The 13th Man (2019) - full transcript

Stack just collapsed,
stack just collapsed.

So, we gonna have a lot of
casualties.

University police,
what's your emergency?

The bonfire
stack just collapsed,

there are people trapped in it.

Okay, we've
got units on the way.

From Miss Sharon.

Oh, okay.

This is Sharon from the university of A&M.

Mm hmm.

A stack site just fell,



bonfire just fell over

Stay where
you are, an ambulance is

- on the way.
- Okay.

I think there's an
estimate thrown out about 30

but you know how accurate those are.

Yeah, if you can.

Okay, where are you?

I am at the bonfire right now

and stack just fell.

Okay, can
you see how many people

are injured or anything?

I have no idea.

Okay, hold on.

Oh, please.



University Police Department,

how may I help you?

Many people on fire,

everything is stuck.

Okay, they're all,

everyone over there, okay?

Oh my God.

It's just them, okay?

Okay bye.

It's okay.

We're sending them right now, okay?

No,

They are all
en route over there right now.

Yes sir, what you've
got right now is you've got the

non-redfox bringing the torches in

and they're gonna circle
bonfire, one time,

circle it again

and then throw their torches on bonfire.

Coming up behind,
is the Aggie band.

Yes sir.

The heartbeat of A&M right there.

Gig 'em Aggies!

Texas has always, kinda
been the business school

and the refined, T sippers that are,

they're kind of the upper echelon

and we were always treated
as just the old farm boys,

the Higgs from the sticks and
while that's no longer true,

they were the giant, we were the slayer

and we needed to knock
them off the pedestal.

Beat the hell out of t.u!

Where it started probably
it's an all male semi-military

school out in the middle
of nowhere at the turn

of the century and not a lot to do.

So, somehow guys threw rubbish
in a pile and lit it on fire

and thought that was funny.

And then that grew, got bigger and bigger,

and it's in the Guinness
Book of World Records

as the largest bonfire ever built.

And a lot of people will tell
you that that's what drove

them to come to A&M as a kid,

coming to bonfire,
watching that thing burn.

We can get close to 100,000
people, at a bonfire.

Yeah, everybody's there with
dates, parents, grandparents,

great grandparents.

It's a huge tradition
from all over the world,

not just Texas.

So, it's one of those
things that kind of ties

us all together as Aggies
that we've experienced that.

It just burns and burns and burns.

And the next day, it's still burning.

Now it has fallen, but it's still burning

and it will burn for about a week.

And you can go over there during
the day in between classes

and sit there, and sing songs
or talk about your friendships

and whatnot and watch the
bonfire burn for about a week.

Tells us what you think

about the born fire process.

Someone would donate
a part of their forest land

that they wanted cleared

and that would become our cutting area.

And it changes from year to year.

But we would literally
go cut large trees down

and then we would cut the
branches off you would stack these

literally tree trunks on
the back of flat beds.

So, they would build that
first stack with logs around

the center pole in the ground
and wire them together.

Then they would level the
top, so you could then get up

on top of that and begin the second stack,

flatten that out and you get
up there and start the third

and sometimes the fourth stack.

And so the higher you went,

the more dangerous it obviously became.

I was the first Aggie in my family,

my original career choice
was biomedical science

to go be pre-vet.

And so A&M was one of the best schools

in the country to do that.

So, it just seemed like a natural fit.

(camera shuttering

When did you
first hear about the bonfire?

When I moved into the dorm.

So you never
even knew about it before.

So, I never even knew about it,

I'd never seen it even on TV.

Let's talk a little
bit about the history

of this event.

This is actually celebrating 80 years.

1909, was the first year
there was a bonfire.

1963, there was none in honor of the,

I guess in remembrance,
actually of a President Kennedy

who had been assassinated
just not too long before.

But its been a tradition
that started trash fire

basically, and now is
quite an engineering feat.

That's correct.

It did start with a trash fire.

When I got to 1936,

it was the first time that
they actually use logs

and they have used logs for it ever since.

They put a center pole there,

which is like a telephone pole
spliced together to give you

that 55 feet height.

It's quite a feat to get all of this done.

The students got to go to class,

and got to do all this the same, right?

You make sure everybody gets

the right amount of time in class,

the right amount of time
on the bonfire, right.

Class has a very high priority and so,

it's important for the
students to balance their time

and they do a good job of that.

The Texas
Aggie bonfire is limited

in heights now to 55 feet.

It grew to 109 feet at one
time, several years ago

and someone got the idea
that maybe we were going

to burn the city down.

And so they limited to 55
feet, which still makes it

the largest college
bonfire in the country.

And of course, the hundred nine feet,

laid the beginners Book of World Records,

has been the largest bonfire ever.

People on the bonfire,
they're throwing the torches

on the fire.

And its rising, you can see
at the top of the bonfire,

there's is a little house.

That is outhouses, correct?

It's referred to as the TU, T

And it's the band's,
so far, responsibility

to put the house up there.

For many years, we had to go
out and acquire outhouses,

but in modern times, they're
not any outhouses to acquire

if you can translate that.

That's true.

So, we've had
to build our own house.

I think its going up in a hurry.

Yes, and look at all those
flash bulbs going off.

It's a great burn.

They all said that this will feel.

And when you get to set
up to go up like that.

Remember when you were in
school about bonfire bonfire?

Oh yes, everybody else

remembers how the bonfire was.

Well, I just love the
camaraderie of being out

of the cut site and working together

and you really get to know
your fellow classmates too

that come out there
and work on it as well.

We got some video to show you

about this bonfire being built.

This is completely voluntary now,

with the majority of our
students stopped being

in the Corps of Cadets,

they don't have to come out and do this.

They come out because they want to.

It's the camaraderie that's involved.

It's everybody working together
to accomplish something

that nobody else could do.

What I was saying around
here, if it was easy,

anybody could do that.

And this
of course, is the raising

of the Center for, it's a rather
big event of its.

Ooh yes, we
have a candidate at the,

our confidence says that matches,

incidentally we're all upset
the University of Texas

is not gonna let us bring
it over to Memorial Stadium.

One of the things I loved
about bonfire was not only

does it pull together,
so many different people

in so many different walks of life,

but you're working towards a common cause

and you're learning things about yourself,

about group dynamics.

You come out of it a thinking man.

I've learned so much from
building a born fire.

About how many hours
per day you spend on it?

So we would typically work on it,

Saturday, Sunday,

we were doing a double cut weekend.

But normally just one day of the weekend,

we would go out there and cut
down the trees needed for it.

But the last week of construction,
we're out there 24/7.

They trade dorms off, so we had that,

that I guess was the time
slot that our dorm polled,

was that night from 12 to six.

I had gone out with my dorm

we were in the last week of construction.

So, it's pretty much 24 hour
construction at that point,

putting the structure together.

And my crew chiefs from
my dorm came downstairs

and knocked on my door to come out.

I had not missed, stack or cut.

So, something they really
wanted me to come out for.

I was actually hesitant to go
because I had a couple tests

the next day, but they really
insisted that I come out

and then I could leave
early if I needed to.

So, I said alright, I'll
go out for a few hours

and work on it.

And then I'll come back and
study, pulling in all night,

it wasn't a completely new
concept to a college student.

So, that's what I did.

They said when the bell tolls
and they say we can get up

there, go ahead and climb
up as high as you can.

And start working on the construction.

I got up really higher than anybody else.

It's not an easy structure to climb.

So, I was at the fourth tier,
standing on the structure.

The crane brings the logs
in and lowers them down

to our position and then me
and the swing man wire them in.

So, we had done that for a couple hours.

And my buddy was actually
about to got off and said,

"Hey, are you coming with me?"

