State lawmakers and Texas A&M University administrators gather around a flag honoring Aggies who served in World War I.
By Elena Watts, Texas A&M University and Reeve Hamilton, Texas A&M University System
Two service flags honoring the lives of Texas A&M students, faculty and staff who served in World War I, especially those who lost their lives, changed hands in a ceremony on April 6. The flags returned home to College Station from the Texas State Library and Archives Commission in Austin on the 100th anniversary of America’s entry into the conflict.
“One hundred years have passed since the U.S. entered this fray, now nearly out of the range of living memory,” said Texas Director and Librarian of the State Library and Archives Commission Mark Smith. “But that in no way diminishes the honor and the courage of those who served or the horrors of that global war.”
The ceremony served as a reminder of the service, bravery and sacrifices of the Americans who served in WWI and the importance of the archives, artifacts and archival collections in preserving those memories for future generations, Smith said.