Aggies to Recall
A memorial to our former students who lost thier lives while in the service of our nation's armed forces.
Miss Era Rentfrow was registrar of what we today know as New Mexico State University from 1922 to 1961. At a time when enrollments were much smaller, she grew to know each student. As the Second World War began, she made it her duty to personally reach out to the families of each young man who fell in the line of duty. She asked for that most precious of items, a portrait of their son, so that they might be recalled and memorialized after the war.
That effort led to the construction of Aggie Memorial Tower in 1950. The Tower, originally part of Quesenberry Field, was dedicated to preserving the memory of those former students and the sacrifice they, and their families, were called upon to make. The portraits, then available, were displayed in the tower along with press clippings from the war.
In 1978, Aggie Memorial Stadium was constructed, and, for many years, Aggie Memorial Tower remained standing, salvaged when the remainder of the original stands to Quesenberry Field was demolished. Despite those efforts, its state was degraded and the portraits and memories of those it was dedicated to were resting in boxes in University Archives.
In 2004, Aggie Memorial Tower was rededicated upon the completion of the Health and Social Services Building. The bill to fund that building was carried by State Representative J. Paul Taylor. Rep. Taylor had served as treasurer of the original funding drive that led to the construction of the Tower in 1950. It was his effort that saved the tower and enabled it to once more fulfill the promise made to these former students and their families.
Collective efforts since 2004 have added the names and portraits of other former students to the Tower. Today those memorialized span the Spanish American War, World War 1, World War 2, Korean War, Vietnam War and the Gulf War.
Their individual stories, which are included on this site, remind us of the depth of sacrifice made by each of these men. Their stories also remind us of the respect and thanks each are due, regardless of the passage of time. Finally, their stories remind us of the sacrifice made by their families and friends, some of which still walk among us.
New Mexico State University presents on this site: each name, each portrait and each story to fulfill the promise made to the mothers, fathers, spouses, children, family and friends of those memorialized, that they will not be forgotten. Each has earned that simple, yet profound, display of respect.