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Personal Contacts from Plane Crash Victims' Families

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Angela S. Ward-Wright's Emails

• Monday, April 29, 2010 4:21 PM

  "Hi Mr. Burk. My name is Angela and my father was Major Robert G. Ward. He was sitting next to you that day. A day I have never forgotten and I would really like to speak to you. What is the best way to contact you."

George Heichel’s Emails

• Tuesday, March 04, 2003 10:07 PM

  "Dear Mr. Burk, You may remember me from a previous email. (I didn’t remember George or receipt of the email he references). My name is George Heichel. My father’s name was Chief Master Harvey Heichel. He was a passenger on that plane, May 4, 1970. I understand, Sir, that this might be a touchy subject, but I would like to ask you for your help in locating any type of documentation or news articles on the crash. I was only 12 at the time, and keeping any newspaper clippings or any other articles didn’t even enter my mind. All I have to remember is my father is a folded flag. Please, Sir, if you could point me in the right direction, I’ll take it from there. THANK YOU very much for your time. Sincerely, George Heichel"

• Wednesday, March 05, 2003 8:29 PM

  "Hello Mr. Burk, Anything you can send, I would greatly appreciate. All these years I tried not to talk about it with my mother, because it devastated her. She not only lost her love, but here is this Japanese lady, broken English, looking at raising me and taking care of everything my father did, all on her own. She had to become “American” in record time. So I didn’t bring it up. Her health is failing now, so I’m not sure what to do. About a week ago, I was on the internet, and for some reason, I started to wonder about Hamilton AFB, so I got on a search and typed it in, and you and the book came up. Mr. Burk, I had no idea there was a survivor! I can’t think of the right words to properly describe how I felt, I got all choked up and couldn’t talk or read the screen! My wife asked me what was wrong and I couldn’t tell her. She couldn’t read the screen because she is blind. I ordered your book, right away. Sir, I can’t thank you enough for just corresponding with me. To have someone to talk to about this, after this time is priceless. Sincerely George Heichel"

• Thursday, March 13, 2003 10:55 PM

  "Hello Mr. Burk, I received the newspaper articles today. Thank you very, very much. Looking at them, I recall vividly, the night before, my mother pleading with my father not to go and being pulled out of school the next day, and driving home with Sgt. Fuller. He told me that “your dad has had a little accident,” and when I asked him if he was alright, he said, “oh yeah, he’ll be alright.” I can remember asking myself,” If he’s alright, then why am I in this car with Sgt. Fuller?” I remember my stomach knotting up as I asked him several more times during the course of the drive from Hill Jr. High in Novato to HAFB, if he was aright. Sgt. Fuller finally broke down in tears as we pulled up to the front of our house. He and my father were very close. I remember seeing my mother reduced to a sobering little girl as we walked into the house. My mother's a true soldier. I’m about 3/’4 through the book and I have to say that—You Are A True Soldier. Well Sir, I’ll keep in touch and I hope you do the same. Thanks very, very much and stay safe. Sincerely, George Heichel"

• Saturday, March 29, 2003 7:22 PM

  "Hello Capt., I just got back from my mothers and after talking with you last night. I had to tell her about you. I brought the book with me to show her your picture. “Wha”! He’s so handsome, just like dad!” were her exact words. She started to cry so I apologized, and she said the tears were tears of joy, not sorrow. Apperently, she thought you hadn’t made it through a couple of days after the crash! She is so happy to know that you are alive. As she was thumbing through, the page with the pic of Mr. Davieau came up and she said, “this man was so good to me.” I asked her how? She said that she went up to the ranch on May 4, for 2 or 3 years and put flowers on the crash site, and Mr. Davieau was so kind to her. The reason she stopped this because she didn’t want to be a nuisance, thinking he was very busy with taking care of the ranch. I almost $&!^ pants! I read and explained different parts of the book to her and we spent the rest of the afternoon talking about “stuff.” I told her, you sent your regards to her and she said to Thank you. It was a very emotional day for the both of us. Jus’ thought I’d share that with you. Thanks again Sir, George” Note: I met George for the first and only time in April 2003 while in Sacramento for a speaking engagement. It was quite emotional for us both. We remained in touch periodically over the next few years. I hadn’t heard from George in sometime. Emails returned as undeliverable and phone numbers changed. January 2010, I contacted sources in Sacramento Ca, and asked for their assistance to try and locate George Heichel. Sadly, a few days later, I received an email that said George had passed away 25 March 2009. He would’ve been 49 years-old. His wife, Dolly was blind and she (they) had a developmentally disabled son. I wonder what happened to him, Dolly and their son.

