Posted by Jeffrey M. Van Ness on November 19, 2012:

I was a friend and classmate of Lance's during high school. Even then Lance was fanatical about his goal to be a professional soldier. Lance was driven in that pursuit which reflected in how he approached life, school and what little free time he had. Lance organized a survival expedition for a small group of friends of which I was a part. During a vacation break from school we packed our backpacks and headed out to the Sierra Nevada Wilderness Area. We were dropped off at the trailhead by Lance's father, a man who instilled a profound sense of loyalty and purpose in Lance. We hiked deep into the wilderness along a river until we found a spot that Lance felt was secluded and suitable enough for our endeavor. The weather was bitter cold and it rained for much of the time. Each of the four of us went about establishing our own style of survival shelters. We all studied survival techniques prior to our trip but none of us had any practical experience. Lance insisted that we spend a minimum of 7 days in the field and we were not allowed to bring any food with us; we were to live off the land. Four days into the exercise, we were tired, wet, cold and unable to find anything to eat in the winter climate. Three of us decided we needed to end the exercise early and hike out while we still had the energy. Lance objected and insisted that we needed to stay the full 7 days, but he was receptive to reason. So we broke camp and began the long arduous hike back up the mountain; that is all of us except Lance. Lance agreed to help us hike back out but he was going to return by himself and finish out the last 3 days. There was nothing that we were going to say to change his mind. We trudged along for most of a day to reach the trail head. We attempted to convince Lance to remain with the group but he just shook our hands and started back down the mountain. Since we had not been scheduled to be picked up for another 3 days and there was no communications near the trail head it took almost another day for us to reach a populated area. I know Lance would have stayed and survived for the remaining 3 days at any cost if it had not been for his Dad going back up there and what I characterize as "dragging Lance off the mountain." After we returned to school Lance would not speak much about the trip. I suspect Lance viewed it as a failure and he did not accept failure. Well it wasn't long after, we all graduated and went off on our own paths. Lance and I were the only two of the group to take the military path. I went on to fly with the Night Stalkers and retire as a CW4 and, well, we know where Lance's path led him.

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