Dear fellow Aggies,
Each November constant reminders surface of what unfolded 17 years ago this morning when Aggie Bonfire collapsed around and on top of me. I typically go out to the polo fields where the disaster happened. There, we remember the 12 whose lives were lost when the massive pile of logs – 2 million pounds worth - crashed to the ground without notice. I know those 12 names well, and I know I easily could have been the 13th name on that list.
It's hard to the find words to describe what bonfire meant to those of us who participated in it on campus. It goes deeper than a burning desire to beat t.u. at a football game because we are rivals.
It took a certain grit of character to build bonfire. It wasn't for everyone. Most would try a weekend, find it wasn’t for them and quit. But the people who kept coming back - I'll always remember them. It was grueling work. It was dirty, painful and sweaty work with a select few who were still right there doing it with you again and again to accomplish the task.

John Comstock and Michelle Munguia
I'm not exactly sure what kept us coming back: The hard work? Was it the camaraderie of being together in our struggle? Maybe just being part of something great. Regardless of the reasons, we loved it. It didn't matter where you were from or your background: Could you handle the test and come back again? The ones that could were the people you knew you could count on because like you, they weren't giving up. They would roll up their sleeves and be building the hell right beside you.
We always took great pride knowing that while about 5,000 built it, 70,000 were going to watch it burn. There was a certain unity even in our diversity as people. We had a core strength despite our personal weaknesses. There was a spirit in all of us that couldn't be explained, it could only be shown.
On that tragic overnight shift, we lost 12 great Aggies who had that spirit. It's difficult for those of us that survived to talk about. We are well aware of what we lost that night. I am reminded every day when I get up in the morning and get in my wheelchair. I'm sure the parents who lost their children are reminded daily. And, just like every year, the university is reminded of the tradition and Aggies we lost that day.
But anybody who participated in bonfire understands the spirit that continues on and that despite sadness, tragedy and loss, there’s an undying spirit that pushes on together. We share even in our mourning and continue fighting together. We come together, recite their names, remember who they were and what they died for.

Michelle Munguia and John Comstock
While I can't speak for the dead, I can say I know they were doing something they loved and believed in. They were building something together that was greater than themselves. And they were not going to quit just because the work was difficult.
This is the spirit it took to build bonfire.
And if you begin to understand that, you will know why it still continues today in its off-campus form. You will begin to understand what bonfire means to those who built it. And you will begin to understand why “We Remember.”
Bonfire

Bonfire

A trio of cadets link up as they listen to officials during a late-afternoon meeting inside the perimeter of Bonfire Thursday afternoon. Eleven student died when the 40-foot stack of logs collapsed early Thursday morning. (Bryan-College Station Eagle, Dave McDermand)
Bonfire

Barbara Clinkscales stands arm-in-arm with Texas A&M student Justin Boswell outside the perimeter of the Bonfire site Friday afternoon. Clinkscales' son, David Clinkscales, was close friends with Jeremy Frampton, who was killed in the accident.
Bonfire

A stream of visitors file by the shrine to Bonfire victims that formed around the flagpole of the Systems building on the A&M campus.
Bonfire

Bonfire

Bonfire

Dusty Davis of College Station is comforted by Neva Hand, mother of Bonfire victim Jamie Lynn Hand, at the Bonfire Memorial. Davis is a former boyfriend of Jamie. Jamie and Dusty had broken up several weeks before the Bonfire collapse.
Bonfire

Visitors to the Bonfire Memorial are silhouetted against "The Last Corps Trip" engraved on an entrance wall to the Bonfire Memorial.
Bonfire

Kenny and Carolyn Adams of Santa Fe, Texas, say the going to Texas A&M home football games keeps them closer to the school their daughter, 19-year old Miranda Denise, attended. Miranda was one of the 12 Aggies who died in the 1999 Bonfire collapse. butch foto
Bonfire

Bonfire

Bonfire

Jason Gonzales and Benita Villanueva of Houston read the inscription inside Jamie Lynn Hand's portal.
Bonfire

Jan Hoelscher catches a pass form her grandson Caleb Hoelscher, 10, both of Conroe, in 2012 at the Bonfire Memorial site. The Hoelschers are related to Bonfire victim Lucas John Kimmel.
Bonfire

Bonfire

A cadet's shadow falls across the writing on Lucas John Kimmel's portal.
Bonfire

Cadets from Company A-1 observe a time of silence at the site of the centerpole at the Bonfire Memorial.
Bonfire

Bonfire

Thousands of candles light the south side of the Bonfire perimeter Thursday November 25, 1999 in College Station, during a candle light memorial for the 12 students who died last week when the 40-foot Bonfire collapsed during construction.
Bonfire

This is a photo of Jeff Whiting's Aggie ring he left in front of the flagpole of the Systems building on the A&M campus Friday. It was part of a shrine that grew there through the day. Butch Ireland took the photo.
Bonfire

