The challenge is, weve got houses in places we didnt used to have houses. And that puts people and h and property at risk. And so were having to fight fire in a different way than we did before. Looks like weve caught a dragon. It was moved into place. Then, just over a month later, we joined Robert Bigelow at Houston Mission control to see it inflate, the last critical step. And the i. S. S. Crew is ready for inflation. If it worked, it would make history the first expandable structure for humans in space. So what is it like for you this moment watching this happen . Severe curiosity as to whats going to happen next. Jeff, were ready for 15 seconds. Copy, onefive seconds. Im steve kroft. Im lesley stahl. Im bill whitaker. Im lara logan. Im sharyn alfonsi. Im scott pelley. Those stories, tonight on 60 minutes. Those who suffer from lower back pain go to Great Lengths to find relief. Finally theres drugfree aleve direct therapy®. 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A disproportionate number of the american prisoners were from the new Mexico National guard. Its why the memorial march is held annually at White Sands Missile range in southern new mexico. Like many soldiers, past and present, colonel ben skardon takes part for the historical symbolism. We first aired this story last year, and decided to run it again this memorial day weekend. What makes ben skardon unique is that among all the participants in new mexico, he is the only survivor of the actual bataan death march. And one more thing he is nearly a hundred years old. At 98 years old, what keeps you going . Colonel ben skardon it doesnt take anything to get me going, i tell you. I wake up in the morning and say, lets go alfonsi its become a tradition colonel ben skardon arriving a half hour before sunrise in his orange clemson jacket, as the corrals fill up with soldiers and american flags. Many will carry backpacks weighing 35 pounds or more on the course. A few will be testing new limbs. Before the bataan memorial death march begins, there is a ceremonial roll call. Ben skardon . Skardon here alfonsi for those who survived the real thing in 1942 and who have come to brave the cold new mexico morning, ben skardon is the only one who marched then and will march now, into the desert of white sands. Skardon thats my mecca. It became a place where im supposed to think about what went on during the march. Alfonsi is it good to remember . Because no one would blame you if you never wanted to think about that march again. But skardon oh. No, maam. Thats indelible in my mind. Alfonsi the arduous course that awaits him is an indelible reminder of the haunting procession of starving american and filipino soldiers who were ordered to walk 66 miles by the conquering Japanese Army. It was a march to the grave. Thousands died along the way. The bataan death march, as it became known, is considered one of the most notorious crimes of world war ii. 74 years later in new mexico, ben skardon calmly watches as all 6,000 runners and marchers leave the starting line. And then he begins his pilgrimage. Enjoy your eight miles. Skardon eight and a half. laughs alfonsi he hopes to walk the marathons first eight and a half miles as a tribute, just as he has done eight times before. Under the gaze of the organ mountains, hes accompanied by whats called bens brigade, a band of 25 friends, family members and former students of this longtime english professor at clemson university. An army medic and an r. O. T. C. Cadet hover nearby, as do support vehicles, just in case. When youre 98, walking at an altitude of 4,000 feet, every mile marker can seem like a landmark. But the colonel is in no mood to linger. Skardon well rest here ten seconds. One, two, three ten, oosh alfonsi oosh. Its what ben remembers the japanese guards bellowing when they wanted their american and filipino prisoners to keep moving on bataan. Ben keeps moving in new mexico skardon i got it. Alfonsi over gulleys and sand pits. After passing mile two, he breaks into a rhythm, and song. Skardon singing alfonsi water stations are named for towns along the bataan death march. Volunteers have learned to wait for ben, so they can pay their respects. In april, 1942, in the earliest months of the war, ben skardon was an Army Company Commander in the philippines. After four months of fighting, 76,000 outgunned and cornered american and filipino troops were surrendered to the invading Japanese Army, the largest surrender in American Military history. The prisoners massed at the bottom of the Bataan Peninsula, which sticks out like a thumb along manila bay. Where did you think you were going . Skardon i didnt have the slightest idea. I, geographywise, i all i knew was manila would be at the end of the manila bay. And i thought we will probably end up in manila hotel. Alfonsi the japanese guards thought surrendering was beneath a soldier. They held their prisoners in contempt. Streams of americans and filipinos were herded along the old National Road in 95degree heat, the sun searing their skin. Skardon was already suffering from malaria when they first started walking, but he couldnt stop or slow down, not with the threat of japanese bayonets. Skardon that was the greatest fear on the marches, the bayonet. Alfonsi did you see people get bayoneted . Skardon no. But one got bayoneted right behind me. Then i was out of there, and i was terrified. Alfonsi there were atrocities he couldnt miss. Skardon there were two in the middle of the road, americans, and they had been run over so many times alfonsi by trucks . Skardon that they were flattened out. And it you know how you cut out a silhouette of somebody . It looked like