‘This tragedy did not define me’

I’ll begin my story from the summer of 1970. I stayed in Wichita with three of my teammates: Donnie Christian, who I had been best friends with since the second grade; Johnny Taylor and Randy Kiesau. We were all juniors-to-be and spent the summer working, working out and playing. We did all three very hard!

There was not a reason in the world to think that my “Summer of Innocence” would be shattered in 40 days with the death of these three friends and 28 others in our traveling party.

My knee required surgery, so I was in a cast for several months. I tried to come back and play football in the fall of ’71 but I was physically unable. I was upset and disappointed, knowing that I would have been drafted and given the opportunity to play in the NFL, but then I felt selfish for thinking such thoughts after the loss of my friends and the horrible situation our boys were going through in Vietnam.

I graduated in the spring of ’73. I wanted to stay in Wichita and tried very hard to find any entry-level job, but didn’t have any luck. I grew up fishing and camping with my family and friends using Coleman products, so I tried very hard to find employment with them. They were in a hiring freeze and so my only choice was to put “The Wich” in the rearview mirror and chart a course for the Southwest.

I never have forgotten the day that I left. I was living alone and packed my car and didn’t have a single soul to say goodbye to. I drove around the campus and Cessna Stadium and out to I-35 and thought that would be the last time that I would ever see Wichita again. That was true until 2005.

The energy crisis of the 1970s created by the Saudi oil embargo instigated a drilling and secondary recovery boom in the U.S. The energy sector was the place to find work. I found a job with a huge oil service company starting at rock bottom and rose to become a technical advisor with oil companies in Houston and San Antonio.

In 1974 or 1975, I read a report written by the FAA about the crash. There was a part about causes of death at impact. I read that people flying over the tops of people in their seats could have caused head trauma and led to the deaths of people that they hit. I knew they were talking about me. I was sitting in the very back with no seatbelt at the point of impact and my body started flying. I couldn’t sleep for months thinking about that. I found out 35 years later that I was not the only one sitting without a seatbelt and there was no reason to carry that guilt.

In the middle ’70s, I went home one weekend to see my folks and ran into Donnie Christian’s mom. I knew the Christians, like so many of the families with loved ones in the crash, never recovered from the effects of the tragedy. I saw her and she burst out crying and was hugging me and was physically shaken. I never came home much after that. I went into a shell and I didn’t want to cause any more pain.

I became hard to find after that. I felt guilty even though I had no reason to be. I just didn’t have anyone to talk to. The oil boom of the early ’70s was on the way out in the early 1980s and I found myself out on the highway once again, wondering which direction to go.

I moved to Overland Park and not long after that I met Kathy. She made everything right in my life. We have been together for over 30 years. We were blessed in 1993 with the birth of our son Dylan. I told Kathy in 2005 that I wanted to go to the 35th anniversary and see my old teammates. I will always be so happy that I did.

Besides reconnecting with old members of the team, I was thankful to meet Lynne Boyer, Nancy Grooms and Elizabeth Winterbone. At the age of 18 on Oct. 2, 1970, Lynne became the sole guardian of six brothers and sisters. At the age of 12 on Oct. 2, 1970, Elizabeth became more than just a big sister. On Oct. 2, 1970, Nancy and her siblings were orphaned.

I met (athletic trainer) Tom Reeves’ son, who was born about a week before his father was killed. I got to meet people who had a world of obstacles to overcome and through faith and family were able to become very successful.

I hope I’m around for the 50th anniversary so I can see all my friends again. I retired from real estate because of health issues. In 2014, I was attending a funeral in Norman, Okla., and survived an abdominal aortic aneurysm resulting in a quadruple bypass.

This tragedy did not define me. I love life, so grateful to be alive, and I consider every day a gift. Not a day goes by without thinking of my friends that I left on that mountain.

I will look forward to the next 50 years helping the school president rebuild our football team.

This story was originally published September 30, 2016 at 8:03 PM with the headline "‘This tragedy did not define me’."