Friend Dies in Accident

We went up to Fort St. John on a winter exercise and I had this one guy, same rank as me, a corporal and we were working together as a team and sleeping right out in one of the Doosan half tracks, all our tools and that was there, good buddies. And so anyway this one night we went into town, checking around, went in and had a few beers and whatnot. So when I was ready to go back out, ready to go out to the tent or truck at that time, so my buddy he went on ahead with some guy that was going to give him a ride. So I said, "I'll be a long afterwards!" Quite a bit later I got a ride home anyways and going out there it was early in the morning then and I got off right by the base where we were and I was just walking down the road to go back to our truck and my sergeant spotted me coming and he come screaming out and just yelling and I said, "What's the matter!" He says, "Walt's dead!" That was my buddy's name Walt, he's dead. He was killed in an accident with that car. I would have been in the car with him if I had of gone so that was a close call for me but it broke me right up, I couldn't do a thing for two days. I just sat in the truck and cried, we were that close, ya... So then the sergeant-major asked me if I wanted to escort his body back to his family out in BC, out in the Island and I said, "Definitely, yes I'll go!" So they did, they loaded us into one of their planes where they put some troops in and I escorted him all the way home right to his parents. It's hard to take. Even after you have been out of the military for quite a few years, if one of your good friend dies, it really hurts.