I want to Set the Record Straight

Hello, and welcome to the next edition of my blog. Today I’d like to talk a bit about the Corp of Cadets at Texas A&M s as portrayed in Enduring Pride.

I’ve had several readers comment that after reading the book, they wouldn’t want their son or daughter signing up to join the Corps. But let me assure you that the story version just vaguely resembles the actual organization. I took many liberties in writing the book in an effort to further the storyline, and while there are many accuracies, there are also many fictional creations.

My four years in the Corps were the best, most rewarding years of my life. I made lifelong friendships that exist to this day, almost 40 years later. I learned the importance of structure and discipline to a successful and rewarding life. I learned to lead by first learning how to follow. And perhaps most importantly of all, I learned that sticking together far outweighs going it alone.

I’m confident that if you were to ask any former cadet, you would get the same response from them.

I would strongly urge anyone with even a casual interest to at least consider the Corps. It won’t be easy, but then, nothing worth attaining ever is. The rewards will last a lifetime. And when you look back on your time in the Corps, you’ll wonder why you ever considered anything else.

Please don’t let the fictionalized creation in my story sway your decision. And know this:

Some may boast of prowess bold,

Of the schools they think so grand.

But there’s a spirit can ne’er be told.

It’s the spirit of Aggieland.

These lyrics from the school’s alma mater, “The Spirit of Aggieland,” were written by Marvin Mimms as a poem while he was a student in 1925 and put to music by Richard J. Dunn, the director of the Fightin’ Texas Aggie Band at the time. They refer to a spirit that forms within every student at Texas A&M and that stays with them the rest of their lives. The Corps of Corps in the keeper of that spirit, fostering its growth in the student body and nourishing its existence in all former students.

Check it out!

I hope you enjoy Enduring Pride, but please remember… it’s fiction.

Thanks and happy reading.