Bonfire

Bonfire

Texas A&M Unversity students huddle in front of a bonfire on Tuesday, Nov. 26, 1996, in College Station, Texas. At a university steeped in tradition, the burning of bonfire on the night before the annual football game against archrival Texas remains the most hallowed ritual at Texas A&M. But since the stack of more than 5,000 logs collapsed on Nov. 18, 1999, killing 12 Aggies and injuring 27 others, the 90-year-old tradition has been on hold and its future remains in doubt.
Bonfire

Bonfire

Bonfire

Texas A&M student John Comstock, who lost a leg in addition to suffering other injuries sustained in the collapse of the Texas A&M Bonfire in November, '99, is transported from the College Station Medical Center to an ambulance bound for Dallas Tuesday morning. His mother, Dixie Edwards, can be seen in the background wearing a white shirt. Comstock was transported to the Zale Lipshy University Hospital's rehabilitaion unit at Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas after spending 83 days at the College Station hospital, most of that in Critical condition. ( photo by Dave McDermand, Bryan-College Station Eagle ) 2000
Bonfire

Bonfire

Grace Bible Church member Jo Jo Coyle comforts A&M student Sarah Fleming after Sunday services. butch foto
Bonfire

Bonfire

Jon Rigelsky, a sophomore cadet who knew 6 of the victims who died, brought flowers to the site.
Bonfire

Texas A&M freshman cadet Dominic Braus, 19, makes his way through the front entrance of the College Station Medical Center Thursday after being released. See Kirsh story for details.
Bonfire

21-year-old Chip Theil, a senior cadet at Texas A&M University, faces reporters outside St. Joseph Regional Medical Center Thursday afternoon after being released. He was treated injuries he suffered from the collapse of the school bonfire that killed 12 of his peers. He remains in support of Bonfire. "I love that Bonfire. I'll be out there building it next year just like I was this year," he said.
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Texas A&M University sophomore Erin Delcarson holds up her pot as she prays during a vigil held on the campus of Texas A&M University Thursday afternoon. The students gathered for the memorial while rescue workers continued working at the Bonfire site after the 40-foot stack of logs crumbled just before 2:30 a.m. Thursday.
Bonfire

Aggies walk arm-in-arm in the traditional Bonfire way as they leave the Bonfire site in November, 2014.
Bonfire

Bonfire

A lone cadet casts a shadow during the lighting part of the memorial.
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Bonfire

Bonfire

People mill around the perimeter of the Bonfire collapse.
Bonfire

Bonfire

Bonfire

An artist's rendering of a proposed design for the Aggie Bonfire Memorial is projected on a screen for viewing by the general public Sunday at the Memorial Student Center on the A&M campus. The design, by Overland Partners Inc. of San Antonio, is one of 4 finalists for the memorial design.
Bonfire

Literally hundreds of state and national media crashed the bonfire site by early afternoon.
Bonfire

The 1994 Texas Aggie Bonfire is shown here in a file photo taken after the giant structure shifted and started to lean. It was torn down and rebuilt in time to light the night before Texas A&M took on the University of Texas football team, as has been the tradition for decades. ( photo by Bill Meeks, Bryan-College Station Eagle ) 1999
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Bonfire

Police pull back a sheet and allow a hearse to leave after a victim's body was loaded into the vehicle Thursday afternoon.
Bonfire

Bonfire

Bonfire

Bonfire

Mourners visit the site of the Bonfire catastrophy Monday, Nov.22, where 12 crosses have been place in honor of 12 who died as a result of the structure's collapse last Friday. ( photo by Dave McDermand, Bryan-College Station Eagle ) 1999
Bonfire

Bonfire

Workers remove a memorial cross from its place at Bonfire.
Bonfire

Bonfire

Bonfire

A piece of the broken center pole is hauled off the scattered stack at the bonfire site Thursday afternoon.
Bonfire

Bonfire

Former Texas A&M students Lyle Lovett and Robert Earl Keen share the stage in front of thousands of fans at Texas A&M's Reed Arena Sunday night. They joined forces to put on a benefit for the families of the victims of the schools bonfire collapse, which killed 12 and injured over two dozen students in November of 1999. They hope to raise upward of $100,000.
Bonfire

Carloyn Adams wears a pin with her daughter's picture. butch foto
Christopher David Breen

The image of Christopher David Breen, class of '96, is one of 12 bronze portals at the Bonfire Memorial, each bearing the image and name of those killed in the Bonfire Tragedy.
(2) comments
How can I send a personal message to John. Thank you :)
Well said John. Take the word of an old Class of '62 mate, Bonfire wasn't for the weak. As our traditions are watered down and many are simply forgotten, Bonfire lives today in our hearts and always will. Some here see $$$ lurking at every corner of our campus seeking to change things like Spence Park into a lake so tailgate sites can be rented out on game days - do not be fooled, this is just another power grab. I wonder what size donation the 12th Man Foundation will want for lake-naming privileges???
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