Corps Hall Of Honor To Induct Seven

Texas A&M University will recognize the lifetime achievements of seven former cadets during a Corps Hall of Honor induction ceremony on Saturday, March 6.

Jarrell Gibbs ’60 of Hot Springs Village, Ark.; Bill Heye ’60 of Plano; Ted Hopgood ’65 and Henry Goodwin ’66, both from College Station, Michael Fossum ’80 of Houston and Neal Adams ’68 of Euless will be inducted. Turney W. Leonard ’42, who received the Medal of Honor posthumously, will also be inducted.

The Corps Hall of Honor was established in 1993 to pay tribute to former students of the Texas A&M Corps of Cadets who have lived a life that exemplifies the Aggie Spirit and who also possess the values upon which the corps was founded: honor, loyalty, service, patriotism and leadership.

Leonard received his bachelor’s degree in agriculture from Texas A&M, graduating at the top of his class. He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor — one of seven Medal of Honor recipients from Texas A&M — for his exceptional bravery and valiant leadership in the battle of Hürtgen Forest near Kommerscheidt, Germany.

During the battle on Nov. 4, 1944, Leonard’s 100-man tank destroyer company, the 893rd Tank Destroyer Battalion and more than 1,000 infantrymen were trapped between two German divisions when he took command. Finding that most of their officers had been killed, Leonard gathered the men together and walking in front of his tank destroyers, directed fire at the enemy positions. During the battle, his arm was shattered, but he continued directing the assault. Several German snipers were killed and six enemy tanks were destroyed.

Ordered to the aid station where he received treatment, Leonard returned to the battle because he felt the men needed him. With his arm crushed and bandaged, he continued the attack using a machine gun with his uninjured arm. After returning to the aid station, which was about to be overrun by the Germans, Leonard vowed never to surrender and had his men cover him with limbs in a ditch. When the Americans regained control of the area, Leonard was not where they left him. His remains were later found and sent to Dallas, Texas for a full military burial. His company commander, Aggie Capt. Marion C. Pugh ’42 stated that Leonard was “the bravest man he ever saw.”

In November 2000, Leonard’s Aggie Ring was returned to his family at a ceremony on the campus of Texas A&M by German Army Capt. Obit Volker Lossner, whose father-in-law found the ring more than 60 years ago. It is now on permanent display, along with Leonard’s Medal of Honor in the Sam Houston Sanders Corps of Cadets Center.

Gibbs received his bachelor’s degree in business administration in finance and his master’s degree in management and administration from Texas A&M. He is also a graduate of the Harvard Business School Advanced Management Program and the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. He served in the U.S. Army for over 20 years including assignments in Vietnam, serving as unit commander on three continents and artillery battalion commander in the First Cavalry Division. His last military assignment was with the Army General Staff in the Pentagon working with members of the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate for approval of the Army’s annual budget.

Gibbs served 22 years in various executive positions for TXU Corp., a Fortune 100 electric company, retiring as president. He also served as director of Nuclear Emergency Insurance Limited, Penn Virginia Corp., a public oil and gas exploration and production company and Quanta Services, Inc., a utility infrastructure construction and maintenance company.

He is the chairman of the board of the Texas A&M Research Foundation, the chairman for the Aggie Spirit Development Council in the One Spirit One Vision campaign, is a director of Texas A&M University’s Private Enterprise Research Center, serves on the Advisory Council for the Texas A&M Health Science Center, the Texas A&M Corps of Cadets Development Council and the Texas A&M President’s Board of Visitors.

Heye received his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Texas A&M and his master’s of business administration from Harvard Business School, graduating as a Baker Scholar. He served in the U.S. Air Force for three years as project engineer on electronic systems for photoreconnaissance applications at Griffiss Air Force Base in New York.

Heye was with Texas Instruments, Inc. for 20 years, responsible for TI interests in Dallas, Taiwan and Japan. In Tokyo, he was president of Texas Instruments Asia Ltd. with responsibility for the semiconductor business in Asia Pacific. He was vice president and general manager of TI’s Industrial Products Division and later the Consumer Products Division where he started TI’s electronic watch business. He was president and chief executive officer for of SBE, Inc. for 12 years. Located in Silicon Valley, SBE supplied data communication products to the cellular, wireline, and Internet markets. Heye is currently chairman of Signalogic, Inc. in Dallas.

He has served on the Texas A&M MSC Enrichment Fund Board of Directors, the Center for International Business Studies’ Board of Advisors; the Chancellor’s Century Council; is a past chairman and founding member of the Corps Development Council and was inducted as a Texas A&M University and The Association of Former Students Distinguished Alumnus in 1991. He currently serves on the President’s Council of Advisors and on the Board of Visitors for the Corps of Cadets.

Bill and his wife Joan were Aggie Parents of the Year 1986-87. Their four children, Bill III ’83, Patrick ’85, Kathy ’87, and John ’89 are Aggie graduates.