And I said, "No, am gonna
do a couple more logs

and then I'll head down."

So I was up on the second level of stack

and if you think about stack at the time,

like a wedding cake, I was
up on the second layer,

roughly 4045 feet near.

Right at 2:42am, at that time,

I found myself looking down to the ground,

looking for some friends on the ground,

looking down stack and all of a sudden

I didn't hear any noise.

I saw the ground moving in my brain.

Somehow in a split second,

put it together that the thing is falling.

It's swayed a little bit
and then once it started

to kind of tip and go, it
was going down at that point.

The center pole cracked when it snapped,

you could just hear this giant boom

The bonfire
stand just collapsed,

and there are people trapped in it.

Okay, we've
got units on the way.

From Miss Sharon.

Oh, okay.

This is Sharon from the university of A&M.

Mm hmm.

A stack site just
fell over, bonfire just fell

over.

Stay where
you are, an ambulance is

- on the way.
- Okay.

I think there is an
estimate thrown out about 30

but you know how accurate those are.

Yeah, if you can.

Okay, where are you?

I am at the bonfire right now,

and the stack just fell.

Okay, can
you see how many people

are injured or anything?

I have no idea.

Okay, hold on.

Oh, please.

University Police Department,

how can I help you?

Many people on fire,

everything is dark.

Okay, they're all,

everyone over there, okay?

Oh my God.

It's just them, okay?

Okay bye.

It's okay,

we are sending them right now, okay?

No,

They are all
en route over there right now.

2:42 a.m, I was at station
one in college station asleep.

And we got a tone out from the dispatch

that we had a medical emergency on campus.

About 2:42 a.m, I was
actually in my dorm,

my radio had gone off saying
that stack had collapsed.

So, I jumped out of my
bed and I ran to my car

and got to the scene.

Texas A&M University MS
unit, had already arrived.

We already had medics that
were actually on scene

during the whole time of
a bonfire being built,

so, they had already started triage.

So, I jumped in with
them and began triage.

The original call actually
came in, as an injured person

because dispatch didn't have
all the details at the time

and they just wanted
to get units in route.

By the time I got to my
vehicle, we had additional

information about the
severity of it to go ahead

and dispatch all the available resources

the City Police station had.

When it collapsed, it
knocked a lot over the a lot

of the lighting that was around the scene.

That was one of the
first things I noticed.

So, there's very minimal light.

Where we were using flashlights,
we're using headlights.

I remember a lot of the
unit's turn their headlights

to where they were shining on bonfire.

When we first got there,
it was deafening quiet.

Even though there was
people running around,

it was still an eerie presence.

I don't know, I've been on a lot of scenes

and that was a different one.

The Texas A&M University,
emergency medical service

had already done and performed
and excellent triage system.

Their initial triage, I would say,

set the incident in the right direction.

When I arrived, I was met
by their triage person,

and he explained to me how
many they were injured,

the severity of it, how many were trapped.

Another thing that will stand
out is that very early on

on the scene, a group of
students, I don't know how

they did it, but they brought
us a list of the possible

names of the victims that
were that were trapped

and deceased.

And I think it had 11 people on that list,

and it was that accurate.

And I think the only one
that wasn't on the list

was the student that had
came back, was not actually

a student at the time,
he'd came back to work

on the bonfire, he'd already graduated.

And they were able to get
this information very early.

I was knocked out, I
think for a few seconds.

When I opened my eyes and
basically got a fistful of dirt,

and it was pitch black at
that point and I realized

that I was underneath everything.

I was pretty much completely
pinned, a log had turned

sideways and was pinning me like literally

right at my waist.

And then there was a log on
top of that, which was running

right across my face, and then
the logs that I had thrown

my arm in between, were
also pinned as well.

Every part of me was completely
pinned except my left hand

was free, and my left hand
was actually visible to people

standing outside of the bonfire.

It was like a little
small gutter size hole

that you could kind of see
my hand sticking out from.

Did you hear
any yelling and screaming?

I heard a little bit of yelling.

I think that was Just the
initial shock of people

who were running to the
structure trying to find people.

There's actually three people around me

that didn't survive at all.

And I heard nothing from
them from the the moment

it hit the ground.

I found myself facedown in the dirt.

The cavity I was in was
tight enough to keep me down

and not being able to lift and
slide my arm and elbow out.

Were you in pain
during all those four hours?

Yeah, so when I was
trapped against the ground,

I had shattered my femur
and there was a log

across my elbow.

So between my leg injuries,
I'd broken both my cheekbones,

I'd punctured glass all a
long, between all of that

my leg probably hurt the most.

My elbow hurt, but I think
with the logging on it

probably the compression
helped me not feel

some of that pain.

But between my face and
my leg, I was in pain.

How much pain, were you in?

Pretty excruciating pain.

I couldn't feel anything
from the waist down.

So my initial thought
I was paralyzed there.

My right arm was completely
smashed between two logs

really well, I mean to the
point where you can't even

pull it loose or try to even
imagine getting it loose

at that point.

And that actually got
worse as the night went on

'cause basically you just
can't get enough circulation

to your arm at that point.

It becomes cold and then it
just starts, I mean, it goes way

past numb almost until like
a really painful throbbing,

like it's dying.

This is the best way I
can describe it to people.

We got out the walking
wounded that we could

and then came back to John

and that's where I spent
the rest of my night,

was with John.

Starting IV, getting him oxygen tubing.

We couldn't get an oxygen mask into him,

so we had to cut off the
tubing and literally feed

the tubing into him.

You know, we'd just, every
few minutes to check on him,

keeping keeping him awake.

One of the things I did I reached in

and told John is prepare yourself,

you're going to be here a long time.

We're having to get some of
your other friends out first,

because the way it's fallen,

and he understood that, he accepted that.

And again, that was a lot
of courage from his point.

They got a, 18-wheeler airbag
that they used on the log

that was on my head because
that was the most critical,

and they aired the airbag up
and got that log off of my face

and it was still suspended
about right here,

in front of my face, but at that point,

I can at least turn my head to the side

and look,

and see the people that were
outside of the structure,

but only if they literally
had their ear at the ground,

like I said, it was just
a small little gutter hole

that you can kind of see me through.

There's dead bodies around John,

and we knew they were
dead bodies around John.

He could feel someone to one side of him,

and we would tell him try not to reach

around there try not to feel that.

He wanted us to call his mom,
and I actually called his mom

on with my cell phone.

Dialed her number, woke her up, of course,

probably 3:30 or 4 o'clock
in the morning and told her,

he's alive, get here soon as you can.

You have time to pretty much
contemplate your whole life

at that point when you're
trapped in a situation like that.

So, I couldn't feel from the waist down.

So, I kind of thought I was
paralyzed at that point.

So, I mean, there's that on
your mind where you're thinking,

like, how is my life gonna change

if I'm completely paralyzed?

Then of course, the thoughts
of if you don't make it,

I was only 19 at the time.

So I thought like, well, what
have I really accomplished

with my life?

At this point, I haven't
even started college

and now you know, this could be the end.

Did you think you
were going to die that day?

I really never had the
feeling that, oh my gosh,

I'm gonna die.

I mean, I think God's hand was on me

and I never had that panic.

But I certainly didn't
know what was above me,

didn't know the state of
stack above me and didn't know

how much it would take
to get me out of there.

Tim, was probably
one of the first people

that we saw whenever we got on scene.

He had logs all around him.

And he was he was kind
of twisted in there.

He kept telling us

to help other people.

"Help other people, I'm
alright, I'm not hurt."

But we knew he was,
everybody that talked to him,

saw the same thing.

We could see where he was injured,

knew it was really extensive,
but knew we weren't gonna

get him out anytime soon neither.

