THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, June 19, 1994 TAG: 9406190079
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MAC DANIEL, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: 940619 LENGTH: PORTSMOUTH
Waiting on the tarmac of Pope Air Force Base in North Carolina as he prepared to go up for a practice jump, Fagan, then 20, saw one of his sergeants look up at a wobbling jet.
{REST} ``He said, `That plane's going to crash,' and I started running as hard as I could,'' said Fagan, a paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne Division at nearby Fort Bragg.
``Then I heard the loudest noise I ever heard in my whole life. I was thrown to the ground and remember looking up and seeing a bunch of people completely on fire. The ground was on fire. I looked at my hands and they were on fire.''
Fagan was in the middle of a maelstrom that left 23 Army paratroopers dead after an F-16D fighter jet collided with a C-130 Hercules transport plane as both tried to land on the same runway on March 23.
The fighter jet skidded into a C-141 transport plane preparing to take Fagan and other members of the 82nd Airborne on a training mission. Soldiers were engulfed in flaming jet fuel and flying debris from the planes.
Shrapnel pierced Fagan's back, causing 13 fractures. His arms, back and hands were covered with second- and third-degree burns. One of his kidneys was removed during surgery, and he was flown to Portsmouth Naval Hospital's burn unit in serious condition. When he arrived, doctors were not sure he would make it.
But the next day, at 5 a.m. Chicago time, his mother, Lynn Fagan, answered the phone and heard John's doctor say: ``I told him to move his toes and he did.''
With an unopened six-pack of Guinness by his side, Fagan turned 21 Saturday. Members of the Hampton Roads Chapter of the 82nd Airborne Division Association helped bring members of Fagan's unit up from Fort Bragg for the occasion.
He received a bounty of presents, handshakes and a flurry of ``Hooaahhh!!'' cheers from his senior peers, whom he credits for his early and excellent progress toward recovery.
Dr. Brian V. Curtis said Fagan could be out of the hospital in about four weeks. He'll be able to jog but won't recover full use of his legs, Curtis said.
``We never thought he would get to this point when we found out he would live,'' said Lynn Fagan, who resides in Oak Lawn, Ill. ``These people have made a complete investment in his getting well.''
Laurence M. Bragg, 65, a former paratrooper from Norfolk, was instrumental in getting the birthday celebration under way. He has visited Fagan once or twice a week since his arrival. And when asked why he devotes so much time to someone he does not truly know, Bragg had a quick answer.
``We of the 82nd Airborne know where our people are,'' he said. ``It's like a brotherhood. We just let him lean on us whenever he needs to.''
During one visit, after Fagan asked why he was being so helpful, Bragg said: ``We're here to help you. Someday I'll be lying in a hospital bed, and I'm sure you'll be smiling down at me.''
Fagan, sporting a Mickey Mouse baseball hat (his favorite Disney character), plans to return to Illinois and go back to school to become a police officer. But the accident and the love of his elder comrades will never be a distant memory.
``They're the ones who really did everything,'' said Fagan, whose wiry legs are still bandaged in gauze. ``It was nice, you know. I was so grateful . . . so grateful for that.''
``It was a big part of my life because it changed my life,'' he added. ``I don't think I'll ever be how I used to be.
``But actually, I might be better,'' he added. ``I might be stronger.'' by CNB