THE RELUCTANT HEROES

Recently, my transport crew and I were returning home from a long road trip when we observed what can only be described as a horrific head on collision involving a semi truck and a jeep. The highway where the wreck occurred is a two lane stretch often referred to as "Blood Alley". Both vehicles were traveling at about 75 mph and when they collided it was at a combined force of over 150mph. Needless to say, both vehicles were nearly completely demolished and the debri field was spread over a quarter mile in every direction.

At first my crew and I were the only other people on the scene and we immediately contacted 911. We then attempted to offer aid to the victims in both vehicles. The driver of the semi was not seriously injured but he was in shock. Unfortunately, the driver of the jeep was killed instantly. He had been ejected from his vehicle and although we did what we could for him his injuries were so severe that he could not be revived.

As quickly as we could my men and I stabilized the victims and the scene and at great risk to ourselves began removing the debri from the roadway. We also, with the aid of a couple of other truckers spread out in either direction and not only looked for other ejectees but also attempted to flag down approaching traffic to get it to slow down. Despite our efforts for the most part we were completely ignored with many of the other motorists colliding with the debris sending it flying into the rescue area. Hardly anyone stopped to offer help.

In a couple of cases where the other motorists collided with the debris and recieved flat tires they simply pulled directly into the center of the rescue site and began their repairs, (racing through the site to get back on the highway when their repairs were completed). My men and I were both sickened and appalled.

After fire and rescue personnell arrived we continued to flag the approaching traffic until they had the site under control. When we were finished and as we were leaving the policemen and firemen lined up in sort of a recieving line to shake our hands and thank us for helping out. Many of them told us that if not for us there would have most likely been more fatalaties than there were.

As we drove away I couldn't help but to be proud of my men and how they had responded to the emergency. You see we often jokingly refer to ourselves as "F Troop" and consider ourselves goof offs and misfits. On that night however, my men were nothing short of top notch professionals. Although I did not get the names of the 2 truckers who helped out my men are Alan Strader, Charles Kiklis, Will Clark, and Steve Kona. I believe that these men deserve some sort of recognition for their courage and valor. Of course they would not think so. They are the kind of fellows who would consider their actions on that day common and normal.

My hat is off to you fellows and I am proud and grateful to be the team leader of such brave and uncommon men.

Thanks, Chris Berry
(Now get back to work you bums).