Ranger

James Earl Rudder's dog


This vignette about the 2d dog on campus is submitted by Colonel Dan Palmer, U. S. Army ( Ret ) '66.

In the 1960s, we were honored to have two beloved dogs on campus--Reveille and her legendary pal, Ranger, an English Bulldog belonging to the most famous Ranger, Lieutenant General Earl Rudder, then President of the A & M College of Texas. Old Ranger had the run of the campus--you'd see him in the dining halls, in class and almost anywhere you'd find Aggies. One bright fall afternoon as I was studying in dorm 11, the click, click, clicks coming down the hallway toward my room were unmistakable--Ranger was on the prowl. A " here boy " brought him into my room for a visit--he plopped down, snorted and " passed " a few other choice body noises that had made him famous. Since he was obviously tired, and it was clean sheet day, I tucked him securely into my roommates clean top bunk, pulled up the sheets to expose only his ugly nose, and waited for the first shirt (First Sergeant) of the Maroon Band--Roy May. Roy showed up, changed, and proceeded to assume the study position--feet on desk and a 45 degree slump in that awful desk chair. After 30 minutes, Roy still had not detected old Ranger--but he did give me a funny glance every time Ranger snorted in his sleep. After one loud snort from the direction of the top bunk, Roy spotted Ranger, pronounced the most appropriate swear words, and summoned numerous freshmen. The fight was on--took them at least 10 minutes to pry me from the bunk posts--I was "dumped" in the dumster outside the southeast door of dorm 11, drenched with _ _ _ _-can water, and left there with a freshman perched on top of the dumster cover for a lengthy period. I don't know what Roy did with Ranger, but the " clean sheets " had been put on my lower bunk--the odor was unmistakable--what a dog.

Colonel Dan Palmer (Ret.) '66


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