Bonfire - 10 Years Since

In a few hours, there will be a solemn ceremony marking the 10th
anniversary of the Bonfire collapse.
In the Fall of 1999, I was a junior in the Corps of Cadets, the 5th
Battalion Seargeant Major. One of my roles was to ensure the 3 Company
First Seargents had accurate muster / strength reports daily. I lived
in a dorm room of on the 1st floor of the 5th Battalion dorm near one
of the 4 doors.

November 18, 1999 at 2:42 AM Bonfire fell.
I was awoken at 2:50 AM by 2 - Company K2 freshmen beating on the dorm door.
Earlier that evening I had been waiting on a buddy of mine to stop by
my room, so we could go out to Bonfire Stack that night. The t.u. Game
was a week away, so crews were working around the clock to ensure the
Stack would be ready to burn. I had 2 exams earlier in the day, so
when my buddy hadn't shown up by 10 PM, I fell asleep.

The beating on the door was out of the norm - even for the Corps. My
first thoughts were - this has got to be a drunk freshman or sophomore
- if it is I am going to PT them until I fall back to sleep. I opened
the door - they could hardly speak, but I heard the helicopters
already in the air. I awoke the 3 company 1st Seargeants and ordered
muster reports be expedited. As the reports came in, there were a lot
of guys unaccounted for. Cell phones weren't as common as they are
now, so it wasn't as simple as calling someone's cell to find out
where they were. Several names of unaccounted cadets stuck in my head - Heath Brown, Daniel
Cepeda, and Scott West - these were all guys confirmed to have been at
the stack that night and they were all 3 guys from my Company and they
were my friends.

Shortly thereafter I bolted for the stack. I got over to the polo
field where I saw the twisted pile of logs. The dust hadn't settled,
there were screams, and the authorities were cordoning off the area. I
could see someone trapped and unable to move as a log was on them.
I ran into my classmate and buddy, Heath Brown within a few minutes of
being at the site. He had a bewildered look in his eye - he had been
on top of the stack when it fell. He had been thrown into the air, and
had landed on top of the pile. The same happened to Daniel - Heath and
Daniel walked off the stack. They had both been on the side opposite
of the side that collapsed. Scott West had been on the side opposite
of them, the side that collapsed.

As daylight arrived, the muster reports in the Corps were solidifying.
From my Battalion, Scott was the only cadet unaccounted for.
Hours later we would confirm Scott's passing.

Days later on the day Bonfire would have burned, there was a huge
memorial. My parents came down for it - it was extremely emotional. I
will never forget it.

April 21, 2000 - I had the privilege to fire at Muster in honor of the
12 fallen Aggies (and others). I still have the shell casing from the
21 gun salute.

November 18, 2000 - it rained. I stood in my Ross Volunteer white
uniform in a soaking 40 degree rain guarding the site. The rain hid
our tears as we stood at the site remembering that dreadful day 1 year prior.

October 2006 - Holly and I visited for the first time the Bonfire
Memorial. I wept as we walked in - I had been there on the same ground
years before while those souls and those logs were piled together. I
would have wept more, but I was not pleased with the way the Bonfire
Memorial had been completed.

October 18, 2009 - A lot has changed in all of us who were involved
with Bonfire back in those earlier years. We've all grown and matured,
but inside every one of us is a compartment that only gets opened up
when in the midst of others who experienced that event.

Remember where you were that day, 10years ago. Remember calling home
and telling your parents you love them, and remember those who did not
have that opportunity.

Softly call the muster, let comrade answer "here"....
Here.

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