And he was pointing down
below him in the stack

in the logs and saying,
"You need to help my buddies

below me, they are trapped.

"Don't help me, go get them first."

He did an amazing job that
night on directing people

where other people were injured.

He knew where people were,
he wanted us to help them.

There was every kinda
noise you can imagine,

from screams to wood breaking,
to the metal bands popping.

I think one side had a
little bit more weight

than the other.

That side leaned forward
just for a second or two,

and that's what, then it
couldn't held itself up and more

and it just gave way.

We were actually
camping out for the game,

and since people found out about bonfire,

a lot people packed up
their tents and went home.

They didn't really care too
much about the game anymore.

Thinking of the friends
of mine who passed away

and what their families
must be going through

on this Thanksgiving.

It's like pick up sticks,

these logs are all intertwined.

We could work on one side in that area.

But once these logs become interlaced,

we have to work with different angle

in order to get deeper on certain spot.

And one of my neighbors
called me at six this morning

and asked me if I had talked
with my daughter, Carrie.

And I said, "No."

She wasn't home, paged
her, called her cell phone.

I got nothing.

So, I was pretty hysterical.

They weren't having any trouble.

It didn't look like it was leaning,

it looked completely steady.

There were so
many elements of bonfire

when it collapsed,

that they were afraid
to move the structure,

they're afraid to really do much to it.

So I think they worked through
and triage as many people

as they could, and then
they got to me and it was,

they felt like it was my turn.

So, what they ended up
doing was using the airbag.

It's a one by one grid or
two by two grid that helps

inflate and lift and it can
lift the back end of a firetruck

and they inflated one
and it wasn't enough,

they piggyback two of
them on top of each other,

and as soon as that second
one started inflate,

I knew my elbow was free.

And that firefighter
army crawled to my feet

and literally yelled, he
said, "Lift your head,

I'm gonna pull you out."
and struck me out of there.

And he drugged me out.

They immediately put me
on a blackboard, got me on

a stretcher and wheeled
me to the ambulance.

And I remember being
wheeled in the ambulance.

I remember the feeling of
coming out from under there

and it being significantly
colder than where I was.

And I don't know if it was
the wind or just the day,

but when I remember getting out of stack

and just feeling cold.

I think one of the most
memorable moments for me,

was probably at the six
and a half hour mark.

Where I was completely exhausted.

And I really had nothing
left at that point.

I figured if I fell asleep, that would be,

those would be my last moments.

But I didn't want to
upset the EMTs or firemen

that I was on the verge of like dying.

He knew that he was stuck.

He knew he was in a bad position,

he knew he wasn't going
to get out anytime soon.

And we would just have to keep on going,

keep him alive,

keeping talking to us keep him awake.

So I waited for him to ask
me to give him a thumbs up.

And I gave him the thumbs
up and then I tried

to go to sleep.

And for whatever reason,
I couldn't fall asleep.

And I kinda just say
that that was kind of my,

my God moment or whatever it was.

Something, I felt kinda
otherworldly presence

and it was there and it stayed with me

and prevented me from falling asleep,

for I want to say about 15-20 minutes,

until I gave up on the
notion of trying to die.

They were kids that had
to grow up that night.

They had to grow up in, in a hurry.

And then, there was a
second I said, all right

for some reason I can't fall asleep.

I guess I'll just stop trying.

It went away.

And then within the next minute, he said,

"John, give me a thumbs
up if you're okay."

And I did.

Was there one
moment, one visual you saw

that morning that you will never forget?

I think it's when I looked
up and I saw the sea of Aggies

that were out there
just standing in silence

around the stack.

And that they were there
to do whatever they could

to support the rescue effort

and just be there in
support of the injured.

It was unbelievable the amount

of people that were out there.

This was a time, even before
you know social media,

limited cell phones,

even before daybreak,

the news had gotten hit spread everywhere.

And we needed a lot of tools
and they were volunteering

tools, wood for shoring,
anything you could request,

it was brought to the
scene no questions asked.

It made me realize what
a close knit community

Bryan-College Station is.

After it happened, I felt
like I needed to be with

the family which would be the
whole community of people.

And people did a lot of things
that they didn't have to do

like came out, it was a cold
night so a lot of people

volunteered and brought
gloves, brought blankets,

brought water.

The students were just lined
up, wanting to help so much

out of all the memories of the incident.

It was that, the Aggie's wanting
to get in there and help.

I was the funeral director
that was called the scene

of the bonfire collapse.

At 4:35 o'clock in the morning,

they dispatched all the
funeral homes in the community.

They didn't know how many was in there.

The phone call was, you bring
every body bag you have.

My funeral home, stayed from
the beginning till the end.

That was my job.

Each and every time, they
called a funeral home personnel

after they identified the
Aggie, then you took him over

to the temporary morgue at the hospital.

And twice, I remember two
of the students come to me

and said, "Why are you here?

"You don't need to be here.

"You're so disrespectful.

"You wish that people were passed away."

And it struck me so bad,

I almost really didn't know what to say.

And I just kind of turned to them.

And I said, "I'm sorry, I
was called to do a service."

And I just walked away.

The other thing I will always remember

is when the responders
made all the helicopters

and all the media leave and
they were trying to hear

if they could hear if any of those Aggies

were possibly still alive.

And they made everybody go
silent, and it was the most

silent eeriest sound you've ever heard,

because they told in the
stack if you can hear us

scratch, knock, yell out, do something.

And they made, you had to
stand in place and not move

because even if you move,

shoveling your feet, they
would have heard that.

And did anyone say anything?

No, you didn't hear a word.

How do you
think you survived that?

To be honest, I don't know,
there was a log on my head

and I'm thinking as much
momentum as everything had

when it came down, I should
have been in an immediate death

and immediate head injury.

My head should have been, I
mean, smashed like a grape

and I don't know how that didn't happen.

I mean, so it's a miracle in that regard.

I was constantly asking
throughout the night,

how much longer

and they just kept saying
a little bit longer.

And he would ask how much longer

and we didn't know at that point,

but we were trying to tell him,

hey, just hold on for another hour.

This might have been
about seven or eight o'clock

in the morning,

and they said, well,
just a little bit longer.

And I wasn't really happy with
that response at that point.

So I said, "Well, you
tell me how much longer

"it's gonna be and that's how
much longer I'll give you."

And they basically kind
of hesitated a little bit,

and they said, "Well, to be honest,

"we've got to get one
more guy out before you

"so it's probably going
to be at least an hour."

And I said, "Okay, you've got an hour."

It took them about seven and
a half hours to get me out.

But they got me out

and basically got me on a gurney

told me to give them a big
thumbs up to let everyone know

I was okay.

And there was this huge
outpouring from the crowd of like

clapping and cheering, and,
which I didn't even realize.

I didn't realize there were
that many people out there,

When he stuck his thumb
up, that crowd came alive.

They knew he was alive.

I was kind of in and out
during the ambulance ride.

And then they got me on
the gurney into the ER

and I also remember is watching
the lights kind of roll by

and roll me straight into the ER,

where a surgeon was
suited and ready to go,

had literally had the mask
in his hand right there

and said, am sorry, but I
have to put you under now

to perform emergency surgery.

And the only thing I
could think to say was

if I don't make it tell
my family, I love them.

And then he hit me with
the gas and I was out,

and I don't remember anything
until right around New Year's

when I woke up again.

Recapping the tragedy
here at College Station

authorities do confirm that
nine students are dead,

two other students remain in the stack,

their conditions are unknown,

but officials say that their
conditions do not look good.

Additional equipment has been
brought in and more rescuers

from San Antonio, Houston
and Austin are here to help

in this recovery and rescue
effort throughout the night.

So where were you
when the bonfire collapsed?

