A crowd of about 50,000 people gathered Thursday on the campus of Texas A&M University for the dedication of a memorial to the 12 Aggies who died in the 1999 collapse of the A&M bonfire log-pile.

Gov. Rick Perry was among the speakers who remembered the tragedy and lauded the university for its resilience and spirit.

"I hope a great many come to these grounds and, in the stillness of this place, reflect on the tremendous loss that occurred here that November day," Perry said, "but I hope that they do something more: I hope that as they peer into the portals, they get a glimpse of the soul of Aggieland, a special place of indomitable spirit, of indomitable character, inseparable bonds, enduring goodness and a unique experience."

"Through the ages, the Aggie Spirit has been radiant in times of triumph and joy and refined during the tragic. It is a spirit that is evident in all times and in all ways," he said.

Jerry Ebanks lost his son Michael Stephen Ebanks in the collapse.

He spoke to the crowd of the support he and his family received in the wake of the tragedy.

"The beauty of these 12 [people], combined with the love and support and caring that has been bestowed on all of us, should convince you that God still has created a beautiful world," Ebanks said.

"Indeed the depth of this love and support has been at once both greatly uplifting and very, very humbling," he told the crowd.

Chip Thiel was one of the students who was injured in the collapse.

He spoke Thursday of his favorite memories of bonfire and urged the crowd never to forget the tradition.

"I am proud to be an Aggie united by bonfire,” he said.

A&M dismissed classes early Thursday so students could attend the ceremony.

Most of the thousands of undergraduate students on the tradition-rich Texas A&M University campus were still in high school when the A&M bonfire log-pile collapsed.

But on that day in 1999, they and most Texans were Aggies in spirit.

Simmering sports rivalries dissolved in an instant as word of the tragedy spread across the state and Texans waited anxiously for word from the scene as rescuers worked frantically to free the survivors--and later to recover the dead.

Eleven students and one former student died in the collapse. Twenty-seven other students were injured.

The Bonfire Memorial occupies the grassy field where the students were hard at work on the towering log stack when the disaster struck early in the morning of Nov. 18, 1999.

The dedication of the $5 million granite and bronze memorial came 5 years to the day after the collapse.

Click Here For More Information On Texas A&M Bonfire Memorial

The hometowns of the 12 victims figure prominently in the design of the memorial, which includes twelve 16-foot-tall granite portals, each of which honors one of the young men and women who died in the collapse.

The portals are arranged in a circle, called the Spirit Ring, and each points toward the hometown of the Aggie it honors.

Within the portals are bronze portraits of each of the victims and inscriptions providing information about their lives.

“When visitors walk through the portals, they will be completing the circle broken by the deaths of 12 Aggies in the early-morning accident almost five years ago,” said A&M Assistant Vice President for
Student Affairs Wynn Rosser, who serves as co-chairman of the
Bonfire Memorial Committee.

An investigation ordered in the wake of the collapse determined that both structural and organizational failures led to the tragedy.

The final report on the collapse said the stack was poorly constructed by students without sufficient engineering expertise and without adequate university supervision.

Click Here For More Information On 1999 Bonfire Collapse

The collapse snuffed out an 89-year A&M tradition.

Click Here For More On A&M Traditions

In the wake of the tragedy, A&M officials declared a two–year moratorium on the traditional bonfire.

Later they said another on-campus bonfire would not be held until lawsuits filed over the collapse had been resolved.

Students determined to keep the tradition alive have organized off-campus bonfires.

Click Here For Unofficial Bonfire Web Site

This year’s unofficial bonfire rally begins at 8 p.m. Saturday.

BONFIRE VICTIMS
(Source: Associated Press)

KILLED:
Miranda Adams, age 19, sophomore biomedical sciences major, Santa Fe
Click Here For More
Christopher Breen, 25, 1997 A&M graduate, Austin
Click Here For More
Michael Ebanks, 19, freshman aerospace studies major, Carrollton
Click Here For More
Jeremy Frampton, 22, senior psychology major, Turlock, California
Click Here For More
Jamie Hand, 19, freshman environmental design major, Henderson
Click Here For More
Christopher Lee Heard, 19, freshman, pre-engineering major, Houston
Click Here For More
Tim Kerlee Jr., freshman, 17, Germantown, Tenn.
Click Here For More
Lucas Kimmel, 19, freshman, biomedical science major, Corpus Christi
Click Here For More
Bryan McClain, 19, freshman agriculture major, San Antonio
Click Here For More
Chad Powell, 19, sophomore computer engineering major, Keller
Click Here For More
Jerry Self, 20, sophomore engineering technology major, Arlington
Click Here For More
Nathan Scott West, 19, sophomore oceanography major, Bellaire
Click Here For More

