One year later, victims of Kaprun
cable car fire are remembered
By Marni McEntee,
Stars and Stripes
KAPRUN, Austria — For those who marched Sunday up the base of an Austrian
mountain, it was a time to remember those they lost.
Mothers placed placed fresh flowers in the snow in memory of their dead children.
Fathers read their sons’ poems. Sisters and brothers lit candles and cried for their
siblings at the base of the tracks where a ski train caught fire on Nov. 11, 2000, as it
moved through a steep tunnel.
All but 12 people were trapped inside the cars and either were burned to death or
succumbed to smoke inhalation. Eight Americans stationed with the U.S. military in Germany
were among the 155 who died in the conflagration.
"It’s been a rough year," said Rudolf Kern, whose only child, Army Capt.
Erich R. Kern, 25, died in the accident. Erich’s girlfriend, 2nd Lt. Carrie L. Baker,
23, also was killed.
Kern was assigned to the 30th Medical Brigade’s 421st Air Evacuation Squadron in
Wiesbaden. Baker was assigned to the same brigade’s 523rd Dental Services Company in
Giebelstadt.
Kern’s parents, of Dobb’s Ferry, N.Y., said Erich had been the center of
their universe. He was the captain of his football team, he stood up for his principles
and he called every Sunday — except on Nov. 12 last year.
"We didn’t know if we could come or how we’d handle it," Rudolf
Kern said. They said it would take some time to decide whether the trip would help heal
their hearts.
For others who rose before dawn Sunday, it was a time to begin to forget the tragedy
that had torn their lives apart.
"I’ve said goodbye to that damn tunnel," said Sue Habblett, whose
daughter, son-in-law and two grandsons were killed in the accident. "I’m going
to put it out of my mind that my family knew they were going to die and how that must have
felt."
Her daughter Jennifer, 35, her son-in-law, Army Maj. Michael C. Goodridge, 36, and
their sons Michael, 7, and Kyle, 5, had been on one of the first trains up the mountain
that morning. They had come south to Austria with Americans in two military-affiliated ski
clubs, based in Würzburg and Kaiserslautern. Also killed were Paul A. Filkil, 46, and his
son, Ben, 15, a high school cross country runner at Ramstein High School.
Skiers who died before skiing the Kitzsteinhorn glacier that day hailed from Austria,
Germany, Holland, Slovenia, Japan and America. About 300 people from all those nations
made the six-mile hike in frigid temperatures to the base of the glacier.
Mourners took their turns tolling a brass bell in honor of the dead before lighting
candles or placing flowers near a large, gold-colored cross. In the distance, the
now-closed train track stretched up the mountain toward a blocked tunnel entrance.
"I rang the bell four times," Sue Habblett said. "We had the youngest
and the oldest" victims in the fire. She wears three gold lockets around her neck;
two with pictures of her grandsons and one given to her by her daughter.
"I have her heart," she said. She also carries a key chain that has the last
Goodridge family portrait taken.
The Goodridges, Kern and Baker all were buried at the West Point military
academy’s cemetery.
Later in the service, 155 white balloons were released into the sky, marking each of
the victim’s departure from earth.
The Habbletts, Kerns and some 60 other relatives of victims have joined in a U.S.
District Court lawsuit against several companies, claiming — among other things
— that they were negligent in the train’s construction, maintenance and
operation.
Many of those involved in the lawsuit gathered after the ceremony to share lunch and
soothe each other’s pain. Uschi Geiger, whose 14-year-old ski-champion son,
Sebastian, was killed in the fire, said these meetings are often the only time they can
openly show their grief.
"It’s good to do it in a group because then no one looks at me" in pity
because they understand, she said.
Habblett said before the service that she hoped the anniversary service brought closure
for those left behind. A few bursts of laughter rose up from the luncheon tables — a
sound not often heard among the group in the past year, Geiger said. It was a good sign,
she said.
"Now, if there is a chance to laugh, we should laugh."
Back to November stories
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