they were cardboard. You could pick them up. Alfonsi today, commercial traffic lines bataans old National Road, but the death march is remembered with signposts, little monuments to the struggle the prisoners faced as they walked through the mountains and lowlying villages. Always, they headed north. Skardon wondered if they would ever get there, wherever there was. Skardon and all i was just wishin was somewhere we could stop. Thats one of the miracles that happened to me, is to be in the condition i was in and to make the march, and to not even sometimes know whether it was day or night, because you just trudged along. Alfonsi prisoners dropped dead by the hour. Food and water were scarcer than japanese empathy. Skardon but i had with me a can of eagle condensed milk. Alfonsi whered that come from . Skardon and i dont know where it came from, but it was in my pocket. And i put my can of milk in there and held onto it the whole time. So at night, i pulled that out. I didnt show it to anybody. And i would suck on it a little bit. You know, saliva go down your throat. Ooh, that was great alfonsi so that milk really sustained you . Skardon i feel that saved my life. Now, when i tell you somethin saved my life, it saved my life. Thats not a clicheee with me. Alfonsi every time he marches in new mexico, ben skardon carries an emblematic can of condensed milk, as if its a family heirloom. As the temperatures rise dramatically, the long sandy path can start to seem endless. But for ben, marching in this setting, at his own pace, with no bayonet in sight, is liberating. Skardon out here, you look wide, theres not a fence in sight, no guards. You could almost say theres immense freedom. Its also about people that i knew, who were like brothers to me, and not a single one of them got back. Im very lucky, and this is something to me that is obligatory. Alfonsi obligatory . Skardon yes, im obligated to be here, to them. They arent here, of course. Alfonsi they are Henry Leitner and otis morgan, fellow prisoners and fellow clemson graduates, who cared for skardon after the death march finally came to an end, eight days after it had begun. The finish line for the american captives was a diseaseinfested prison camp in the philippine countryside, where ben skardon became gravely ill. On top of his malaria, ben was afflicted with beriberi due to a severe vitamin deficiency. Skardon the danger of the beriberi was that it came up your legs. It got to your heart, it kills you. Your feet were so sensitive, nothing could touch em without you doing, like that, see. Henry would get hold of my feet. And then every time i jerked, he would squeeze. Well, he would do that for hours. Time meant nothing. Alfonsi otis, who spoke some japanese, came up with a plan the bait was bens clemson class ring of 1938. He wears a replica today. On the farm where the prisoners worked as slave labor, otis approached a japanese guard to make a deal. Skardon well, otis let it be known through the guard that he knew of a gold ring, would trade for food. So otis came in from the work detail with a live chicken, pullet size, very thin. Alfonsi you ate it all . Skardon and then they boiled it in a pail and then they take that chicken and broth and rice. Man, thats great stuff alfonsi nourished again, ben recovered. Skardon somethin restoreth my soul. The things that were done for me, i could never thank em enough. Alfonsi ben never got to repay henry and otis. Late in the war, the unmarked ships they were crammed into en route to p. O. W. Camps in japan were hit by american bombers, twice. Ben survived both times. Otis did not. Henry died of pneumonia in a japanese p. O. W. Camp. Skardon and if, if i could have cried, i would have cried. Alfonsi all together, ben was a prisoner of the japanese for over 1,000 days. He was finally liberated from a camp in manchuria, china by the soviet army in august, 1945. This is the first picture that was taken of him after he was freed. Beverly is his given name. That was a happy guy in that picture. Yeah, you look very thin here. Skardon well, i wasnt askin for compliments. Alfonsi he came home to South Carolina and taught english at clemson, where he was beloved by his students. But few knew what he had endured. Skardon i never spoke about it until i was 80 years old. I felt humiliated. Alfonsi humiliated. Skardon we had surrendered. Yes, maam. I, that was one thing that i had a hard tug with in my own mind. We surrendered. We gave up. Alfonsi it doesnt matter that he was awarded two silver stars and two bronze stars for gallantry and heroism in combat on bataan. When you came back to the United States, did you feel like a hero . Skardon dont even say that word in my presence. Im not a hero. Its not how much you suffer. Thats not, doesnt make you a hero. Alfonsi just outside clemsons football stadium sits memorial park. Etched in the cobblestones, are the names of clemson graduates who were killed in war. Skardon they are the true heroes, i suppose you could say. Alfonsi among them, otis morgan and Henry Leitner, the two men who saved his life. Ben likes to visit often, and plant Little American flags by their names. Skardon to me, theres a certain wonderment about my bein here. Alfonsi how do you account for the fact that, you know, you were so sick, and you made it home, and these guys didnt . Skardon it remains a mystery. But i feel like that comes up when i walk out there. I like to say, im walkin for you, henry, otis. Alfonsi rethre hours after ben started, as he approaches the sevenmile point on his journey, his own finish line within reach, there are reminders that suffering and valor in war dont belong to just one generation. All throughout the day, runners and marchers grind their way around the mountains, and to the finish. 