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012209 MEMORIAL SERVICE FOR CHARLES MITTS

60 views · Published 16 June 2013 · 6:24 · Indexed 29 October 2026

Channel: SCOTT ENGLE-MONTGOMERY COUNTY POLICE REPORTER- · 2013 · News & Politics

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If Charles Mitts were still alive, his friends would have him smiling, his wife, Kristi Mitts, believes.

Mitts, 42, accomplished heroic feats during his life. He saved three people from flooding in Harker Heights in 1997. He was a decorated Gulf and Iraq war veteran. He helped with disaster recovery after Hurricanes Ike, Katrina and Rita and the space shuttle Discovery crash.


 
When Mitts was not overcoming extraordinary challenges, he reveled in spending time with his wife and three children.

He also delighted in watching the Discovery Channel show "Overhaulin.'" The show's cast turns antique piles of junk belonging to ordinary people into state-of-the-art classic automobiles. He enjoyed seeing good things happen to deserving people, Kristi said.

Mitts died Jan. 14 after the Army UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter he was in crashed during a training exercise over Texas A&M University on Jan. 12.

Another passenger died and three others including pilot 1st Lt. Ellis Taylor, 31, suffered severe injuries. Taylor remains in physical therapy to recover from the accident.

At the end of April, Mitts' close friends, John and Liz Hernandez, owners of Headliner Custom Interiors in Fort Worth, plan to overhaul Taylor's beat-up 1998 Land Rover, but need more money to complete the project.

Mitts was a gearhead and an avid fan of classic cars and racing, his wife, Kristi, said.

Mitts and Taylor served together in Iraq during 2006 and 2007. Mitts teased Taylor about his less than top-notch backpacks because Mitts always had the latest gear. He bought the best technology he could afford, Kristi said.

Shortly before the fateful flight, Taylor showed Mitts a picture from a Web site of the newest tactical bag Taylor had just purchased. The picture made Mitts jealous because he didn't have the gear yet.

The Hernandezes hope the project helps Taylor overcome grief of being the pilot during the crash. They invested $4,000, but need several thousand dollars more to restore the engine, gut the interior, re-cover the leather upholstery, add a custom audio system and install off-road accessories.

"Charles would have been one of the main people trying to get funding or contributions," Kristi said. "I think this would have really made him happy."

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