I was going to school
at Sam Houston state.

I came home and checked
my answering machine.

My aunt from Florida had left a message

saying that John was in an accident.

I immediately called my
husband who was an Aggie,

and we got on the road and
came over to Huntsville,

the entire time my husband was like,

"Why was John on a Stack?

"He was a freshman, you
just didn't do this."

That was the history of
bonfire for my husband,

is that it was all based on experience.

We got to the hospital.

And then we were just waiting
for him to be brought in.

And so, I went in as they
were wheeling him in.

If you had told me that that was John,

I would not have believed you.

He was swollen beyond normal limits.

He recognized us.

But we didn't see him for very long.

It was they brought him in
and we just sort of walked

by the gurney and then we were
put into another room to wait

until they could give us
some more definite decisions

and it was an automatic
he's going into surgery.

He had made the comment that

if he didn't make it through the surgery

to tell his family that he loved them.

They figured it was better to keep him

somewhat in a comatose state,

because each time they were taking him in

and each time they took him in,

it was a risk.

To try and help the body,
they ended up making incisions

on his torso and his legs,

so that, the swelling
didn't split the skin.

The muscles were dying,

so they had to go in and scrape out

all the dead tissue.

We were called in three
different times that all

of the vitals were saying that
he wasn't going to make it.

A 19 year old kid, this
wasn't supposed to happen.

All I could say was, you
know truly is in God's hands.

I asked John, if you have
seen the light, go on.

Go.

I saw, after the third
one, and I saw that he was

coming, coming back very slowly.

I have witnessed, a miracle.

Special logging
equipment was brought in

tonight to speed up the
process of removing the logs.

Emergency crews watch the effort

from a fireproof basket,

looking for any more victims.

As the crews work to remove the log,

thousands of students
came to bonfire field

to watch in disbelief
that something so horrible

that happened here.

How did you
find out about the tragedy?

It was that right at
the seven o'clock hour.

And the today's show was on the
first thing that they talked

about, student bonfire
at Texas A&M collapsed.

We didn't have cell phones
at that time either.

And went to the office
of the Petroleum Club

and asked the lady if I
could use their phones

for a long distance call to my house.

And my wife was, she was there.

By eight o'clock in the morning,

she already had a house full of company.

Neighbors and friends that
were already swarming the house

and she said we don't
know where Michael is.

About every hour I would go
back and make another phone call

and ask if she knew anything else.

"Do you know anything else?"

And went on like that,
about two o'clock or so,

I got a call back from her,
she'd called the office there

and I went over and answered
the phone answered the call

and she said,

"Best anybody knows, Michael is dead."

I said, "Okay, I will be
home as soon as I can."

At home, it was almost six pm

and the house was still full of people.

And I said, "Come on.

"Have you you packed yet?"

"No, I haven't."

I said, "We got to go do that right now."

One of our closer friends
there grabbed her by the arm

and said, "Come on, we're
going into your room,

"we're gonna pack you right now."

So, we did that.

So we went out to the side.

We picked a spot there
and just stood and watched

and waited, to see if they had found him

or what they could tell us about it,

which wasn't a whole lot.

I just were almost positive
he is in there somewhere,

nobody has seen him anywhere else today.

At that point, they had removed
10 bodies from the stack.

I told one of the people there,

the officials there at the tamp,

when you find him, you
come directly to me.

I want to know about it right away.

I don't care what kind of shape he's in.

I said, I want to see
him as soon as possible.

And so they finally got him out of there.

12:30 or 12:45, the next morning.

They sent one of the people
from the town over to tell us.

"Mr. Jerry Ebanks, we have
your son, come see him."

And we went in there,

and he was lying on the ground,

the head upon cushioning
and stuff like that.

No injuries or anything on his face,

which is only thing that was exposed.

I was imagining what it might look like

and so

how is he in this kind of shape,

and he's dead.

What happened?

They said that he suffered a
broken neck and a broken back.

And it was his death was instantaneous.

And so,

I got down on my hands and knees,

gave him a kiss on the
cheek and got up to leave.

And the corner was at
the entry to the tent.

Abd he grabbed my
daughter and I by the arm,

he said,

"You two the bravest people
I've ever seen in my life."

I said, "Thank you." and went on our way.

He was the guy, that could
and would do anything.

Unbelievably confident, maybe
supremely confident in his own

ability to do anything.

Earning his pilot's license
was one of the biggest things

he ever really wanted to
do and he acquired it,

as early as he possibly could.

You had to be 17 years old
to get a pilots license.

And got his on the day
after his 17th birthday.

This kid could handle
anything taught himself how

to play the piano, he refereed soccer,

he refereed roller hockey, he picked up,

he'd do all one of these little
cards at the driving range

where everybody's trying to
knock golf balls out there

to hit you.

And he worked at restaurants.

He was majoring in aerospace engineering.

He wanted to go to work at NASA.

If you had one
last moment with Michael,

what would you tell him?

Son, you're doing a hell of a job.

Just keep it up.

I can't imagine what I could
tell you to do differently.

Or to change what you're doing.

A friend of Jamie's called
us and said that there had been

an accident at bonfire site
and that Jamie had been hurt.

He didn't give us any details.

My husband, who teaches driver's ED,

had a very early class that morning.

And so he needed to get to school early.

I was going to go down, thinking,

well, we've got a broken arm,
but it it didn't occur to me,

that it might be anything
more serious than that.

On the way to school, my husband
was listening to the radio

And on the radio, he
heard about the collapse.

And he knew immediately that
it was a lot more serious

than what we had heard on the phone.

So, we took off for College Station.

We said, well, if Jamie was on that stack,

that she didn't have her ID with her.

She was in her what was called groads,

which was the the clothing
that they wore to work bonfire.

She was in her groad,

so if she was unconscious,

they would have taken her to the hospital.

That doesn't mean that
they knew who she was.

So we started on a trip,

we went to St. Joe's hospital,

and I was convinced I
tried to tell the nurse

if you got someone
here, it could be Jamie.

It could be our daughter.

I was thinking, "She's okay."

She may be unconscious.

But she's in a pocket somewhere.

She's in a pocket with a
locked in protected her.

I wasn't ready to give it up.

When they pulled Jamie's body out,

then they came to us and
said that she had passed.

In the beginning, you
cry a lot, all day long.

You go to sleep thinking that,

"Okay, I've cried every tear
that I possibly can cry,

"and you wake up the next
morning and loW and behold,

"you start crying again."

She was a person who
wanted to serve others.

When she stood on the sidelines

as a cheerleader in high school,

she was always disappointed
that people didn't want

to cheer with them and cheer for the team.

It really disappointed her
for the fans to be quiet.

And one of the things
that she loved about A&M

is how involved everyone is.

Jamie was always positive
about everything.

If she was trying out
for something or hoping

to be picked for something,
she will be disappointed

but it would last just a short time.

She'd be over it and
ready to start the next

mission, whatever it was.

It was as if her life
was going to be short

and she had a lot to get done.

I know where Jamie is.

We're Christians.

She was Christian.

So, I know where she is.

And I feel like when we talk
when we have anything going on,

I think she's a part of it.

What would I say to her?

We miss you.

We sure would like to
have you here with us.

So many people are so
inspired, moved and motivated

by your son saying,
"Don't worry about me."

"Help my buddies first."

Yeah.

That was town.

That's the way he lived his life.

He died the way he lived,

always putting others before himself.

He was always trying to help
someone or make them laugh.

And in fact, that quote
was from one of his friends

after he passed away, and
it was very true of him.

He was always looking
out for the underdog.

So that was not out of
character for him at all.

And one of his friends said
that he would run you down

to give you a hug.

He wanted to be an engineer,
but he wanted to act

on the side in community
theater and things like that.

