Spring Break
The truth beyond tradition
A look at the Old Army origins of A&M's first lady
By: Krista Smith
Issue date: 2/7/07 Section: News
 Wade Barker - THE BATTALION Sam Netterville, Class of 1955, pets Reveille VII Thursday afternoon at the Quad. Netterville was the first mascot corporal and helped the tradition of Reveille survive. |
Oalvin Samuel Netterville's home office is a step back into Texas A&M history. Although Netterville, Class of 1955, has donated many of his Aggie artifacts to the Sam Houston Sanders Corps of Cadets Center, his office still houses the most precious of his memorabilia.
His A&M Corps of Cadets senior boots - custom-made by the original Mr. Joseph Holick - rest under a coat rack. Framed original movie placards from the Aggie-inspired film "We've Never Been Licked" line the walls beside pictures of Netterville and his youngest son, both former Corps members. There is one framed black and white photograph, however, that Netterville will always smile on fondly; it is a photo of Netterville and a purebred Shetland shepherd, a dog that symbolizes the rebirth of an A&M tradition that he says almost floundered away.
Netterville, 74, is recognized as being the first mascot corporal in University history, as he unofficially took on the duty of caring for Reveille II in 1954.
Reveille II was donated to the A&M College of Texas in 1952, more than eight years after Reveille I walked the campus. The student body tried to earn money to purchase a German shepherd, but came up short on funds; Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Weinert, Class of 1900, donated the new dog and the student body formally accepted the gift.
"From 1952 to 1954, the band was taking care of her," Netterville said. "When Larry (Hill, Class of 1956) found her, we just assumed that no one looked after her during the summer and she just roamed around the campus."
Larry Hill, a fellow Corps member, found Reveille on the drill field outside of the Memorial Student Center one summer day in 1954, Netterville said. He and Netterville fed her, bathed her and snuck her over to the vet school for additional care.
The two cadets took care of Reveille II over the summer, taking her on trips to their home in Beaumont. When the fall semester started, Netterville, a junior in A Company Quartermaster division - which later became Company E-2 when the Corps units were reassigned in 1959 - kept the dog in his dorm room.
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