Air Force Pilot Wounded in Saudi Arabia Bombing Returns to the Skies

The night of June 25, 1996, is etched in the memory of Air Force Maj. Chuck Mitchell. It was the night a truck bomb ripped through the Khobar Towers military housing complex in Saudi Arabia, killing 19 Americans.

Mitchell vividly remembers shoving a buddy ahead of him under a pool table as the walls and ceiling crashed down on them. His buddy was not hurt, but Mitchell suffered injuries to his neck and back.

Nonetheless, he remembers running to save his pals in the barracks, dashing up seven flights of stairs in a building where the elevator shaft had been blown out. He remembers pulling shards of glass out of a man’s leg and applying tourniquets.

For the next 36 hours, he helped evacuate the bombed quarters and move the operation to a tent city at Al Kharj.

But his injuries were so extensive that he required a year of therapy. And he was banned from flying.

Last week, for the first time since the bombing, Mitchell climbed back into the cockpit of an A-10 Thunderbolt fighter jet, affectionately called a “hog” by aviation enthusiasts.

Now stationed at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Ariz., the art of flying is coming back to him quickly and easily. That’s because Mitchell, 39, has been flying for as long as he can remember.

On Saturday, the man who grew up in Reseda will return to his favorite haunt--the Van Nuys Airport--where he will be honored for his valor at the annual air show.

Mitchell will be receiving a recognition award at the show, which commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Air Force, said Stacy Geere, airport spokeswoman and show coordinator. She said Mitchell had regularly attended the Van Nuys shows, missing last year’s because of his injuries.

Mitchell’s father, a Marine and a World War II veteran, was among the first pilots in the Air Force. After he returned to civilian life, the family maintained its interest in airplanes. Mitchell spent his childhood around airports, particularly Whiteman in Pacoima and Van Nuys.

“I started flying when I had to put a book into a book pack to reach the rudders,” Mitchell said. “I was totally engrossed in it.”

He soloed in a glider at age 14, in an airplane at 16 and obtained his pilot’s license at 17.

“I always had the affinity and the love for flying, but I had never wanted to make it a career,” he said. A graduate of Crespi Carmelite High School in Encino, Mitchell earned a degree in business administration from Cal State Northridge. He started a building maintenance company because he wanted to be his own boss.

Then by chance, he was offered a ride in a World War II-era P-51 Mustang fighter. The rare vintage plane, which is still based at Van Nuys Airport, was among the fastest built and served to bring a turning point in the war.

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Soaring at 325 mph over Acton--more than twice as fast as he had ever flown before--he said he suddenly realized, “This is something I really want to do. I decided I wanted to fly fighters for the Air Force.”

Mitchell had to wait almost two years for a slot to open, but was accepted into the Air Force in 1984, just before he reached the maximum entry age for pilot training of 27 1/2. “The dream part of it worked out,” he said. “I actually got what I wanted.”

In addition to his stint in Saudi Arabia, Mitchell served in Korea and Europe, earning a Commendation Medal with Valor and a Purple Heart--both for the bombing incident--and five aerial achievement medals. He is an instructor pilot, teaching new recruits to fly supersonic jets.

Planes similar to the one that inspired Mitchell will be among the more than 75 on display during the Van Nuys Airport Aviation Expo ’97 next weekend. The show will be open both days from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., with Mitchell to be honored at opening ceremonies at 10:30 a.m. Saturday.