On January 18th at 5:18 in the morning my husband and I were awakened by a knock at our door. It was a Florida Highway Patrolman; he said “Mr. and Mrs. ____I came to regretfully to inform you that your son Kenneth was killed in an automobile accident at approximately 10:35 last night. The accident occurred at mile marker 20 on Interstate 10, just east of Pensacola. The driver and other passenger are in the hospital.”
I will never forget how kind, compassionate, and caring the patrolman tried to be to us or how with those few words, I felt he had stabbed me though the heart. I truly do not believe there could be another more painful experience a mother and father could have.
Kenneth was a kind and loving son. He was a lot like all of you, not an angel or a saint but a good person. He accomplished a lot; he graduated with honors form Astronaut High School in May 1999. He was a three year letterman on the wrestling team, a two year letterman on the swim team. He played violin in the school orchestra for two years. He was in National Honor Society & Jr. National Honor Society since 8th grade. He was a Gold Seal award winner and was named in 97/98 Who’s Who Among American High School Students. He was a volunteer assistant at Garden Street Animal Hospital and worked part time at Dixie Crossroads.
In June of last year he left for U.S. Marine Corp boot camp and he took great pride in becoming a member of the world’s finest military organization. Most recently, he had been attending Avionics School at the Naval Air Station at Pensacola Florida.
On January 15th, Kenneth came home from school with two of his best buddies. He wanted to take them out to Disney to celebrate the fact that he had just become first in his class. All of them were excited and proud, as it is rare for a Marine to be the honor student in the Avionics School, because the vast majority of students are in the Navy and Air Force. The competition between services is very intense, a high grade point average and good study habits are required to be accepted into this school. They were the happiest guys in the world that weekend, with only one more test to go before completion, they were sure Kenneth would be named Honor Graduate. Kenneth was the Honor Graduate; we received the certificate post mortem. His grade point average was the highest in the class even though his last test was recorded as a zero.
They left Titusville about 2 o’clock Monday afternoon, giving them plenty of time for the trip. They weren’t required to be back until 6:30 Tuesday morning. They didn’t have a care or a worry in the world. Somewhere along the way they stopped to eat, afterward Kenneth and Daniel fell asleep. It is a boring 7-hour trip. I am sure they were confident in Glen’s driving.
The roads are straight but hilly and your tires make a sort of hum as you drive, this can have a hypnotic effect on you and lull you to sleep. Glen probably started to be overcome by this, but (like so many of us, including myself at times) thought; “I don’t have much farther to go I can make it! Why pull over and bother my sleeping buddies?” Glen dozed off, waking up when he drifted into the median. He turned the wheel quickly to get back on the road. The truck flipped and rolled 6 or 7 times according to the Highway Patrol. The truck came to rest in the ditch on the side of the road, about 10 or 15 miles from the base.
Kenneth was not wearing his seat belt and was thrown from the truck. Why? There are all kinds of excuses people make for not using their seat belts: I can just hear Kenneth’s now. “They ‘re uncomfortable (especially when you’re trying to sleep). It wrinkles your clothes. It’s not cool. Glen is a good driver! I am a young, strong and intelligent 18-year old (Nothing can happen to me)! Oh, and of course his best excuse “No one will ever find out!””
Glen is a good driver and was a good friend to Kenneth. It was a terrible accident under bad conditions: a long trip, dark, no one to talk to.
I only wish we could have talked to my son, a young, strong, intelligent, uncomfortable, uncool wrinkled Marine that morning instead of the Highway Patrolman.
Please, don’t feel sorry for us. Be Smart! Be Safe!
BUCKLE UP!!!
Don’t have your parents find out you weren’t from a Highway Patrolman.
Thank you, _______Grieving Mother
I wrote this 2 week after my sons funeral. I did a video presentation of it with pictures of him flashing in the background in hope of stopping the craziness.
2 months later I found out I didn't have all the facts. The driver was drunk!
GREYGRAMA