26 miles is too much to ask of a 98yearold. Long ago, he determined that eight and a half miles was his outer limit. But for the ninth time, ben skardon completes his personal march cheers and applause a half hour faster than the year before. Skardon its just a terrific, warm feeling. Alfonsi do you think youll do it again . Skardon if im in this condition, ill be here next year. Ill never turn this place loose. cheers and applause alfonsi ben skardon did it again two months ago at age 99. He turns 100 on july 14th, and hopes to march in new mexico next spring. Cbs money watch update sponsored by lincoln financial. Youre in charge. Quijano good evening. On friday the Labor Department is expected to report the economy added 185,000 jobs this month. Five below reports earnings this week. And a private jet once owned by Elvis Pressley sold this weekend for 430,000. Im elaine quijano. Cbs news. Allergy symptoms distracting you . Doctors recommend taking claritin every day of your allergy season for continuous relief. Claritin provides powerful, nondrowsy, 24hour relief. For fewer interruptions from the Amazing Things you do every day. Live claritin clear. Every day. At holiday inn express, we dont just get you ready, we get you the readiest. To prove it, we took dennis, whos here for a convention and put him in a nationally televised dance competition. cheering ha holiday inn express, be the readiest. Holiday inn express, gimemorial day savings nowt onat lowes. Th huge like up to 40 off selet appliance special values. Plus, get up to 24 months special financing with your lowes Consumer Credit card. Get started with the seasons best savings. Start with lowes. Pelley now, Steve Inskeep of npr, on assignment for 60 minutes. Inskeep fighting wildfires in america cost federal agencies almost 2 billion last year, including more than half the budget of the u. S. Forest service. Wildland fires are growing worse, in a time of drought and climate change, and the biggest and most destructive fires cant be stopped. They are a force of nature imagine trying to stop a hurricane. Yet the government has to try, because more than 100 million americans now live in, or near, forests and grasslands that can erupt in flames. This is whats left of a neighborhood in the kern river valley. Its outside bakersfield, california. Much of the valley burned in a wildfire that swept across 75 square miles. It killed two people and destroyed 285 homes. The wildlands that fed this fire are the same wildlands that attracted residents like fred roach. Is this the view that brings people to live in this spot . Fred roach its the view that brought us here. Yes, sir. Inskeep roach lives amid mountains covered with grass, so dry that lightning strikes or human activity can easily set it on fire. He used to be a firefighter, and saw smoke rise over the valley on june 23. Roach the wind was blowing 20, 30 miles an hour and it came right at us. Inskeep the fire moved miles in a matter of minutes faster than fire crews, under chief Brian Marshall, could keep up. Chief Brian Marshall i never expected this fire to do what it did. This is going to go down as one of the fastest spreading wildland fires in californias history. Inskeep why did it spread so quickly . Chief marshall wind. Wind, coupled with drought. Hot, dry conditions on a summer day in the kern river valley, and all we needed was a spark, and there was no stopping that fire. Inskeep it kept burning, despite the efforts of firefighters who spent 22 million trying to stop it. Is there something the public doesnt get about the really big, fastmoving, dangerous fires . Chief marshall when you have the extreme fire behavior, when the weather, fuel, and topography sets up, there may not be anything that we can do. Inskeep more houses than ever lie within the reach of such fires. There are now 43 million homes in or near wildlands. Theyre in every part of the country. Neighborhoods amid forests and grasslands are now so common, they have their own special name its called the wildland urban interface, where people can live close to nature and to the fires that burn there. Chief marshall these homes are part of the urban interface. This entire community here is the urban interface. And we are fighting wildland fires in the middle of these neighborhoods. Inskeep as more houses are built near wildlands, more of them burn. 50 years ago, wildfires destroyed a few hundred structures per year across the United States. Now its more than 3,000. Last november, winddriven wildfires near gatlinburg, tennessee killed 14 people and damaged or destroyed more than 2,400 homes and businesses. In Northern California the year before, this fire burned more than a thousand homes, helping to make 2015 the most destructive and costly year of wildfires in u. S. History. Chopper pilot this is a lot of homes here and theyre really close to this fire. Inskeep of the tens of thousands of wildfires that break out each year, only a few get this bad. But theyre the ones that burn the most land, destroy the most homes, and cost the most, in oftenfutile efforts to fight them. Robert bonnie fire has always been part of the landscape. It will always be part of the landscape. Inskeep Robert Bonnie was undersecretary for Natural Resources and environment at the u. S. Department of agriculture during the obama administration. For three and a half years, he oversaw the Forest Service, the countrys largest firefighting agency. Bonnie over one thousand engine strike teams were summoned to protect life and property from an inferno. Inskeep for decades,