Chance Encounter
Marvin Aly '55, a member of Company B/Combat Engineers in the Corps of Cadets, tried his own hand at cartooning.
I enjoyed the spring 2017 edition of Spirit , especially the new graphics and a couple of articles that brought back memories. Tessies (Texas State College for Women at Denton) were still arriving at College Station on the Sunbeam for football weekends in the '50s when I was there. One Sunday, while on a Corps trip to Dallas, a carload of us traveled to Denton for a Tessieland visit. I vaguely knew a girl from my hometown and contacted her. Without much ado, she got us all dates. We had an enjoyable afternoon around Denton, ending all too soon because we had to get back to College Station (not on the Sunbeam).
I also clearly recall Cadet Slouch , who first appeared in The Battalion when I was at Texas A&M. I enjoyed remembering his humorous antics and pronouncements. Earle’s cartoons remind me of cartoon drawings sketched by one of my classmates, Marvin Aly ’55, in our company (Company B, Combat Engineers).
Finally, the mention of Dr. James “Red” Duke ’50 reminded me of a happenstance in 1959. After I got out of the Army, I looked for work in Dallas. I stopped at a cafe to get a cup of coffee and to read the newspaper classifieds. A guy came in, sat next to me at the counter and asked me what class I was in. I immediately knew he saw my Aggie ring. He said he was an Aggie, gave me some encouraging words and left, going over to the nearby Parkland Memorial Hospital. Later, I realized he was Dr. Red Duke, the acclaimed trauma surgeon who initially treated President John F. Kennedy and was credited with saving the life of Texas Gov. John Connally from assassin Lee Harvey Oswald’s bullets.
We both came to Houston later, and he was on TV a lot. He also founded Life Flight operations in 1976 at Houston’s Memorial Hermann Hospital, where he was medical director for trauma and emergency services until shortly before his death.
Dick Randall ’54
Houston, Texas