Highway Rollover − 30 June, 1994

I was in the Army in El Paso and it was a weekend pass for July 4th. My friend Jason Sexton and I were going to visit our girlfriends (who were sisters and moved away from El Paso) in Fort Worth, Texas. The rules for military passes for units on alert is that you can go no further than 200 miles. Our girlfriends were way beyond that, but we didn't think anyone would find out and we'd done it before.

We hopped in his little car and went on our way right after 1630 (4:30p.m.) formation. It started getting dark and I fell asleep. Jason woke me up around 11 p.m. and I took over.

Right around Odessa/Midland Texas, There was car that drifted into my lane, I reacted and drifted off the road and into the median. I had been doing 75 mph and couldn't gain control once I hit gravel. I was out of control and I remember franticly spinning the wheel trying to regain control but the car kept fish-tailing. It was then that Jason woke up and said, "Huh? What's going on.." I grabbed his chest and pushed him against the seat. (He had his seat down in a laying position). I remember praying that the car would just slow down and stop in the median and we could get going again. This is how it went:

"Please don't flip over, Jason's going to be so pissed if his car is messed up. Please don't flip, how are you going to get back to post? please don't flip, please don't flip" Then the car hit the bottom of the median and I saw bright green grass, from the headlights, coming right for the windshield.

(Now, I never told anyone this, but I wasn't wearing a seatbelt)
I moved my left arm above my head so that it was laying against the frame of the car and my palm was facing up on the roof of the car and I had my other hand on Jason to hold him down and by this time he was awake.

I remember feeling like I was in a roller coaster and I also felt the car roll over and over. At some point, I lost consciousness...

I woke up and it was pitch black, I tried using some of the oncoming cars to get my bearings. I looked over towards Jason and couldn't see him, I looked around me and I saw the gas and break pedals in my face, I also noticed I was laying in some kind of fluid. It was then that I realized the car was upside down. I untangled myself while screaming, "Jason!" over and over.

I finally heard him screaming by the road. He was laying half on the road and half off. I had no idea what the extent of his injuries were, but I could see blood flowing out of his ears and he was screaming and moaning. I felt like a real horse's ass. All of the sudden, there was a guy next to me asking if we should move him because of the 18 wheeler heading straight for him.

After a couple years of Army combat medic training, I knew you shouldn't move someone if you are unsure of his injuries. But faced with sure death by big rig tire, or being paralyzed, I knew Jason would want the latter. We moved him just off the road about 15 seconds before the rig flew by honking his horn. (What an asshole)

I knelt down next to Jason and he was mumbling incoherently. I didn't know what to do, A woman came up to me and said she was a paramedic so I left him in her hands. I then ran to the car because I remembered I was laying in gas so I "had" to get our stuff out of the trunk before it blew up.

Just then, two hot girls came up to me. I remember thinking, "Holy Shit, I gotta get their numbers, me and Jason could hook up with them later." They were asking if everyone was alright and I was acting cool and saying, "Yeah, sure, my buddy is laying over there bleeding from the ears, but he's cool though." (What an inappropriate douchebag!)

Next thing I remember, a state trooper was telling me to leave the contents of the trunk alone and that he wanted to ask me a few questions. he asked me if I had a seat belt on, I lied and said, "Yes", and what happened. I gave him my version of the story (That, depending on who you ask, is a little different each time.) Then Jason was put in the ambulance and the medics told me to get in. I told them I was fine, and they said, "Trust us, you need to come with us."

When we got to the hospital I was escorted, by wheelchair, to a room. This was the first time I saw what I looked like. I had dried blood all over my face and my head had a gash in it. I also had a large bruise on my shoulder and my shirt was torn. I remember the pain starting once I saw the extent of my injuries. (Adrenaline is a bad ass pain medication.)

I was asking about Jason all night and they let me see him before the night was over. I was almost in tears. He had scraps and bruises all over his face and his ears were cleaned up a little and had cotton in them, he also had the monitor on his finger and he looked in bad shape.

I went back to my room and fell asleep. In the morning, a Red Cross volunteer was helping me with a change of clothes and a bus ticket back to Ft. Bliss. Yeah, I was in trouble big time. It turns out the accident happened 205 miles from post. Yes, a violation of a direct order and a punishible Article 15 offense of the UCMJ (Uniform Code of Military Justice). The volunteer then told me we were in the Midland newspaper but she couldn't find a copy. I've tried since then to find it on Microfiche but being that i don't live there it's tough. I remember asking about Jason and they said he was being airlifted to Beaumont Hospital on Ft. Bliss.

She took me to see the car at the impound lot and to grab some personal stuff and I can tell you right now. Everyone, including me, can't believe how I lived through, yet alone walked around after, that accident. There wasn't enough room in there for a 5 year old boy, let alone a 21 year old beefy soldier.

Our girlfriends were hysterical and arrived at Midland about 30 minutes after I left. I never saw my girlfriend Yadhira again. I just couldn't bring myself to have the energy to ever travel to see her again and I did a really punk move on her by not even telling her, but guess what? That's another story...

After I got back to Ft. Bliss, I was summoned by my commander and given 14 days extra duty. Which means working 24 hours a day doing whatever is asked of me, from cleaning up cigarette butts around the barracks to washing toilets and running errands.

After 14 days of this, I was called into the commanders office and he ripped up my article 15 in front of me (so it's not on my permanent record). He said I was a good soldier and didn't deserve to be punished anymore since my best friend was in a coma and he knew I learned my lesson.

I went out to Mexico that night and all of Jason and my friends were pissed off at me and threatened to kick my ass. I explained that the Army demanded I return to Ft. Bliss and face punishment and that I was on extra duty so I couldn't visit Jason at Beaumont, the hospital at Ft. Bliss that Jason had been transferred to.

The next day I visited Jason at the hospital. he was awake but groggy and when I walked into the room, he was like, "Heeyyyyy! What's up man?" I was happy that he was actually alive and off tubes and wasn't pissed off at me. We talked about that night and I let him know what happened. He was being weird and told me he was having trouble remembering anything after I took over the car.

So I said, "You don't know my name do you?"

"I...don't remember your name, but I know who you are." It was like he remembered everything about us hanging out at the clubs and the fact that we originally met one night while we were fighting each other over a girl in the street outside a club.

I almost cried.

I told him my name and told him more about the accident. I even told him about the chicks. He put two and two together and relayed how pissed my girlfriend was at me. I told him I just couldn't do it anymore and that I wasn't going to call her anymore. We talked about him getting better and going out to the clubs again someday soon.

A month later he was released back to his unit and he began work. After a week, the unit realized that he needed to be retrained completely as he forgot his entire skillset. He was given an honorable discharge and sent back to Delaware, but he was actually happy about it. I thought I'd never see him again. But I did, the Spring after I got out of the Army. Turns out, my Aunt Kim lives 2 miles from him and I saw him and met his Mom and spent the day with him. He was much better and his girlfriend from Fort Worth was visiting him at the same time so I saw her again. Of course, she gave me shit for what I did to her sister though. I hope by now, that they all understand why.

For almost ten years afterward, I had a hard time looking away from the road for any length of time...