  Daryl Robinson’s Emails

• Friday, January 01, 2010 11:45 PM

  "It is with much trepidation and hesitancy that I am contacting you, but I was searching online for information regarding the plane crash of that day and your web site came up. My father, Major Robert L. Robinson, Jr., was the pilot of the plane that left from Hamilton AFB that morning. He was the commanding officer at Almaden AFS near San Jose at the time of his death. If it wouldn’t be too much distress for you, I would appreciate any information you could share with me about that tragic event. I am so happy to hear that you not only survived your horrific injuries, but that you are also thriving and inspiring others to overcome their difficulties. My mother, who passed away in 2006, lost track of what happened to you, so I didn’t have your name or other information. I sincerely would like to talk to you about your experiences if you wouldn’t mind. My contact information is below. Daryl G. Robinson"

• Sunday, January 03, 2010 1:41 AM

  "Dear Captain Burk, I really appreciate you calling me this afternoon. I was thrilled to talk to you and look forward to continuing our relationship into the future. On a very personal note, I am very excited that I now know you. Knowing you may help me in my own personal healing process, even after nearly 40 years. By the way, here is a link to the only article I can find online about the plane crash after so long: http://www3.gendisasters.com/california/4818/hamilton-af-base%2C-ca-transport-plane-crashes%2C-may-1970. Not only does the article have your name spelled incorrectly, it also has the wrong name of Almaden Air Force Station. I have original newspaper articles from the time, but they’re packed away in Mom’s stuff in the garage. I will share with you what I have when we meet in person. I am so thrilled that you will be coming to Colorado to be our conference Keynote Speaker. Thank you so much for being willing to share your story with us. D."

• Saturday, January 09, 2010 11:06 PM

  "I got your first two books today in the mail. I am reading “The Bridge” right now. In reading your description of the crash, I have learned new information that I had never known before. Mom never told me what became of you. Maybe she didn't know or she didn’t want to tell me. My speculation is that she just never followed up and lost touch with you and your recovery. I think she tried to put that event behind her the best way she knew how and didn’t look back. Mom told me so many times that she was still deeply in love with Dad and missed him terribly. In fact, she had told me that just a few days before she died. She was looking forward to seeing Dad again. It was good to know that the cause of the accident was not due to pilot error, as we were originally told right after the accident. I knew that they had later determined structural failure had caused the accident, but didn’t know the details until just now by reading your book. Obviously, in listening to your recorded interview 10 days after the accident, the Air Force knew all they needed to know at that time, and that was the second interview you’d given them. I am so thankful to you for being able to recall all of the information you did at that time when you were so severely injured. It is amazing. As you described the conditions that Col. Shelton had to deal with in trying to control the plane, it is remarkable that it didn’t crash nose first. Until reading your book today, I did not know that Dad was late arriving at Hamilton AFB that morning. I didn’t know that another pilot had already started to taxi toward takeoff. Of course, no one will ever know what might have happened if the plane hadn’t been stopped and Dad got on board. But as I’ve told you before, Dad loved to fly and would have been very upset and disappointed if he would have missed the opportunity. His flying time was seriously restricted because he did live off base and was the Commanding Officer at Almaden AFS. He was really looking forward to retiring in August, 1970 so he could fly on a regular basis. He had lined up a job with Aspen Airways in Denver as pilot after retirement from the Air Force. I am thankful for LTC Ed Morrow and his family that he didn’t end up being the pilot that day. Knowing you now and learning so much from you has truly helped me in dealing with the void that was created nearly 40 years ago. I am so appreciative of your help in doing that. You are another wonderful blessing from God and my world has been enriched by having you in it. Thank you very much. D."

