northern Kingdoms to gather allies and learn the art of war in preparation for the coming cataclysmic battle against the sinister Pure Ones. Meanwhile, in the Southern Kingdoms, St. Aggies has fallen to the Pure Ones and they are using its resources to plan a final invasion of The Great Ga'Hoole Tree. With the future of all Owldom in the balance, the parliament of Ga'Hoole must decide whether or not to join forces with the brutal Skench and Sporn and the scattered remnants of St. Aggies who remain faithful to them. A great battle is on the

This expanded edition of Texas A&M University: A Pictorial History gives a panoramic view of Texas A&M, from its infancy as a college with forty-eight agricultural and mechanical (engineering) students to today's diverse campus of more than forty thousand students. Captured in full-color photographs are the modern university, its buildings, its far-reaching programs, and its students. The book is also a gallery of Aggie greats—on the battlefields of five wars; on the athletic fields; in industry, agriculture, science, and civic leadership. Historical photos show visits by Presidents William H. Taft, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and George H. W. Bush; preparations for military actions of World Wars I and II; the 1939 national championship football team; and the campus filming of the 1943 World War II movie We've Never Been Licked. From the first day of classes, the A&M College of Texas encountered successes and setbacks that would provide valuable lessons, established traditions that would shape the university and its students, and began its transformation from a frontier educational community to one of the nation's largest and most active teaching and research institutions. Gov. Richard Coke's admonition of October 4, 1876, has governed the school's growth: "Grave responsibilities rest upon you. The excellence of the college will be determined by your progress." As new frontiers beckoned, A&M accepted the challenges—excelling not only in agriculture and engineering but also the sciences, medicine, education, and research relating to space and the sea. A&M's military program received national recognition for providing military leaders during the Spanish-American War, the two world wars, and subsequent conflicts. With growth have come a more diverse student body, administrative reorganizations, and expanded educational programs.

From its inception, graduates of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas, now Texas A&M University, have marched off to fight in every conflict in which the United States has been involved. The Vietnam War was no different. The Corps of Cadets produced more officers for the conflict in Southeast Asia than any institution other than the US service academies. Michael Lee Lanning, Texas A&M University class of 1968, has now gathered over three dozen recollections from those who served. As Lanning points out, “anytime Aggie Vietnam veterans get together—whether it is two or two hundred of them—war stories begin.” The tales they relate about the paddies, the jungles, the highlands, the waterways, and the airways provide these veterans with an even greater understanding of the war they survived. They also allow glimpses into the frequent dangers of firefights, the camaraderie of patrol, and often humorous responses to inexplicable situations. These revelations provide insight not only into the realities of war but also speak to the character of the graduates of Texas A&M University. As Lanning concludes, “these war stories are as much a part of service as is that old green duffle bag, a few rows of colorful ribbons, and a pride that does not diminish. In reality, there is only one story about the Vietnam War. We all just tell it differently.”