My name is David Morefield, B-Batt c/o 2000 and this is my story to share from Bonfire 1999.
It was my ZIP year and I will never forget it.
Just weeks prior to this tragedy, I had met Chris Heard, who was a freshman in the Corps. He had run up to me on the Quad and whipped out to me. I dropped handles with him quickly in order to save the structure of the bones in my hand as he had a crushing grip. This young man was still a first semester fish, but he was completely squared away. Chris and I talked as we walked across campus. When I asked Chris why he joined the Corps, he said, “ I want to be like my dad and serve in the military.”
My own son had been born 6 months prior and I thought to myself, what a wonderful thing that he looks up to his father like that; I hope I can earn that level of respect with my son one day.
Chris and I made a habit of walking to class together on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays until he was tragically killed at Bonfire.
Chris' father made it to the Bonfire site before his son had been recovered and he insisted on identifying his son's body. I stood nearby, a father of a 6 month month old, crushed thinking about what it would be like to be in his shoes.
That night, I met Tim Kerlee while he spent hours twisted in the logs and I took a turn talking with him while he was twisted in the logs. He introduced himself as fish Kerlee and called me "sir." It was hard to fight back tears, because Kerlee was talking to me like we had met sitting at the MSC over a coke or something. The rescuers wanted to extricate him, but fish Kerlee insisted that the logs would move and someone else's chances for rescue could end if they moved him. Kerlee never once voiced that he was afraid of death, although I think he knew that he was going to die.
Kerlee continued to try to guide rescuers to where he had last seen the others who had disappeared beneath the fallen stack.
When I went out to take this picture last year, I was overcome with emotions that I thought I had dealt with, but experiences such as this always stay with you.
Even as I write this, I have tears rolling down my face. I knew seven of those lost that night and even today, I have not completely mourned for them all.
I will also never forget the support that was shown by the 12th Man in the days that followed, that is one of the qualities of Texas A&M that will never be able to be quantified.
I produced this print in the memory of those lost and hope that it is a fitting tribute to a night of tragedy for the Aggie Family.
http://david-morefield.artistwebsites.com/featured/the-last-corps-trip-david-morefield.html
"Those that beat their swords into plowshares are destined to plow for those who do not." - Murphy's Laws of Combat
"When a strong man armed keepeth his palace,his goods are in peace." - Luke 11:21
[This message has been edited by gemeinschaft (edited 12/8/2013 6:01p).]
It was my ZIP year and I will never forget it.
Just weeks prior to this tragedy, I had met Chris Heard, who was a freshman in the Corps. He had run up to me on the Quad and whipped out to me. I dropped handles with him quickly in order to save the structure of the bones in my hand as he had a crushing grip. This young man was still a first semester fish, but he was completely squared away. Chris and I talked as we walked across campus. When I asked Chris why he joined the Corps, he said, “ I want to be like my dad and serve in the military.”
My own son had been born 6 months prior and I thought to myself, what a wonderful thing that he looks up to his father like that; I hope I can earn that level of respect with my son one day.
Chris and I made a habit of walking to class together on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays until he was tragically killed at Bonfire.
Chris' father made it to the Bonfire site before his son had been recovered and he insisted on identifying his son's body. I stood nearby, a father of a 6 month month old, crushed thinking about what it would be like to be in his shoes.
That night, I met Tim Kerlee while he spent hours twisted in the logs and I took a turn talking with him while he was twisted in the logs. He introduced himself as fish Kerlee and called me "sir." It was hard to fight back tears, because Kerlee was talking to me like we had met sitting at the MSC over a coke or something. The rescuers wanted to extricate him, but fish Kerlee insisted that the logs would move and someone else's chances for rescue could end if they moved him. Kerlee never once voiced that he was afraid of death, although I think he knew that he was going to die.
Kerlee continued to try to guide rescuers to where he had last seen the others who had disappeared beneath the fallen stack.
When I went out to take this picture last year, I was overcome with emotions that I thought I had dealt with, but experiences such as this always stay with you.
Even as I write this, I have tears rolling down my face. I knew seven of those lost that night and even today, I have not completely mourned for them all.
I will also never forget the support that was shown by the 12th Man in the days that followed, that is one of the qualities of Texas A&M that will never be able to be quantified.
I produced this print in the memory of those lost and hope that it is a fitting tribute to a night of tragedy for the Aggie Family.
http://david-morefield.artistwebsites.com/featured/the-last-corps-trip-david-morefield.html
"Those that beat their swords into plowshares are destined to plow for those who do not." - Murphy's Laws of Combat
"When a strong man armed keepeth his palace,his goods are in peace." - Luke 11:21
[This message has been edited by gemeinschaft (edited 12/8/2013 6:01p).]