He was very interested in
things like Greenpeace.

He just had it all.

I think his friend had it right

when he called him a renaissance man.

And when he walked on
to the Texas A&M campus,

he immediately felt that this
was the place For him to be.

How did you
find out about the news?

We got a phone call,

three, 3:30 something
like that in the morning.

And that's the kind of
phone call that wakes you up

in the middle of asleep and you're going,

"Something's wrong."

One of his fellow co-members

and they call each other buddies.

One of his buddies in
the called us.

They told us that he had a broken arm,

possibly some other injuries,

but he was conscious as
he was being transported

to the hospital.

I immediately got up, got in the shower,

and when I came out of the shower,

my husband was sitting
by the side of the bed

just sobbing.

And I went, "Honey, it's okay.

It's just a broken arm."

And he shook his head no,

and he barely could get the words out,

"In shock, in critical
condition, broken hip."

And then we just held
each other and cried.

Had the first
responders, not listen to Tim

and try to treat him right away,

do you think Jim would be alive today?

No, it was obvious by what
they found in the hospital

that that he, he really
never had a chance.

His internal organs
were pretty much crushed

and bones were so close that
they had done so much damage

that when they operated on him,

they just closed him back up.

They knew they couldn't do
much to their best to keep him

alive long enough for us to get a chance

to tell him goodbye.

I was a blood bank supervisor
at St. Joseph hospital.

When they brought him in,
he was crushed from about

here down and they knew
that that he wouldn't live.

But we were told, this guy
has requested to be able

to see his parents if possible.

And that always struck me
as a very touching moment.

That will stay with you forever.

Yes, yes.

When you
first entered the hospital

and you walk into his
room, tell me what you saw.

He was pretty well out of it.

He was under medication
and he was wrapped up

and he couldn't say anything.

He could acknowledge what we said

because he had had a tube down his throat.

When he was little,

I used to do something with
him that my mother did with me.

And that was kind of a secret
way of saying I love you.

And she would squeeze my hand
three times for I love you.

And he started he's kept
squeezing my hand three times.

He had had received over
80, I think, units of blood.

I can't even remember
the exact amount now.

And we could not see continuing his life

just for a few more hours
and blood is something that's

precious, that the other
people needed that had a chance

to continue on with their life.

So we just said, let's
go ahead and let him die

and stop the blood transfusions.

How have
you been able to somehow

accept the unacceptable?

The good Lord, gives us
the capacity to rebound

and we just have to take
advantage of it, you never forget

but life goes on and you either accept it

and deal with it and live your
life or you wrap yourself up

in a ball and die, I guess.

And I do think from talking
to the EMS folks afterwards,

that his actions actually
did save other lives.

For the fact that
he told the first responders,

"Help them first"

Right.

You think
that saved their lives?

They told us, that they
thought it saved some

of their lives.

I mean, and like I said, from
what the doctor has told us,

taking him down first
would not have saved him.

Wouldn't have made a difference.

No.

The Longhorn
Band would like to dedicate

this performance today to
the 12 Texas A&M students

who died in last week's Bonfire tragedy.

We will remember them,
as long as there is

a Texas A&M and the Aggie spirit is alive.

And that my friends is for ever.

We could get angry and
become bitter people,

blame God, a lot of people blame God.

I do not believe that is the will of God.

But I believe that there is
a circumstantial will of God,

that what can you do
under these circumstances

and that's why my husband
and I left Tennessee,

moved to College Station to
try to help the students heal

from the bonfire accident.

Because the whole mood of the
entire campus was terrible,

it was in the pits.

So we came to try to help
them to heal from this

and had we not tried to follow
God's will and all of this

and blame God if it wouldn't
have been consistent

with our son's life, our faith, his faith.

It was to try to glean some
good at this horrible experience

that we had.

It's funny I heard some of the students

say they knew that John
was going to make it

because the 12th man had already died.

12 is Texas A&M number,

the 13th person was not going to die.

A&M is known
as Homer the 12th man.

Where does that come from?

Well, you can go, it
comes from basically,

there the fans are so passionate that,

they were ready to
literally put on the pads

and come out and support the team.

And I think that as I
understand the story,

he was sitting in the stands
and I think he had done maybe

some activity with the team prior,

but was in civilian clothes

and as injuries began to prevail,

they brought him in from the
stands and he jumped out on

the field and the next thing
you know he's he's playing

for the fighting Texas
Aggies and I think that is

representative of just the
Aggie Pride and you see that

today in our culture and DNA

is it's a feel like as a
person, you have a duty

to help others and to
always be ready to serve.

When he finally was out of the coma,

he remembered being in ICU.

He knew what had happened.

He did not realize how
much time had passed.

From November
19th until January second

or third?

Somewhere in there, yeah.

You didn't open your eyes?

You didn't wake up once?

Well, I know the nurses
said I would open my eyes

and look around and
there was a couple times

where they could tell I was in pain

from like the look on my face.

But, I don't remember any of that.

There was a couple, harrowing times where

they would just basically tell people,

"We don't know what to tell you,

"just keep the prayers coming

"because he may not make it."

We were all thinking
about John every single day.

Every day that he was in the hospital,

and he was fighting for his
life and trying to recover.

If you think about it, John
spent more time in the hospital

his freshman year than he did in class.

There was just this
feeling across campus that

he was the Aggie spirit and
if he could survive this,

that we all would survive this tragedy.

He was everybody's son,
everybody's brother

and everybody's friend.

What he has done since
that day, that moment,

is truly profound.

It's truly inspirational that he has taken

what happened to him and use
it to inspire other people.

You truly are
the ultimate example of guts

in humanity and the will to live.

Texas A&M, wrote this
press release saying that

you will pass away.

Right.

And thank goodness
for them that they didn't

actually distribute it but
they certainly came close.

And part of it was
there was a there's a really

critical night where I was
taking on over three bags

of blood at the same time.

And I was still bleeding out kind of

and at that point, I had
no clotting factor left.

And so they were concerned
that really there was no way

to stop the bleeding

and that I was pretty much going to die.

And they told my mom that they said he's

more than likely not going
to survive the night.

So, you know, just go home
and rest and pretty much await

the phone call and she
said that's what she did.

She went back to the hotel
and kicked off her shoes

and just laid in bed and
waited for the phone call.

And it never came, so,

I kept it, as kind of a reminder
of how short life could be,

really there was nothing on
there other than saying that

I was born in Richardson and
then I was the 13th fatality.

So, what exactly at the end,

medically, were your injuries?

They were pretty extensive.

My pelvis was not shattered,

but it was definitely flattened out

from the log across my waist.

I lost movement in my right arm

because of lack of blood supply there.

My right wrist was crushed and broken,

but there was not much they
could do at that point.

They just kind of put a splint on it

and kind of let it heal as is

because I had so many other traumas

that they were trying to take care of.

My skull was fractured,

but they couldn't do anything about that.

The log of my face kind of
went through my lower lip,

so they had to do some
surgery on the lower lip

to kind of fix that up.

I know that they said my liver had split

from the impact of the fall.

And again, they had to
let that heal on its own

because they were worried
that if they went in

to do surgery on my liver,

I would bleed to death.

So and then had to do extensive
surgeries on my lower back

to remove necrotic tissues.

So, I'm kind of missing one
of the muscles in my back.

I know my kidney stopped at some point.

We know my heart stopped at another point,

I think I had over 10 doctors.

My mom had, used to have
a notebook with a list

and it was just the whole first page

which was lists of doctors' names.

The decision
to amputate your leg

was that no-brainer?

See, well, once they got me free,

they realized that the left
ankle had been crushed,

in between some log.