INJURED
Nate Atkinson, Fort Worth
Dominic Braus, Hallettsville
Jennifer Calaway, Houston
John Comstock, Richardson
William Davis, Bellaire
Clayton Frady, Texarkana, Texas
Leslie Graham, Corpus Christi
Will Harlan, Midland
Lanny Hayes, Monahans
Britt Henley, Beaumont
Caleb Hill, Crockett
Chad Hutchinson, Houston
Jody Jacobs, Hondo
Paul "Alex" Jones, Marshall
Brandon Allen Jozwiak, Houston
John Kramer, Cedar Park
William Lyckman, Fritch
Amy McLeod, Lubbock
Mandy Nakai, Milpitas, California
Matthew Robbins, Pharr
Holly Rotenberry, Houston
Lauren Scanlan, Rockport
Milton "Chip" Thiel, Livingston
Bruce Unger, Fort Worth
J.J. Washam, Dallas
Derrek Woodley, Georgetown
Jeremy Woorley, Spring

MEMORIAL FEATURES:
(Source: Texas A&M University)
Tradition Plaza marks the entrance to the memorial and reflects on the activities that bring Aggies together. Spirit Wall greets visitors with a quote from “The Spirit of Aggieland” and separates the outer world from the quiet experience of the memorial, while the Last Corps Trip Wall recites the poem traditionally read prior to the lighting of Bonfire each year. At the end of the plaza, in the shade of two large trees, begins History Walk.
History Walk portrays the 90 years of Bonfire preceding the 1999 collapse and connects the plaza to the location of the 1999 Bonfire. A granite time line comprised of 89 stones extends due north and begins with 1909, the first year Bonfire was built on campus. A gap in the time line acknowledges 1963, the year John F. Kennedy was assassinated and the only year Bonfire did not burn. Three previous Bonfire-related deaths are remembered on the time line in the years they occurred. An amber light embedded in each stone of the walkway illuminates the walkway and represents the fire glow from that year’s Bonfire.

Spirit Ring surrounds the site of the 1999 Bonfire and represents the Aggie Spirit that unites individuals into something greater than themselves. The ring’s twelve gateways face the hometowns of those who perished in the collapse. From different families, communities and beliefs, these students converged on this field, along with many of their fellow Aggies. Together they shared a spirit and love for their school, its traditions and the Aggie family. Twenty-seven stones with bronze inlays representing the injured students connect these gateways to complete the circle, recalling the Aggie Ring and the ring of Aggies who reunited to celebrate the Bonfire tradition year after year.
Stepping into one of the oversized gateways on the circle, the visitor symbolically fills the void left by one of the twelve Aggies, embodying the spirit of the 12th Man. Bronze portals inside each gateway were designed in concert with each family to reflect on the events, emotions, life and spirit of the individual whom the bronze represents.
The diameter of the Spirit Ring is the same as the 170’ perimeter of Bonfire, and amber lights representing Bonfire emanate from the ring at night. A black granite marker at the center of the ring in the location of the 1999 centerpole is inscribed with the date and time of the collapse, while also serving as a compass to orient the visitor to the twelve hometowns.
In all areas of the memorial, bronze is used to represent individual Aggies, while granite is used to represent the common bond of Bonfire events and the Aggie Spirit.
SPECIAL COMMISSION ON THE 1999 TEXAS A&M BONFIRE FINAL REPORT

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS

The 1999 Bonfire collapsed due to a number of both physical and organizational
factors. Structurally, the collapse was driven by a containment failure in the first
stack of logs. Two primary factors caused this failure: the first was excessive
internal stresses driven primarily by aggressive wedging of second stack logs
into the first stack. The second was inadequate containment strength. The
wiring used to tie the logs together provided insufficient binding strength. Also,
steel cables, which in recent years had been wrapped around the first stack, were
not used in 1999, further reducing containment strength. These two factors –
excessive internal stresses and weakened containment strength – combined to
cause the collapse.

The physical failure and causal factors were driven by an organizational failure.
This failure, which had its roots in decisions and actions by both students and
University officials over many years, created an environment in which a complex
and dangerous structure was allowed to be built without adequate physical or
engineering controls.
This organizational failure is complex but includes such things as the absence of
an appropriate written design or design process, a cultural bias impeding risk
identification, and the lack of a proactive risk management approach.