Issue date: 2/6/06 Section: News

Brandes and Chris Holtkamp, Texas A&M Class of 2005, prepare for a patrol.

Darrell Brandes, a lance corporal with the United States Marines, built a three-tier Aggie bonfire in Iraq while stationed in the country.

"We burned it during the day because we couldn't let off so much light during the night for security reasons," said Brandes, a senior agriculture development major.

Brandes left Texas A&M after the fall of 2002 and enlisted in the Marine Reserve. At the age of 22 he was deployed to Iraq, where he worked in Al Hit and Haditha.

At least 274 Aggies have served in Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom from 2001 to 2003, according to "Texas Aggies Go to War in Service of Their Country," a book released earlier this month by the Texas A&M University Press.

The book, which details the history of Aggies serving in wars from the Spanish-American War to the current conflict in the Middle East, was commissioned by a group of former students and written by Henry C. Dethloff and John A. Adams Jr.

In Iraq, Brandes said he served primarily as a machine gunner and also as a spotter in the sniper platoon.

"We did a lot of convoy security," Brandes said. "My squad was hit twice with roadside bombs."

PHOTOS COURTESY OF DARRELL BRANDES Top: Darrell Brandes, a lance corporal with the United States Marines, stands on the Haditha dam in Haditha, Iraq. Middle: Brandes sits in a sniper hide. Bottom: Brandes and two friends stand in front of a bonfire built on Thanksgiving.

A&M students and organizations supported Brandes with letters and packages while he was in Iraq, he said.

"I think it was the Twelfth Man Foundation that sent every football game on DVD, including the Cotton Bowl," he said.

For Brandes, part of returning to the U.S. was adjusting to the public's attitude toward veterans.

"I guess when we got back I felt like people owed us something because of what we did, until I realized that it was our decision to go and they don't know that we went," he said.

Close to half of the cadets intend to serve in the military after they graduate, said Christi Voelkel, media relations coordinator for the Corps of Cadets.

"Regarding contract, right now 39 percent of the Corps are contract (with the military) and 61 percent are non-contract," Voelkel said.

Of that 39 percent, 122 cadets are contracted with the Navy or Marine Corps, 178 are contracted with the Air Force, and approximately 250 are contracted with the Army.

Marty Holmes, the assistant executive director of the Association of Former Students, said the former students' association is updating their Web site to track A&M students who are in the military.

"Every once in a while somebody will say, 'Are there some Aggies in Iraq that we can send a gift package to?'" Holmes said.

Brandes was recognized at the A&M vs. Iowa State football game in October, along with other A&M students who have served in the military.

"It was a good welcome home," he said. "Even if we had been home for a while, it kind of closed that chapter in the book."

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