They thought that they were gonna

be able to save the left leg,

but the issue was was that
because the ankle was crushed

and exposed to really just
dirt all the stuff out there

all night that it got
infected from the bone,

they had, basically had just antibiotics

running through me constantly.

And there was no way
to stop that infection.

And then as that infection
in my left leg set in,

and I slowly started to tank,
and they basically said, like,

we're gonna have to take off
his leg for him to survive.

When I woke up, I was just
really happy to be alive,

but I actually didn't realize
my leg had been amputated

at first.

They kept a pillow down on my left leg

and I didn't even, it
still feels like it's there

when you get an amputation.

So, you didn't really
realize that it been gone.

I saw some bandages at my thigh,

but I thought those were
just regular injuries.

So, it was really kind of odd.

They even did a bandage
change right in front of me.

Even when they changed that bandage,

I thought I was just looking
at the top of my knee.

And once I you know, kind
of pulled the sheets back,

I realized that my leg was gone.

And there's nobody in
the room at the time.

So I mean, I waited for my
mom to come back into the room

when I asked her just point blank.

I said, "Mom, what happened to my leg?

How come nobody told me?"

She'd said that, well the
doctors told me not to tell you

anything because it was like
crying over spilled milk

and not to bring it up.

What are you gonna do at that point?

It is what it is.

You are alive,

I am John Comstock class of '03.

Just wanted to thank everybody,

for all the good letters

and medical staff here at the hospital.

All the good prayers and
support I've been getting

from everybody.

I really appreciate it.

I'm doing pretty good.

Ready to get out ICU pretty soon.

I'm getting into rehab and get
back by the false.

DTA spirit live.

So you were in the hospital

for almost five months?

Yes, I had gone from 165
pounds down to 98 pounds.

There's just nothing left to me.

Your muscles atrophy at that point.

So, you have to build your body back up.

To come out of the
coma and see on the news,

this warmest support that
he had had around him

was just mind boggling.

You know, we're just
average folks.

And he made the comment
that I can't even go

to the bathroom without
everybody knowing it.

Everybody seems to know my life

and I was thrown into
like a celebrity's role,

and that's not what we
were brought up with.

We didn't know that world
and so he was an inspiration.

You had a moment in the hospital

that really motivated you.

Yeah, when I was in Dallas there was

I just got the electric wheelchair.

So it was the first time
I was able to really

move around on my own.

And they got me an electric wheelchair

and I came out into the hallway,

and there was this guy there.

I've later learned his name,
but he had third degree burns

over 90% of his body.

And he had like, no ears, no
eyelids, kind of partial lips.

They had to keep a little fluid thing

to keep fluids in his mouth
and he knew who I was.

He was my next door neighbor
in the rehab hospital.

And he looked at me and he
said, "Hang in there, John."

And that totally changed me
because I went back into my room

later with my mom and I said,
"If I looked like that guy,

just shoot me."

In fact, he was so injured
that he had no hands.

His hands were so injured
that they amputated

both his hands.

And he was doing rehab
on forearm crutches.

And I said, "If I look like that,

just go ahead and shoot me."

And my mom said, "No,
John, you're not serious."

And I said, "No, I'm dead serious."

And it took me years to really

kind of digest what he'd said to me.

I never could understand how
somebody in such an unfortunate

position could offer me
words of encouragement.

And I think years later,
when I finally realized that,

I made the decision that
when I was in the right spot,

I was gonna do the same thing.

We just came to put some flowers down,

to just let them know
and let the families know

that we're thinking about them.

How did A&M
change from all this?

I think for those of us who
were old enough at the time

to remember, I think
I built a tighter bond

to the community in the school.

It impacted me just to see
the whole city county hurting.

A lot of people came out and
just people that probably

didn't even know each
other, but felt connected,

because of the bonfire in
Texas A&M and the students.

We currently here in the library,

I spend as much time as we can.

So, maybe that gives us a
special feeling as to what some

of these families are going through.

People would walk up to
us that didn't even know us

and say, do you need a
car while you're here?

We can loan you a car.

We were offered places to stay.

And that's what makes Texas
A&M a great university.

It is this what they
call the Aggie Spirit.

What Would you like to tell

the entire Aggie community?

Well first of all, thanks
for all the love and prayers

because I don't think I'd
be alive today without them.

I really believe in the power
of prayer and then just all

the love and support
I've had over the years

has been amazing.

I was the first Aggie in
my family, so me and my mom

didn't really know what to expect.

We got mail from all over the world.

We got some from Egypt
and some from Australia

and then probably every state in the US

there's just Aggies all over this world.

I do think it's important
for us to be connected

to what happened on November 18th, 1999.

As a photographer covering the different

remembrance ceremonies,
it's given me an opportunity

to really get to see the
Aggie Spirit out close,

being so close to the
people who gather every year

to remember the 12.

It's an incredible
opportunity to remember those

who we lost, and also to
learn more about them.

The memorial itself is in
the shape of the bonfire,

there's a marker in the center of it,

marking the square the center
pole was and so anytime you go

to the memorial, you
know that you're there

where those people were,
you're walking around,

and you know this is
exactly where it happened.

By us continuing to talk about it,

it keeps our memory alive
and I feel like that's

our responsibility going forward.

I hope that they know that these were 12

bright young kids that had a
big future in front of them.

And in an instant it was
over they were gone and...

They were Aggies just that.

And they were Aggies like them

and it could happen to
anybody on any situation life,

you got to live your life to the fullest,

I knew every day is a blessing.

I think that's what Tim Kerlee Jr,

would have told you if he was alive today.

A-G-G-I-E-S

A-G-G-I-E-S

How many traditions
exactly has A&M have?

- A lot.
- Yeah.

As a matter of fact, there's
an old saying that goes

if something happens twice a
day in A&M, it is tradition.

Before every home game we
have a midnight Yell Practice,

where current students,
former students, grandparents,

come in at midnight to
Texas A&M in the stadium.

It's a way to practice the
yells, so that during the game,

the yell leaders give a signal
and the entire student body

and a times the entire stadium
does the yell, it's loud.

Silver taps is big, every
month we gather silently

on campus to honor the
Aggies that died that month,

that leads into Aggie muster.

So, once a year all over the world,

Aggies gather wherever they
are to have a roll call.

And someone that knows someone that died

will say here for them
when their name is called

as the last roll call for the Aggies

that have died during the year.

So Aggie muster is huge
because it's worldwide

the Corps of Cadets in and of itself

is a tradition Texas A&M was
an all male military school

for a long time and right
around '69 they begin allowing

women in and then
eventually they were allowed

into the Corps of Cadets.

So what do you think all this

I'm gonna go as far as saying love.

Where did all this passion, this bonding,

this unity come from?

I think it
stems from the military.

I think it stems from the wars.

We had more people served in
World War Two than Academy's.

People going off to war
and not coming back.

During the Vietnam era, a
lot of people left early,

some came back, some didn't.

Some were able to graduate somewhere.

So, I think its stems are
originally from that camaraderie

that my life depends on you
and yours depends on me.

Revelry, the mascot is a
tradition at Texas A&M.

So, cadets were coming back from vacation

and found a wounded dog
on the side of the road,

so nursed it back to health

and the next morning when
the bugle or played revelry,

the dog started barking, so
they named him the Revelry.

Revelry is now the highest
ranking cadet on campus.

When we see that dog,
we stop and we say hi

to Mr. Revelry man and
it's kept by a trainer

who takes that dog to class
and wears five diamonds

on its, that's the highest
ranking cadet on campus.

So the bonfire sort of encompasses

and symbolizes a lot of that.

When you're tying logs
together tree trucks

and hauling them around Texas,

it's a dangerous deal.

There have been people
die building the bonfire.

