CW3 Kent Walker

CW3 Kent Walker sat down with me for Heroes I Know.

February 2002. Florida National Guard. Instructor pilot. Apaches. Task Force Jaguar. They were going to Afghanistan with 3rd ID.

Mid-Florida. 120 knots. Forty or fifty feet off the trees. One engine. Then the other. No altitude to autorotate. He skimmed the trees. Left side low. Over 100 Gs. ELT dead. Left arm pinned. Right hand broken. Face split. Femur. Knee.

Copilot was Justin. 25th birthday. Broken legs. Broken arms. Teeth. Keep talking. Get to the radio. Kent loaded a pen flare with his mouth. Trigger broke. Strobe. Three hours in the dark. Then searchlights. They talked about taking the leg. Morphine. White sheet. Sparks from the saw.

Safety board took a year. He carried the guilt. Then they said mechanical failure. No pilot error. Justin's dad was a sergeant major. Brother flew Kiowas. Sister went to West Point.

Tony had their first daughter ten days before. Two weeks in the hospital. Wheelchair. Walker. Zimmer rod in the leg. She was wiping two. That is how she found behavioral health. He had been Marines. Then warrants. Cobras. Then Apaches.

Dothan now. Two daughters. Keep them in school. Help the community. Marry someone who loves them. He did not want to talk about this. Tony twisted his arm. That is why we hit record. Get the story on tape before we are too old or too sick to tell it.