Vets helped wounded in fatal Texas crash

MIDLAND, Texas -- The parade float carrying wounded military veterans was inching across the railroad tracks when the crossing gates started coming down. And then the freight train came bearing down, its horn blaring.

Four veterans died in the Thursday collision, and 16 other people were hurt. For some of the war heroes who managed to jump off the flatbed truck just in time, training and instinct kicked in: They rushed to aid their injured comrades.

"They are trained for tragedy," said Pam Shoemaker, of Monroe, La., who was with her husband, a special operations veteran, on the float ahead of the one that was struck.

Shoemaker said she hadn't seen or heard the train until it was upon them. The couple jumped from their truck and ran toward the other one, knowing it would be hit in a matter of seconds because it was unable to move due to other floats in the parade. The crossing barriers had just started to come down, she said.

Sudip Bose, who was a front-line physician in Iraq, said yesterday that the immediate aftermath reminded him of a combat triage situation.

Veterans already were tending to the wounded when he reached the crash site. Bystanders tried to help with the limited medical supplies available.

"They were applying tourniquets, holding pressure to the wounds," said Bose, who served in Fallujah and Baghdad. "It was a scene of total chaos," he said.

Marine Corps Chief Warrant Officer 3 Gary Stouffer, 37, and Army Sgt. Maj. Lawrence Boivin, 47, were pronounced dead at the scene, Midland police spokesman Ryan Stout said. Army Sgt. Joshua Michael, 34, and Army Sgt. Maj. William Lubbers, 43, died later at Midland Memorial Hospital.

Four of the injured remained in stable condition and one is in critical, Stout said.

National Transportation Safety Board officials arrived yesterday in Midland to investigate.