There's a tradition within
the core that freshmen

are not allowed to ever think

a sophomore for anything.

Because of a day when
they were loading a log

on the back of a flatbed truck

and the log rolled off

and the sophomore push the
freshmen out of the way,

and the sophomore was killed.

And the freshmen did not
have time to thank him.

So for that very reason,

it's to this day freshmen are
not allowed to say thank you

to us to a sophomore
they can get around it

by saying, I appreciate
you sir, I appreciate that,

they cannot say thank you.

Workers began
putting up this fence around

the bonfire site, securing evidence

that may lead to the cause
of Thursday's disaster.

Investigators with the
Federal Occupational Safety

and Health Administration,

and police descended on the site

searching for clues,
pondering just what happened.

No one knows what caused the
45 foot tall stack to tumble

but one theory lies that
the number of students

on top of the pile,

as many as 70 were on
it when disaster struck.

Every time I've been there,
there's that has been dancing,

joking around up there but I
think has nothing to do with

that, 'cause joking and dancing
around is not going to cause

a center pole to snap.

And despite
students who say there was a lot

of yelling and screaming going on

just before disaster struck,

the school denies there was any horseplay.

While the investigation is just beginning

authorities will examine
the bonfire center post

to see if it holds any clues
why the massive stack collapse

killing so many.

Who do you blame
for this tragedy, John?

Who do I blame?

It's a student's fault
but also A&M's fault.

I don't think there's any
one soul, particular entity

whose fault, we were 18-year
old kids who had no sort of

engineering background, building something

off the word of mouth.

But then of course, A&M could
have done a lot better job

with any sort of oversight.

I was told that
a freshman shouldn't be

that high up there.

I do know that a lot of people would say

only upperclassmen were supposed
to be up on the structure.

But our year, my crew chief
said to me that night,

they said when they say
everything's ago to get on it,

climb up as high as you can.

So, that's what we did.

I found out later that I
was doing it correctly.

And then I was taught correctly

but found out that other students weren't.

They were stacking logs in the crevices,

instead of stacking the
logs on top of other logs

like they were supposed to.

So they put a lot of stress on the wires.

And then there was definitely a cable

that was supposed to be put on

to the bottom of the first tier
when construction was done.

And that never happened as well.

I think if you had to lay blame,

it would have to go to the school.

Simply because, this was an
activity that had been going on

for nearly 100 years
with no real supervision

from the school.

That was one of the
things what had happened

that we had a hard time believing in that,

the school, with one of the
best engineering programs

in the country had no engineering
oversight of the bonfire.

When you do something for
100 years and there's no major

catastrophe, you're not
looking for one to happen.

As you can see on camera

now that is quite a lot of heat

coming from that bonfire.

And it will scorch your
face if you're to close.

That's why I could say, we
are at a considerable distance

I would say we are standing
a block away from the bonfire

right now and you can
feel the heat right now

Back we're on the stage
and of course you recognize

the gentleman in the middle,
well all Aggies do that.

So, Dr. Bowen, the
president of Texas A&M, Don.

Well, Dr. Bowen, welcome
to Texas Aggie bonfire show.

We're gonna have a great night
here, I'd like to talk to you

about the university support for bonfire.

Well, it's really the
university and the community.

Everybody in as part of
Texas seem to come together

and make this possible.

We get cooperation, as
we go out to the sites

to collect the logs, we get
cooperation for equipment.

And of course, the entire
student body is involved with it.

So, the red pots right on
down, it's a big event.

Well, you're the class
of 58, here at Texas A&M,

and the Deputy Corps Commander,

tell us about bonfire when you were here.

Well, we work very hard,
of course, much harder

than these young people did.

And I am just joking you know that.

It was a lot of fun, but I
believe that tradition is,

has been preserved very well.

Two out of the
12 deceased were found

with alcohol in their system.

That would be one of the issues

that nobody gets on that bonfire

having had alcohol in their system.

I think what leads to
some of the accidents

is not paying attention
to detail like that.

Basically what I did on this project was

I was called to come
out and try to dismantle

the bonfire itself piece
by piece, log by log.

Secondly that they asked me
to write the initial report

to the university tell them
exactly what was my opinion on

what happened and what
caused the bonfire declined.

First off the site there,

in my opinion was not a really good site

to build a bonfire.

There was a cross slope
of about 2% on the site.

And the bonfire actually collapsed

in the direction of the slope.

A change quite a
bit from when I was there,

and I was a freshman in 1970.

It was at that time a rule
that the university had

a lot of people that
had grown up on farms,

ranches, had done a lot of different jobs

and been involved with driving equipment,

things such as that.

And what I was finding
is many of the students

were getting in the A&M,

there was actually more
urban type students,

that hadn't had opportunities
to get involved with things

that were there was
possible heavy construction.

So, they were actually putting themselves

in a position that were dangerous,

that I don't think they realized it.

And there really wasn't a whole lot of

adult supervision over the bonfire.

So, it made it a situation worse.

Who do you he
blamed for this tragedy?

Well, personally, I blamed myself.

I was, not that I was
totally in control of it

by any means, but I had
been involved in bonfire,

tangled bonfire many times,

but I had noticed that
things have changed.

I also feel like the
organization that they had

it was student run.

I blame that in some regards,
because they had a case

where we had people involved
with things that really

shouldn't have been involved
with what they were doing.

There was an incident
that occurred in 1994

with the bonfire.

Should that have been a red flag?

I definitely think it was a red flag.

I definitely think it was a red flag,

and I don't know why at that point,

they didn't really step up
the engineering side of it.

I mean, I guess I can kind of understand

because they wanted it to
stay as a student project.

And the students really
took a lot of pride in it

being a solely student project.

But at the same time, that
definitely should have been an

indicator that something could
go horribly wrong with this.

This looks like
it's off to a real good part.

Oh, it is off to a good start.

You know, we had the bonfire
collapse a couple of years ago,

and they had to rebuild it very quickly.

And then we had a year where
it didn't really burn very well

because of the dampness and it
hadn't been properly fueled.

So, this one looks like
it's off to a good start,

and we're really happy about that.

They wanted to have it
bigger to burn longer.

It was pride that caused
the bonfire to fall,

wanting it to be the best bonfire ever.

She was my sole caretaker for years,

she had retired from
delta to take care of me

throughout all this.

And, I spoke to her every single day

after the accident even
after I went back to A&M.

So I got a call.

It was a friend of the
family, a guy named James,

a friend of my mom's and
I picked up the phone

and asked him what was up
somebody who never called me

and he said, "Hey, I'm I
don't know how to say this.

"So I'll just go ahead and say it.

"Your mom has had a heart attack.

"And she died."

I had a moment.

And this was maybe a year
and a half down the road

where I had, couldn't eat, I
couldn't sleep, I couldn't take

care of myself.

I didn't even want to get
out of bed in the morning.

And I just kind of prayed to God and said,

"That's it, I'm done.

I quit, I can't do anymore."

And, I pretty much went
to bed thinking that

God, the world had forsaken me.

And, that was it for me.

And went to bed and woke
up the next morning.

And when I looked in the
mirror, I kind of said to myself

for everything you've
been through has focusing

on all that trauma and pain and suffering

and the misery that you've been through,

has any of it done any good?

And my answer was no, obviously no.

And that that was really the
moment where my life changed.

He was ready to give up.

He wasn't doing things at the
same rate as everybody else,

and I think it's human nature.

We compare ourselves to others.

He's like, I'm still in college.

I said, yeah.

I said most people would have given up.

I said, just keep taking one class.

I think we take it for
granted the simplicities

that we have been given.

And we just get up in the
morning and moan and groan

about getting dressed to go on the class.

And it's a major effort for him.

