AMERICAN FORK, Utah -- The somber mood that prevailed during a Sunday night vigil in American Fork was in stark contrast to the chaos that briefly reigned the night before at the scene of a bus crash in southern Idaho that claimed the life of an American Fork High School band instructor and injured several band members.

At the American Fork High School vigil Sunday night, school band director John Miller told band members "I think she truly gave her life for you" as he paid tribute to Heather Christensen, 33, who died at the scene of the Saturday night crash.

Witnesses say Christensen went to the aid of the bus driver, who had apparently blacked out, and vainly tried to gain control of the bus just before it crashed. Her actions were seen as preventing even more tragic results from occurring.

The championship big band's next competition will be at BYU on Tuesday, where Christensen's photo will be added to a collection of World War II veterans' photos that are a part of the field show, which is a tribute to "The Greatest Generation."

Miller told band members, parents and supporters that he thinks her picture belongs there.

As Miller took the microphone, he raised a set of military-style dog tags and rattled them. Band members raised similar dog tags each had been issued as part of the show and shook them, and in a packed high school gymnasium, the sounds of rattling metal mingled with the sobs of grieving band members.

Miller said band members had decided to honor Christensen the next day by wearing no dresses, which she disliked, and flip-flops, which she often wore.

Christensen's mother, Annette Tippets, told the students, "I want you to know that Heather is so happy now. I know she's not sad. We are. I'm grateful for her life."

Gov. Gary Herbert, who was born in American Fork, told the students that Christensen was a hero.

"But for her actions this tragedy would be so much worse than it is. Someone who has given up her life for others is a great example to all of us," he said. "The greatest memorial you can give to Heather is how you live your lives going forward."

The beloved band instructor touched hundreds of lives, leaving a mark on each and every one, said tearful Riverton High students and alumni who remembered Christensen's six years teaching at their school during a vigil there Sunday night.

Candles flickered in shaking hands, but people's sniffles weren't from the cold, they were from the weeping as people stepped forward one by one Sunday night to give "bandimony" -- a term Christensen had created after the Mormon practice of giving testimony in church.

"From day one she expected excellence from each one of you," said Coreli Ordakowski, whose daughter was allowed to join the band in eighth grade just because Christensen "could see her potential."

Even if students were struggling in math, Christensen would tutor them to keep them in band, playing what they love, said Riverton alumna Genny Bull, who was in the color guard years ago.

"She wanted to make sure everyone could do what they love," Bull said. "Even if it wasn't school-related, she offered an ear to listen, or a shoulder to cry on, or a laugh."

At a Sunday afternoon press conference in Pocatello, emergency responders described the chaos that briefly reigned at the scene of the bus crash.

Students, many in shock and barefoot, wandered in the cold from the buses where a short time before they had settled in to watch videos on the long drive home from the marching band competition they had just won at Idaho State University.

The accident happened shortly after 7 p.m. on I-15 about two miles north of McCammon, Idaho.

Woodwind instructor Heather Christensen, 33, of Salt Lake City, died on the scene from her injuries after being partially ejected from the bus, officials said at a press conference in Pocatello.

She had tried to rouse the bus driver, 50-year-old Debra Jarvis, of Spanish Fork, who apparently blacked out for undetermined reasons. Christensen said "Ma'am!" repeatedly before trying to grab the wheel as the bus went off the right side of the road and tipped on its side, officials said.

Law enforcement officials said they took blood and urine samples from Jarvis, which is standard procedure in fatal wrecks. Officials said it is too early to say if she will face any charges.

The Provo-based charter bus company, Lake Shore Motor Coach Lines, did not answer a phone call or return an e-mail message Sunday evening.

About 45 students were treated at Portneuf West Medical Center in Pocatello for mostly minor injuries. Twelve were driven in ambulances, and two were flown by helicopter strictly for transportation purposes and not because they were seriously injured.

The rest of the students were taken to the hospital in one of the three other buses in the roughly 200-person caravan.

The driver and three students were resting at the hospital in stable condition on Sunday, officials said.

An accident reconstructionist is examining the scene and two commercial vehicle safety specialists are checking the bus for mechanical problems, but no report is expected for at least two weeks, said Idaho State Police Capt. Eric H. Dayley.

There were 46 students and two adult chaperones on the bus that crashed, in addition to the driver.

Luana Lish, who coordinated a response team from nearby Inkom, said she found "a myriad of cold and frightened kids" when she arrived at the scene. Four students were still trapped in the bus but were quickly extricated with no major injuries, she said.

"It was chaotic, it was cold and it was extremely miraculous that we had only one fatality and the rest walked away from that with minor injuries," Lish said.

The driver of the bus directly behind the crash ran to the scene and helped free the driver, who was hanging by her seat belt, officials said. He was then too traumatized to resume driving, so a city bus was brought from Pocatello to take students as far as Tremonton.

Idaho State Police Cpl. Brady Barnes, one of the first responders on the scene, spoke by phone with Christensen's father sometime after 1 a.m.

"Considering all that had happened, he seemed to be handling it pretty well," Barnes said. "You don't know how that's sunk in so far with someone."

Many students who were on the bus said Christensen's quick action Saturday may have saved lives.

"The kids I talked to said that when the driver collapsed, she jumped up and tried to get the steering wheel, but the bus was already gone," John Miller, American Fork band director, said.

Haylie Lund, a 16-year-old band member who was on the bus, described the event.

"I saw her stand up and the bus started to hit some bumps. Then we hit a big bump. That's when everyone flew in the air. The bus started to tip over and I think that's when Heather went out through the windshield," she said.

The selfless act didn't surprise the people who know Christensen.

"She was always putting others before herself. She was also very service oriented," her brother-in-law, Daniel Hooge, said. "She was the type of person that if you asked her to do something, she was there to do it."

Funeral services for Christensen will be held Saturday at 11 a.m. in the Alpine Tabernacle in American Fork.

The American Fork High School Marching Band has consistently taken local, regional and state honors over the past two decades, performing at the second inauguration ceremony for President George W. Bush, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York and the Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, Calif.

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