Members of the Texas Army National Guard 2-149th General Support Aviation Battalion (GSAB) who are serving in Iraq took a few minutes out of their busy schedule on Sunday to honor a fallen comrade, as news of Staff Sergeant Charles C. Mitts, 42, of Spring Texas, death from injuries he sustained when the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter he was on went down on January 13th.   

The chopper was conducting winter field training exercises with Texas A&M Army ROTC cadets when the accident occurred. The bird went down just after liftoff at Duncan Field at the Campus of Texas A&M University.  Mitts was one of five Soldiers onboard the UH-60 when it crashed.  No Army ROTC cadets were on board when the accident occurred.

The crash also killed 2nd Lt Zachary Cook, 22, of Lufkin Texas, a recent Texas A&M graduate.  Three other guardsmen, all Iraq war Veterans, were injured seriously.  The University’s Web site listed them as 1st Lt. Ellis W. Taylor, 31 of Buda TX; Chief Warrant Officer 2 Matthew J. Smith, 41, of Leander TX; and Sgt. Richard D. Ravenscraft, 24 of Austin TX.

It was a somber moment as Soldiers gathered around the flagpole to honor SSG.  Mitts. Maj. John Barry HHC 2-149 GSAB’s Chaplain led the memorial service to honor SSgt. Mitts as member of the unit joined in, each sharing memories of the man he was: from always being there when the unit needed him for a mission or just a helping hand, to his recent return from a deployment to Iraq in 06-07, where he served with Company C of the 1st Battalion 108th Aviation Regiment.   

It is always hard when we lose a Soldier/friend, and the 2-149th GSAB is still trying to carry on after the Red River 44 crash not even six months ago, which claimed the lives of seven Soldiers on a ferrying mission into theater. And now to be losing someone like SSgt. Mitts has really been hard on the Soldiers. 

“Our thoughts and prayers go out to the crew members involved in this tragedy, and especially to the family and friends of the crew members who paid the ultimate price for our freedom as a result of injuries sustained in the crash,” A&M President Elsa Murano stated.

Sgt. Edward Thorne
Jan 18th, 2009