Former paratrooper recalls harrowing Green Ramp accident that killed 24

Monday marks the 20th year since a tragic accident claimed the lives of 24 members of the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg. The paratroopers died when an F-16D Falcon collided with a C-130 Hercules transport plane while both were trying to land at what was then Pope Air Force Base.

Lt. Col. Judson Nelson was one of those soldiers.

"We were doing a daytime jump,” he recalled. “Daytime. No combat equipment. It was a rarity in division to do something like that.

Suddenly, Nelson heard a popping noise.

Nelson was on fire.

“I was conscious of the fact that I was on fire, on the back of my blouse, so I tried to roll it out and ended up having to take that blouse off to get the fire off me,” he said.

Then the situation worsened. The fighter jet’s chain gun had live ammunition, and the heat from the explosion set off the rounds.

The accident, which injured more than 80, is considered the largest loss of life for the division during peacetime since the end of World War II.

Nelson was burned over 45 percent of his body. He proudly wears his scars, because he knows he's one of the lucky ones.

“You hear stories about guys trying to put their buddies out, pour water on them while they're starting to flare up still because they aren't totally out. And guys tackling other guys who are running and they're on fire and trying to put them out,” he said.

He added: “I like to tell people I’m alive because of folks at Womack (Army Medical Center). And every time I see somebody who was there that day, I give them a big hug.”