News
ENLARGE
GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. —For what seemed like days, Grand Junction High School student Gabriel Gallegos felt a hollow feeling of uncertainty in the pit of his stomach as he sat in a crowded high school gymnasium in Greenfield, Iowa. He was surrounded by fellow members of the Troopers Drum and Bugle Corps, but they sat in stunned silence.
Gallegos and the others had just learned that a bus carrying 39 members of their group had crashed near Minden, Iowa, about 40 minutes from Greenfield. They were scheduled to spend Monday rehearsing in Greenfield, and then head for a two-week training camp near Indianapolis on Tuesday.
Those plans hit a road block. It happened about 8 a.m. when the last of the Troopers' three charted buses blew a tire and the motor coach was sent careening off Interstate 80 and down an embankment and landed on its side.
Gallegos and the others were told that everybody on the bus had been injured and taken to the hospital. Most of those injured had been sleeping on the bus when it crashed.
Only hours before, Gallegos was on top of the world after the buses he and three other Grand Junction students were in pulled out of Cheyenne, Wyo., after a Sunday night show. And he had reason to be excited, because he was a member of the Troopers Drum and Bugle Corps, one of the oldest and respected drum and bugle corps in the country.
Gallegos' summer adventure consists of 10 weeks on the road, going from town to town doing 32 shows playing music that he loves in 16 states throughout the Southeast and Midwest, including shows in Minneapolis, San Antonio and Atlanta.
Troopers is made up of 142 young musicians between the age of 14 and 21 from the United States, Japan and Germany. Gallegos, 14, is one of four from Grand Junction, including Cameron Honnen, 15, Max Houtris 15, and Chris Bock, 18.
Each member of corps had to audition for a spot. More than 400 young musicians auditioned.
But on Monday morning, all that seemed distant — maybe even insignificant. Gallegos worried about his new friends on that bus. Although he only met them less than two weeks ago, they had become part of his family, forged together with a passion for music.
“I felt sad,” he said. “I was like, ‘Is this really happening?'”
On Sunday night, three charted buses were lined up to transport the musicians to Greenfield. The Grand Junction youths rode in the first two buses and arrived safely to the Iowa town, which is about 30 miles northeast of Omaha, Neb.
The third bus never made it.
“According to what the truck driver who was following the bus saw, a tire blew on the back and the bus wigged off the road and came to rest on its side,” corps director Fred Morris told the Casper Star-Tribune on Monday.
The bus traveled about 200 feet on the interstate with the blown tire, slid off the side of the road and skid 225 feet down an embankment, where it landed on its side.
“When they told us what happened, I felt fortunate that I wasn't on that bus. But I felt guilty because I felt lucky,” Gallegos said. “There was a lot of tension. Most of us couldn't sleep.”
But as the sun began to inch across the sky, so did the hopes of the Troopers. By 11 a.m., all of those on the crashed bus had been treated and released from four area hospitals. And by 4 p.m., they joined the rest of the Troopers in Greenfield.
Those who had been on the bus that crashed arrived, many wearing bandages or slings, to the welcoming arms of their fellow musicians. When they were reunited, some hugged. Others cried.
“When they were hurt, the entire group was affected. You could sense it. It was like you got hit in the stomach,” Gallegos said.
Although stunned by the accident, it didn't kill their desire. Those not involved in the accident ran through drills for about five hours Monday before their injured buddies arrived.
“When they got back, everyone was hyped. The rest of the rehearsal block was all adrenaline,” Gallegos said.
The injured Troopers arrived on another bus, and many were not able to retrieve all of their belongings from the crashed bus. So when they reached Greenfield, many just had the clothes on their backs. But the rest of the corps shared their gear to help them get by.
“This was an eye-opener that brought us closer. We're all a better and bigger family. We're part of something special,” Gallegos said. “It really gave a meaning to ‘The Road Home' in our own ways.”
The Road Home is this year's theme for the Troopers.
Gallegos and the others had just learned that a bus carrying 39 members of their group had crashed near Minden, Iowa, about 40 minutes from Greenfield. They were scheduled to spend Monday rehearsing in Greenfield, and then head for a two-week training camp near Indianapolis on Tuesday.
Those plans hit a road block. It happened about 8 a.m. when the last of the Troopers' three charted buses blew a tire and the motor coach was sent careening off Interstate 80 and down an embankment and landed on its side.
Gallegos and the others were told that everybody on the bus had been injured and taken to the hospital. Most of those injured had been sleeping on the bus when it crashed.
Only hours before, Gallegos was on top of the world after the buses he and three other Grand Junction students were in pulled out of Cheyenne, Wyo., after a Sunday night show. And he had reason to be excited, because he was a member of the Troopers Drum and Bugle Corps, one of the oldest and respected drum and bugle corps in the country.
Gallegos' summer adventure consists of 10 weeks on the road, going from town to town doing 32 shows playing music that he loves in 16 states throughout the Southeast and Midwest, including shows in Minneapolis, San Antonio and Atlanta.
Troopers is made up of 142 young musicians between the age of 14 and 21 from the United States, Japan and Germany. Gallegos, 14, is one of four from Grand Junction, including Cameron Honnen, 15, Max Houtris 15, and Chris Bock, 18.
Each member of corps had to audition for a spot. More than 400 young musicians auditioned.
But on Monday morning, all that seemed distant — maybe even insignificant. Gallegos worried about his new friends on that bus. Although he only met them less than two weeks ago, they had become part of his family, forged together with a passion for music.
“I felt sad,” he said. “I was like, ‘Is this really happening?'”
On Sunday night, three charted buses were lined up to transport the musicians to Greenfield. The Grand Junction youths rode in the first two buses and arrived safely to the Iowa town, which is about 30 miles northeast of Omaha, Neb.
The third bus never made it.
“According to what the truck driver who was following the bus saw, a tire blew on the back and the bus wigged off the road and came to rest on its side,” corps director Fred Morris told the Casper Star-Tribune on Monday.
The bus traveled about 200 feet on the interstate with the blown tire, slid off the side of the road and skid 225 feet down an embankment, where it landed on its side.
“When they told us what happened, I felt fortunate that I wasn't on that bus. But I felt guilty because I felt lucky,” Gallegos said. “There was a lot of tension. Most of us couldn't sleep.”
But as the sun began to inch across the sky, so did the hopes of the Troopers. By 11 a.m., all of those on the crashed bus had been treated and released from four area hospitals. And by 4 p.m., they joined the rest of the Troopers in Greenfield.
Those who had been on the bus that crashed arrived, many wearing bandages or slings, to the welcoming arms of their fellow musicians. When they were reunited, some hugged. Others cried.
“When they were hurt, the entire group was affected. You could sense it. It was like you got hit in the stomach,” Gallegos said.
Although stunned by the accident, it didn't kill their desire. Those not involved in the accident ran through drills for about five hours Monday before their injured buddies arrived.
“When they got back, everyone was hyped. The rest of the rehearsal block was all adrenaline,” Gallegos said.
The injured Troopers arrived on another bus, and many were not able to retrieve all of their belongings from the crashed bus. So when they reached Greenfield, many just had the clothes on their backs. But the rest of the corps shared their gear to help them get by.
“This was an eye-opener that brought us closer. We're all a better and bigger family. We're part of something special,” Gallegos said. “It really gave a meaning to ‘The Road Home' in our own ways.”
The Road Home is this year's theme for the Troopers.
