Effective today, I'm going to be concluding my posts regarding our Aggie war heroes and the history found in the Longhorns, Aggielands and The Battalion.

This journey really began for me years ago, flipping through my father's 1957 and 1958 Aggielands. I spent so many hours reliving the legends of Bear Bryant and John David Crow, the elegance of Vanity Fair, and the unmatched spirit of the Bonfire. To me, those pages weren't just old photos; they were history of the A&M College.

My class occupies a unique spot in history, as I feel a closer kinship with the Class of 1947 than I do with the Class of 2027. I was part of an era where we still had the privilege of walking alongside the men of the '40s through the '70s. They would come visit us at Dorm 9 and 11, and we would catch up at A&M Club meetings and band reunions.

I've reached a point where I feel it's best to close those yearbooks and let these stories rest. It has been an honor to share this heritage and keep the spirit of those Aggies alive for a little while longer.

Thank you for all of the time and effort you put into this research project to share with all of us.

I am from a similar time frame, Class of '89, but was not in the Corps, so my interaction with these older Ags was limited. Your posts have given me a deeper insight into A&M's history and for those who came before me to make the University what it would become.

So cool.

53 years ago today, School House Rock Premiered.

Have you ever wondered who the voice was behind your favorite School House Rock songs?

Meet Jack Sheldon and Bob Dorough performing a live rendition of Conjunction Junction. pic.twitter.com/fdA3ynyT0n

— Danny Deraney (@DannyDeraney) January 6, 2026

It's January 8th, and on this day, it is the feast day of Our Lady of Prompt Succor, who is the patroness of Louisiana and intercessor for the Battle of New Orleans.While you will likely find this battle in school history books, you will not likely find Our Lady of Prompt Succor written within its paragraphs.However, even Protestant President Andrew Jackson would tell you, you should.So why is that the case?Let's find out.To understand today's feast day, we are going to need to begin with some American history.July 4th, 1776 is a date any US citizen is familiar with, the adoption of the Declaration of Independence.But just because the US declared independence from Great Britain in 1776, that does not mean Great Britain automatically conceded to this declaration.For an additional seven years, the American Revolutionary War raged until the signing of the Treaty of Paris on September 3rd, 1783.Now you'd think that would put an end to the fighting between the United States and Great Britain, but thirty years later, the two found themselves at war again.Due to ongoing interference with American trade, the forcing of American soldiers to serve in the Royal Navy, and British support of Native American resistance against US expansion, the United States declared war on Great Britain on June 18th, 1812.The conflict became known as the War of eighteen twelve.However, fighting continued past 1812, and in September 1814, the British began a gulf campaign that, in early January eighteen fifteen, turned its attention to capturing the predominantly French Catholic port city of New Orleans.Knowing an attack just outside their city was imminent, on the eve of the Battle of New Orleans, January 7th, 1815, faithful Catholics gathered in an Ursuline convent in the French Quarter to pray through the night, imploring the intercession of Our Lady of Prompt Succor.So who is Our Lady of Prompt Succor?Well, outside of New Orleans, very few people could answer that question in 1815 because devotion to her had only begun in 1810.But to understand that story, we need to turn to some Catholic history.In 1727, about fifty years after the Louisiana territory was claimed for France, Ursuline nuns arrived in Louisiana to establish a convent and school.The all-girls school, Ursuline Academy, is still in operation today.In 1800, however, there were growing fears over France's anti-Catholic French Revolution, which had imprisoned, exiled, and guillotined tens of thousands of French clergy and religious sisters in mainland France.Because of this, many French sisters living in the Louisiana territory fled to Havana, Cuba.Heavily short staffed, the remaining sisters in Louisiana pushed through with their mission, and in 1803, they were shocked with the news that France had struck a deal with the United States selling them the Louisiana territory to fund their massively expensive revolution.So now no longer fearful of anti-Catholic French control, the now United States sisters immediately wrote to their French counterparts asking to send new sisters to help save their struggling school and convent.Responding to the request, Mother Saint Michel, a cousin of Mother Saint Andre, who sent the appeal, approached her bishop requesting a transfer of sisters.The bishop, who had recently lost so many religious from his diocese due to the revolution, was hesitant but said it was up to the Pope.Now this response certainly seemed like a dead end because at the time, the pope, Pope Pius the Seventh, had been taken prisoner by none other than Napoleon.This meant that even if Mother Saint Michel managed to get a letter into the imprisoned hands of the Pope, it was unlikely that a reply would ever make its way all the way back to her.But she knew she had to at least try, so after composing a letter on March 9th, Mother Saint Michel sent the letter off praying, Oh most Blessed Virgin Mary, if you obtain for me a prompt and favorable answer to this letter, I promise to have you honored in New Orleans under the title of Our Lady of Prompt Succor.Well, a prompt six weeks later, on April 9th, a letter arrived from the Pope granting her request.I know six weeks doesn't sound very quick, but consider the circumstances.Okay?Well, true to her promise, before boarding a ship to New Orleans, Mother Saint Michel commissioned a statue of Our Lady of Prompt Succor with flowing robes denoting her quick movement.When Mother Saint Michel arrived in New Orleans on December 31st, 1810, the statue was with her.Over the next five years, devotion to Our Lady of Prompt Succor grew in Louisiana, partly spurred on by her miraculous intercession during a catastrophic fire in 1812.So between the miraculous letter and the fire, it should come as no surprise that on the eve of an important impending battle, the faithful gathered by Our Lady of Prompt Succor's side, begging her intercession once again.The next morning on January 8th, 1815, following the all-night vigil of prayer in the Ursuline Convent, outnumbered US troops led by General Andrew Jackson, future President Andrew Jackson, were confronted by British soldiers.As the battle began, a dense fog descended, disorienting the attackers.And between that and the vast swamps of the bayou, within a prompt thirty minutes, the battle was over.The US had won.The gulf campaign was over, and future President Andrew Jackson, though a Protestant, personally thanked the Ursuline sisters for leading the spiritual charge.To this day, Masses in honor of Our Lady of Prompt Succor are celebrated in and around New Orleans on the anniversary of the Battle of New Orleans on January 8th, which in 1851 became the official feast day of Our Lady of Prompt Succor.So next time you have a request that needs to be attended to posthaste, remember Our Lady who guided a letter to and from an imprisoned Pope in six weeks and resolved a battle in thirty minutes.Thanks for joining me today on Hallowed Be Thy Day.

The day of Our Lady and the king as well, not the Big Guy, Happy Birthday Elvis

Paragraph breaks are your friend.