I kept trying to say, John,
just, you will get through,

you will get through.

I made the decision
that I was gonna just

live a happy life and
do the best that I could

and figure out how to become independent

and do the things that I do now.

Every time I've gotten a
little bit of an ability back,

whether it just be able to
transfer from my chair to my bed

or every time I would get like
a little bit of movement back

on my leg or something, those were like

something that wouldn't
seem like a big deal

right, once I finally
saw like my fingers start

to move a little bit for the first time.

Those were always like
major, exciting things for me

and gave me a lot of hope
to kind of continue on.

There's always somebody better off

and somebody worse off than you.

And I realized that
complaining about it really

doesn't do you any good
as life has gotten better

and it's not really difficult
for me to have to handle stuff

because I know I've handled worse.

A lot of people said,
God has a plan for you.

And I really hate hearing
that beginning of my accident

because I was like, well, what
if I just live a normal life?

Yeah!

Yeah!

- Yeah!
- Yeah!

You got it.

And I got it.

I think probably know that the Ebanks

Jerry used to actually
refereeing my soccer games

when I was a kid.

For me, I guess the
other thing is going out

and doing my public speaking
and telling my story

and trying to inspire
and help other people.

Working full time 40 hour
weeks, like everybody

and just got married and have
a son and a beautiful wife

and I'm completely satisfied with that.

I'm completely independent,
I was living a bachelor life.

So, of course that was a big
change when I met Michelle

and had our son and had a kind
of a quick, had to grow up

quickly, right, and put on the father hat.

It was a good change and
made me a better person.

Did you know about

what happened to him before you met him?

No.

I mean I had known
because my dad's an Aggie.

So, I remember what happened
that day and everything,

but I didn't know of John, who
John was until he was like,

"Hey, you can actually look up my story

and just look me up on the internet."

I was like, "What are you talking about."

And then I looked up, I said,
"Oh, so, are we still on

that dinner 'cause I'm hungry."

So.

He's funny.

He's always making me
laugh, he's totally crazy.

We go well together.

Hey.

Thank you.

- I appreciate it.
- You're welcomed.

Have a good one.

I don't see him as
somebody who's suffering or

trying to get through something,

I guess it's like he's with me,

because I don't see that, I
don't pay attention to that.

It's just, he's John, he's just John.

What I am trying to tell you,

the one amazing thing about you

is that you don't see good
or angry, at least today.

I mean, here you are.

You graduated from A&M.

A lot of people would have just said,

"I'm out of here."

You got your degree in 2010

regulations and banking
Thank you.

- Congratulations.
- I appreciate it.

And when you graduated in 2010,

I heard you got a standing ovation.

I did.

I wasn't expecting it because
they kind of walked me through

about how I was going to
go up the ramp and accept

my diploma and then just kinda of roll,

go back and roll off stage,

but it was just amazing
to be recognized for it.

So, the standing ovation you got

when you were taken out of the rubble,

to the standing ovation
you got when you graduated,

it's almost like, like a bridge.

Yeah, for sure.

Seven and a half hours of being trapped.

And but the standing ovation
for my diploma that took

another 10 years to accomplish that.

If you had all the
victims families in one room,

what would you tell them?

Just as parent, I can't
imagine losing a child

and just deeply apologetic for their loss

and just my heart goes out to them.

It's fricking, I just
can't imagine the loss

and the way you feel and
just that they're loved

and this is a great place
and know that they're,

I think if the experienced
that I had in A&M,

was shared by their son
or daughter and child

then it was an amazing, while
their life was cut short,

I guarantee they got to live a full life

because of their time here.

I think this is a great,

it's one of the most ferocious
cultures, honored culture

and I think it's surrounds
and focuses on all

the foundational things
that we really don't

celebrate enough today.

Tradition, doing the right
thing being honorable.

And I think to me to
be affiliated with that

and to be a pole small part of it

is something I'll cherish

and I think the fact that
their children got to,

to be a part of that is special.

If you had all the
victims families in one room,

what would you tell them?

I don't know.

That's about as real
as answer as I can get,

I really don't know.

It hasn't returned in 20 years,

it's probably not coming back.

But that's a decision that
the current administration

and current students need to make.

And ultimately, anything that
happens, we should make sure

that disaster and that happened
in 1999 never happens again.

There's no greater tragedy
than a parent losing a child.

I was 22 years old.

And parents were coming up to me

saying you can't let this happen again.

I kind of understand that maybe

they're not doing out of respect.

I like that the students
have taken upon themselves

to build a bonfire away from campus

and kind of just get
together and do that rather

than it being a school sponsored event.

Do you think
the bonfire tradition

should return to campus?

I really do.

Because I really feel like it
knit the whole student body

together and people
would come from all over,

not even people that had gone to A&M

and come in and be a part of it.

On the behalf of the football team

I will just say a couple words.

I would like to thank
the Texas fine Aggie Ben.

Texas fine Aggie 12th man.

Texas my cadet.

And also Texas A&M former students.

It's sad to think that my
granddaughter who's two now

will never know bonfire and in fact,

most of the students
at Texas A&M right now,

are too young to remember bonfire.

We become the person that
our experiences make us.

And that's an experience that I think

I'm very grateful that I got to have.

And I wish my kids could have.

Do you think
they should bring it

back to campus?

Yes, sir.

I do know, I told everyone who failed that

the university would be
bringing the bonfire back.

You know like when we
go to different stadiums,

and people get behind their crowd leaves,

our crowd never does that,
our crowd never booze.

It just tells how the spirit
of the tough man is so strong

and how they're always
behind us and I love it.

The bonfire had such benefit
and value to the university.

We had a leadership and
a training opportunity

that was lost.

And now in front
with the role of guard viewing

party stood St. Peter and his angel staff

were choosing bad from good.

First to survey the entire
team and in terms of

an angel swore by job,
I do believe I've seen

this galla group before.

I've seen them fly since way back when

and I've always had the grit.

I've seen him lose, and I've seen a win,

but I've never seen him quit.

You think they should bring

the bonfire back to campus?

I think they should.

I think as long as the parents
of the 12 are okay with it,

and they can find a way to do it safe.

Those lessons are invaluable.

I'd love to see it come back.

We got a little unfinished business.

We're going all the way
to Austin Thursday night.

And this crew right here
is going to beat the

hell out of TU

What is always associated
with this players is class.

Yeah, that will get
you an important point

because RC Slocum he shows
it and it's not just a show,

he really is a class person.

He really is.

And I think that his
coaching staff, the players

really follow in his
footsteps, so to speak.

And that's the type of
players that he recruits.

There's so many
emotions that are positive

when I think a bonfire

and then there's this one failure point

where it ended in tragedy
and ended up costing people's

lives and that part disturbs you,

so it really pulls you in
two very different directions

and I don't think it should be forgotten.

I think it should be remembered.

I think it should be talked about.

Should they
bring it back to campus?

I'd love to see it back on campus.

I think it can be done safely.

And it can be done with supervision.

And here's the thing about Texas A&M.

It's a great institution.

So, why not ask some great
institutions to do great things?

We can learn from the lessons.

And my guess, is most people
would love to have bonfire back

on campus, but we need to
make sure it's done correctly

and safely.

Would I like to see it continue?

Absolutely, it was one
of my favorite traditions

and really still is to this day,

Even after what happened?

Even after what happened, yeah.

That goes as far as to
say I wanna light it.

I put so much work into
actually building one of that

to see it never happened.

Even in my lifetime, even on like TV,

I never watched one.

To actually like,

be the guy who like
sets that thing on fire.

That would be an amazing
accomplishment for me.

It would be a triumphant moment for me.

Like I kind of conquered something,

took a lot of work to
get back to where I was,

you know.