Remembering the victims of the Texas A&M bonfire collapse 20 years ago

COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Hundreds of people, including cadets in full uniform, lined the Spirit Wall of Texas A&M’s Bonfire Memorial in the pre-dawn hours of Monday morning.

Their candles provided the only light falling on the field where the 1999 bonfire collapse claimed 12 lives and injured 27 others.

President Michael Young spoke, and attendees sung “The Spirit of Aggieland” during the remembrance ceremony which started at 2:42 a.m., the approximate time the collapse happened.

Many students in attendance were too young to remember the collapse but demonstrated through their presence that they are old enough to understand the importance of honoring those lost. 

But David Morefield from A&M’s class of 2000 witnessed the tragedy firsthand.

He says several of his bandmates did not come out to the 1999 bonfire; they were ineligible because of their grades.

But Morefield never got the message to stay home, and ended up watching seven of his friends get killed. 

“Everybody has come up and started to talk to me about it because it’s the 20th anniversary,” he says. “I’ve had no choice but to confront it, so I decided to come out here this year.”

During the ceremony, all 12 names of those lost were called out, with the audience responding “here” after each one. 

John Comstock, an unexpected survivor, was the last pulled from the rubble after the collapse.

“I was on top of the third tier when the whole structure swayed and the whole thing went down,” he says.

He was pinned underneath and was dubbed “the 13th man” when officials didn’t expect him to survive.

But he did hear words of encouragement during the seven and a half hours of being trapped. 

“I had a log come across my waist, and I had a log on my head as well,” recalls Comstock.

The documentary “The 13th Man,” released in early November, is based on his experience which he hopes helps others heal from the tragedy. Still, some want people to learn from what happened.

The bonfire was being constructed as part of an Aggie tradition ahead of the annual rivalry game against the University of Texas. It’s a tradition that Morefield says belongs in the past.

“I’m kind of glad to see that it’s not continued at the university,” he says. “Students are going to do what they’re going to do, but after being out here for what happened I would prefer to keep the memory of my friends and why they loved it, and let it go.” 

Like many at the ceremony, he’s taking comfort in remembering without expecting his 20-year-old wounds to heal. 

Although, some students reportedly continue to hold small-scale bonfires, Texas A&M has replaced the tradition with acts of service.

BUILD, a student organization, converts shipping containers into mobile medical clinics, naming the worldwide centers after those who died in the collapse.

Over the past two decades, the student-run Aggie Replant, has planted well over 52,000 trees and pine seedlings in Texas.