Students trapped during Ft. Hood chaos

KILLEEN, Texas (KXAN) - Five Marble Falls High School juniors and their Rotary Club sponsors found themselves trapped in the middle of the Ft. Hood lockdown during a job-shadowing trip. Their aspirations of military careers were certainly put to the test.

"I guess I was kind of scared at first," said Hannah Walker, 16, "because where we were was right next to where it happened."

"We had lunch at the mess hall," said Austin Sellers, 16, "and as we were leaving, we were directed the opposite way that we came. We looked up the street and saw a bunch of emergency responders."

Within minutes, soldiers ushered the group back to the central office.

"They told us that we needed to get out of the van," said Walker, "that we were on lockdown and we needed to go inside."

Herb and Doris Lewis, the sponsors, both have military backgrounds. Herb was a Navy captain; his wife was a Navy nurse. They both admit they were shaken by something so sudden on the base.

"We weren't too worried, just cautious," said Herb. "The kids did very well."

"I think they just made us feel very comfortable and relaxed," said Lindsey Walters, 17.

"They told us their stories about whenever they were in the military," said Roger Crowder, 17.

The couple, who hosts the job shadow program at Ft. Hood each year, kept the kids away from windows and doors.

"They came in and turned on the TV," said Doris. "We had three different news stations, so that we could keep abreast of the situation."

Unable to see what was just outside, they witnessed what the rest of the nation also saw on television. One of the Marble Falls juniors snapped a picture of that moment on his cell phone.

"Most of our phones didn't work," said Sellers. "I didn't know if it was because everyone was trying to call out at the same time or something. But after a while we were able to call other people, and we all called our parents."

"(My mom) just wanted to know what had happened and how far away we were from it," said Walker. "If we had heard any shots and things like that."

Watch Walker's mom talk about the lockdown in the YouTube video below:

After a six-hour lockdown, the soldiers who guarded the group said it was finally time to leave. The students snapped more photos of the additional two-hour traffic jam out of Ft. Hood.

"After all that happened," said Krystofer Harber, 16, "there's no other place you want to be except for home."

Back at school, they resumed their regular lives, but each shared a common bond - knowing how a moment like that can truly make a difference in your future.

"To be a part of that it just makes my opinion even better and makes me want to be a part of the military even more," said Walker.

"It taught us to expect the unexpected," said Walters. "Anything is possible."