Retired Air Force colonel shares story of helicopter crash survival, recovery
By Andrew WestDOVER — Retired Air Force Col. Laurel “Buff” Burkel shared her uplifting story of survival and recovery Thursday with local veterans.
She described the guiding philosophy that led her from a horrific helicopter crash in Afghanistan to an appreciative life in retirement.
“Resilience is not an individual sport,” she said. “Connections matter.”
Col. Burkel was aboard a British helicopter that crashed in Kabul in 2015. She was one of four to survive. Five people, including two of her subordinates, died.
The Friends of Delaware Veterans invited her to speak at the 11th annual Veterans Trust Fund Dinner.
David Skocik, president of the Friends, said the purpose of the trust is to provide financial assistance or grants to assist Delaware veterans with health care, housing, utilities, education and training.
“Tonight, you are literally helping me heal because that healing journey started the day of that crash and will continue the rest of my life,” she said.
At the time of the incident, Col. Burkel was an adviser to the Afghan air force and deployed to the 438th Air Expeditionary Wing. She deployed as part of Resolute Support Mission.
On Oct. 11, 2015, she was aboard the helicopter bound for the NATO headquarters in Kabul. She remembers well the trip there and the delay at the landing site.
“As we came in, there were kids on the soccer field, so the pilot said we’ll have to go around and try again,” she said. “I have the recollection of trying to land, and from that point forward, I had zero recollection of what I’m going to share with you. I know it because I have talked to people who were part of my story.”
Those people included courageous individuals who rushed to the site of the crash, those who helped extricate the pilot and passengers, and those who provided emergency care.
The pilot lost sight of the lead helicopter, as they were looking for reference points, she said. A right turn led them into the tether of a surveillance balloon that became entangled in the tail rotors and then worked its way down the helicopter’s spine, causing the rotor driveshaft to stop.
Somehow, the pilot — while dropping at a rate of 4,000 feet per minute — maneuvered it, so the crash landed inside the NATO compound.
She said everyone seated on the left side survived. The five on the right were killed.
Col. Burkel said it was about 15 minutes after the impact that she got out of the helicopter. She had a broken neck and broken vertebra.
“The folks that helped me, those that ran to the helicopter, told me that I was lifting my hips and helping them get me out with a broken neck,” she said. “Adrenaline is amazing for what it can do for you in tough situations.”
Then came her first words, “I’m getting too old for this sh—.”
She learned about the line later. “I was in a space where I didn’t remember any of this,” she said.
Col. Burkel was taken by helicopter to a hospital in Bagram and later flown to a facility in Germany on a C-17.
She was adamant that she did not want to follow the directive to have her board the C-17 on a litter.
“I walked into this country; I want to walk out of this country,” she said. “I lost two people in this crash. I want to honor and respect them by walking out of this country.”
Wearing yellow hospital socks, she got off the litter at the ramp of the awaiting cargo plane.
“When they let me walk onto that aircraft, it was part of my healing journey,” she said. “I had the dignity to walk out of that country on my own power.”
At the dinner Thursday, Col. Burkel showed images of X-rays of her injuries, including one that showed the severity of the neck injury.
“This is the picture that blows all the medical folks away,” she said. “That is a near-complete internal decapitation. People look at that and go, ‘I don’t even understand how you’re alive — much less able to hold a microphone, much less how you’re able to go out and play ice hockey.’”
She was fitted with a halo, with six screws in her head.
Col. Burkel became an ice hockey player after healing. She is an alternate captain on the St. Louis Blues Warriors, a USA Hockey-affiliated disabled veterans program.
Staying in shape for life, she says, is the second of three guiding philosophies.
The other is celebrating — small and big moments.
In 2018, Col. Burkel retired from the Air Force after 27 years and 2,100 flight hours in C-141 and C-130 squadrons.
A former commander, now-retired Brig. Gen. Steven A. Roser, suggested she go along on a hike to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro for the retirement ceremony.
It is 19,341 feet to the summit.
To the delight of the audience, she declared, “Go big or go home!” adding, “Do things that matter to you.”
In closing, she said it’s important this Veterans Day and beyond to learn the stories of others. Of course, everybody has one.
And make sure you embrace the connections.
Col. Burkel said, “Do people know you’re there for them? Do you know that people are there for you?”
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It was wonderful to meet James “Tom” Anderson at Thursday’s dinner.
Now 102 years old, he received a rousing ovation from attendees, as he displayed the Congressional Gold Medal he received earlier this year.
Mr. Anderson, who grew up and returned to Dover after his service, joined the Army as a teen.
He served with the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops during World War II. His outfit was known as the “Ghost Army,” which set up decoy tanks and airplanes, and sent phony communications to fool the Germans. Their missions were kept confidential for decades.
President Joe Biden approved the medal in 2022, but Mr. Anderson did not receive it until April. He told this editor that he is now one of four surviving members of the Ghost Army.
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One of the highlights of an auction to benefit the Veterans Trust Fund was a quilt with patches of camo from veterans’ uniforms that have been worn in service across the world.
It was donated by Aaron Bright, a disabled Marine veteran who served at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. Mr. Skocik said he is a student at the Veterans Watchmaker Initiative, a school in Odessa.