• Sunday, January 10, 2010 8:40 PM

"I sincerely appreciate you sharing so much of yourself with me. I know that typing is very difficult for you. I will wait to ask you more questions that require in-depth answers until we are together in April/May. You have already shed so much light into the dark recesses of the past, there is little or nothing that remains to be seen, except perhaps some small details. However, a conversation over dinner and an adult beverage may bring up some more things of interest. Therefore, I will wait until later. I was told by Mom that you were thrown from the wreckage because you had unfastened your seat belt. That must have been what the Air Force told her, since she wouldn’t have known anything else to the contrary. I can only imagine your shock on learning of the condition that John Davieau found you in. I personally am very glad that you are “here”. I wish I would have found you long ago, but God must have a reason for this particular timing. I don’t question anything. You are correct, “Timing is everything”. I do want to learn whatever you want to tell me. You are truly the only link I have to that time and event. After the accident, I relied heavily on my Mom for support and conversation about the crash and Dad’s death. Mom, my brother Doug, and I had many long and difficult discussions about our great sense of loss and grieving that we all shared. The afternoon of the crash, I had an orthodontist appointment after school. I was supposed to meet Mom after class and we were to go to the appointment and then we’d drive up the mountain and go home. When class was dismissed, Mom wasn’t there but in her place was the wife of the Assistant Commander. She was waiting to pick me up and told me I was supposed to go to the appointment with her instead. She said that something had come up and Mom asked her to take me. I didn’t think anything of that, just got into the car and went on as anticipated. While I was in the chair waiting for the orthodontist to torture me some more, I heard something on the radio that was piped into the office about a plane crash but the volume was too low to pick up any of the details. I only heard “air plane crash” and that was basically it. Again, I didn’t think too much about it at the time. After the appointment, we quietly rode back up the mountain. As we drove onto the base, I noticed that the flag was at half-staff. That did seem strange to me, but we had recently experienced the death of a family member of one of the airmen stationed there a few days earlier. I just thought the flag was flying at half-staff for the kid who had recently died. When I got to the house, I saw that there were a couple of blue Air Force issue vehicles parked in the driveway and in front along the curb. That did raise some concern but it was fairly typical to have official visitors at the house since Dad was the Commander. I remembered that there were several men who commonly visited my parents at the house, so I didn’t think anything bad was about to happen. As I walked in the house and into the living room, I saw that Mom was crying. The men (who I didn’t recognize) were sitting around the room quietly. Mom saw me, got up, and gave me a big hug. She asked me to sit down and told me she had some very bad news. She said that Dad had been in an accident with the flight that morning. I asked if he was okay. She said, “No, he was killed in the crash.” I couldn’t believe it; I instantly yelled “NO!” and ran out of the room into my bedroom where I immediately started convulsing in tears. After a while, I was able to calm down and came out to ask some more questions. It was then that I was told that there had been one survivor but that he was very badly injured. They said that everyone else had been killed. I imagine that a very similar scene occurred at 14 other homes that day, yours included. So many people have been linked together through that horrific incident that day, but for some reason, it took me nearly 40 years before I found you. In hindsight, I wish I would have been able to meet the members of the family who were left behind after the crash. In today’s world, I wonder if there would have been some kind of group therapy sessions advised to help each of us with our grief and pain. It would have helped to talk to those who were sharing a similar tragedy. I know how much it has helped me to talk to you. Thank you for letting me share this story with you. D."