Hopgood received his bachelor’s degree in physical education from Texas A&M and his master’s degree in education from the University of Virginia. He served a distinguished 31 year career in the U.S. Marine Corps, retiring as a major general. Hopgood served multiple tours of duty in Vietnam as a Rifle Platoon Leader and as a company commander for three infantry companies. his general officer assignments included serving as deputy director for operations at the National Military Command Center in the Pentagon; assistant division commander of the 1st Marine Division; commanding general of the First Services Support Group in Somalia; director of operations for the U. S. Pacific Command in Hawaii; and, president of the Marine Corps University.

His military decorations include the Defense Distinguished Service Medal; the Marine Corps Distinguished Service Medal; the Defense Superior Service Medal; the Legion of Merit; the Bronze Star Medal with Combat “V”; the Purple Heart Medal; the Meritorious Service Medal; the Navy Commendation Medal with Combat “V” and gold stars in lieu of second and third awards; and, the Navy Achievement Medal.

In August 1996, Hopgood became the 37th commandant of the Corps of Cadets serving until June 2002. While a cadet at Texas A&M, he served for two years as Yell Leader and as a Ross Volunteer. He currently supports the Corps of Cadets with two Sul Ross Scholarships.

Goodwin received his bachelor’s degree in business management from Texas A&M. He was a lieutenant in the U.S. Army and served as a company commander in the 2nd Infantry Division on the DMZ in Korea. He has pursued a career in the investment business for over 37 years as a First Vice President and Senior Financial Advisor at Merrill Lynch.

Recognizing a civic need in his community, he helped to establish the first ambulance service in Kingwood, Texas.

He has served as president of the Houston A&M Club; member of the A&M Finance Department Advisory Council; chairman of the Corps Development Council; member of the 12th Man Board of Directors and chairman of the Texas A&M Institute of Bioscience and Technology Advisory Board. He supports the corps as a Sul Ross Scholarship donor for two cadets; is a member of the Corps of Cadets Association and currently serves on the Texas A&M President’s Board of Visitors.

He and his wife, Linda, have welcomed hundreds of Aggie cadets into their hearts and home in College Station. They have two Aggie sons, Bryan ’98 and Michael ’03, both members of the Corps of Cadets. They also have an Aggie daughter-in-law, Carrie, class of 2000 and granddaughter, Lily, Class of 2031.

Adams received his bachelor of business administration in marketing from Texas A&M University. While in the corps, he was in Companies D3 and D2, served his senior year as adjutant for the Second Brigade and Head Yell Leader and was as a member of the Student Senate. In 1970, Adams obtained his juris doctor from Baylor University School of Law. He was a 1st lieutenant in the U.S. Army and served as Trial Counsel for Headquarters Command in Fort Jackson, South Carolina and earning the Distinguished Service Medal.

Adams resides in Euless, Texas and has been practicing law in Tarrant County, for more than 39 years and is the president of the law firm of Adams, Lynch & Loftin, P.C. located in Grapevine, Texas. He and his wife, Sonja, a retired third grade teacher, have two daughters: Marti Morgan ‘93, CPA with Accenture in Irving, Texas; and Paige Adams, a registered case study nurse at Medical City Hospital in Dallas, Texas. Adams is a past president and member of the Board of Trustees of the Hurst-Euless-Bedford Independent School District; past member of the Board of Managers of the Tarrant County Hospital District; past president of the Hurst-Euless-Bedford Chamber of Commerce and current member and past president of the Mid-Cities Rotary Club.

Adams serves as chair elect of the 12th Man Foundation; chair elect of the Chancellor’s Century Council for the Texas A&M University System; past co-class agent of the Class of ’68; past president of the Former Yell Leaders Association and currently serves as a member and past chairman of the President’s Board of Visitors for the Corps of Cadets.

Fossum received his bachelor of science in mechanical engineering from Texas A&M University, a master of science in systems engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology and a master of science in physical science (space science) from the University of Houston-Clear Lake.

He was commissioned into the Air Force and detailed to NASA-Johnson Space Center to develop early Space Shuttle flight procedures. After completing USAF Test Pilot School in 1985, Fossum served as a flight test engineer and program manager at Edwards AFB, Calif. In 1992, he resigned from active duty and is currently a colonel in the USAF Reserves.

At NASA, Fossum was a systems engineer on several projects before serving the Astronaut Office as deputy chief for space shuttle. He later worked as lead flight test engineer on the X-38 test program.

Fossum was selected to begin astronaut training in 1998. A veteran of two space shuttle flights, he has logged 636 hours in space, including over 42 hours in 6 spacewalks. He is now preparing to serve as commander of a six-month mission onboard the International Space Station.

During his time at Texas A&M, Fossum was a squadron commander in the Corps of Cadets. A recipient of the Distinguished Eagle Scout award, he has remained very involved in the Boy Scouts, receiving as well the Silver Beaver and Vigil Honor awards. He also currently serves as scoutmaster. Fossum was awarded the USAF Meritorious Service Medal with two Oak Leaf Clusters and has been honored as a distinguished Military Graduate from Texas A&M University and a Distinguished Graduate from the USAF Test Pilot School.