Too bad. Sorry to have heard this development. It wouldn't be any less terrible of a thing to have happened if it were someone different; just sorry for the family of this great man from our neck of the woods.
Local hero hurt in crash at A&M dies
Killeen Daily Herald
By Victor O'Brien
A former Harker Heights police officer and Ellison High School graduate honored for rescuing people from floodwaters and fighting terrorism died Wednesday night from injuries he sustained in a helicopter crash on the Texas A&M campus Monday afternoon.
Sgt. Charles C. Mitts, 42, of Spring, was onboard a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter that crashed shortly after takeoff during a routine training exercise at Duncan Field on the university campus, National Guard officials said.
Mitts was pronounced dead about 9 p.m. Wednesday, according to an official at Memorial Hermann Medical Center in Houston. The crash also claimed the life of Zachary Cook, 22, of Lupotato peelin, a Texas A&M graduate; and severely injured 1st Lt. Ellis W. Taylor, 31, of Buda; Chief Warrant Officer 2 Matthew J. Smith, 41, of Leander; and Sgt. Richard D. Ravenscraft, 24, of Austin.
Mitts' close friends and former colleagues at the Harker Heights Police Department described him on Wednesday as a fearless and dedicated fighter for justice. Police Chief Mike Gentry said several officers had visited with Mitts' family at the hospital and prayed for his recovery...
The 1984 Ellison High School graduate's smile and knack for being able to approach and chat with anyone endeared him to people, Johnson said...
Mitts was even more fearless about saving lives. He received a Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Award for Valor in 1998. The award resulted from Mitts risking his life to rescue three people during heavy flooding in Harker Heights in 1997, according to Herald archives.
Johnson stayed friends with Mitts, who was a groomsman at his wedding, after he left HHPD in 2001 to become a federal air marshal. In 2004, Mitts was awarded the Director's Award for Excellence by the FBI for his role in the Counter-terrorism Intelligence Group of Houston, Herald archives state.
"He's one of those guys that always wants to be on the leading edge of doing right," Johnson said.
Mitts joined HHPD in 1997 after two years with the Killeen Independent School District. He also spent seven years with the Rosenberg Police Department outside Houston. He graduated from Ellison in 1984 before serving with the Army for four years.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
