Step off....on....Hullabaloo....

Flying home last week took us through Cincinnati, where we had an unexpected brush with celebrity. Did that come across as blase' and cosmopolitan? Because I was kind of a blushing, fawning mess at the time. I am just a sucker for a man in uniform. Except, I guess, technically these guys were traveling incognito. But I made them the second I saw them. They were Aggies. What surprised me was that Will looked up and made them just as quickly as I did. "Betcha those guys are Aggies," he commented. Sure enough, when they walked past us, they all had on Aggie T-shirts. Takes one to know one, I guess.

I knew my dad (class of '68) would want me to go introduce myself, so that's what I did.
Turns out, they were all in the Fightin' Texas Aggie Band. Be still my heart! My mom has been in love with the Aggie band since 1967 for a really, really long time. They were flying into DC to participate in the retirement ceremony of the Air Force Chief of Staff, General T. Michael Moseley, who graduated from Texas A&M in 1971. How cool is that?

Here's a little video clip of them I found on the AirForce news:




And here they are in all their booted, uniformed glory. (Hey wait--they're all sporting new haircuts since I last saw them. Well, that makes sense.)

Can you imagine sawin' horns with a 4-star??!
Will thought they were the coolest guys on the planet after we spoke to them, but he was even more impressed to see these pictures. "Can I be in the band when I get to A&M?"

Oh, yeah, baby!


(My apologies to any readers I may have who DIDN'T cut their teeth on Aggie terminology. Just before the Aggie Band takes the field during a home football game, the announcer (in unison with everyone in the stands) says, "Now forming at the north end of Kyle Field, the nationally famous Fightin' Texas Aggie Band." Those with the privilege of doing so, whoop and those without the privilege cheer. Then there is silence and you can hear the head drum major shout, "Recall! Step off on Hullabaloo!" Hullabaloo is the first word of the Aggie War Hymn. Oh, my, I am feeling SO nostalgic right now. If you ever get a chance to see the Band perform--especially in Kyle Field--do it!! It really is absolutely wonderful.)