Gwendolyn Sanders, the widow of Staff Sgt. Charles "Chuck" Sanders, embraces Mikayla Degel at a memorial ceremony at Katterbach Kaserne in Germany on July 18, 2025. The ceremony commemorated 20 years since the crash of an Army CH-47 Chinook helicopter in Afghanistan killed all 18 people aboard, including Sanders' husband. (Lara Korte/Stars and Stripes)
ANSBACH, Germany — When Gwendolyn Sanders’ husband, Staff Sgt. Charles “Chuck” Sanders, died in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan in 2005, she felt like she was losing her military family, too.
So for the past two decades, keeping his memory alive hasn’t just been important; it’s been her lifeline. She and her son, Drake, were among nearly 200 people gathered Friday at Katterbach Kaserne for a milestone commemoration of the tragedy on April 6, 2005.
All 18 Americans aboard the Army CH-47 Chinook helicopter with the callsign “Windy 25” were killed when it crashed in a sandstorm near Ghazni while returning to Bagram Air Base. There were no survivors.
The 14 soldiers, one Marine and three civilians aboard were on their way back after a mission in the southern Kandahar region as part of Operation Enduring Freedom.
At the time, it was the deadliest incident for Americans in Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban in 2001.
Attendees at the Ansbach memorial, where the regiment’s parent unit, the 12th Air Combat Brigade, is located, reflected Friday on the past 20 years and the solace they’ve found in one another.
Family members of those who died in a 2005 Chinook helicopter crash in Afghanistan lay a wreath on the memorial outside the 12th Combat Air Brigade, at the 20th anniversary memorial ceremony at Katterbach Kaserne in Germany on July 18, 2025. (Lara Korte/Stars and Stripes)
Chuck Sanders was a hard worker with a goofy side, his wife said. He had a deep love of fishing and a passion for Kinder Eggs, which were the first thing he bought upon arriving in Germany, Gwendolyn remembered with a laugh.
A day earlier, Drake, who was 5 when his father died, went inside a Chinook helicopter for the first time and talked with military personnel who had known his dad.
“When we come to these events, it kind of reiterates that they’re not going to be forgotten,” said Drake Sanders, now 26.
Also on hand Friday was Craig Wilhelm, the commander of F Company, 159th Aviation Regiment, at the time of the crash. He left the Army as a major in 2006.
Craig Wilhelm hugs Gwendolyn Sanders, the widow of Staff Sgt. Charles "Chuck" Sanders, at a memorial ceremony in Ansbach, Germany, on July 18, 2025. A former soldier and commander of a regiment nicknamed Big Windy, Wilhelm created a support fund for relatives of the 18 victims of an Army Chinook helicopter crash in Afghanistan on April 6, 2005. Sanders' husband was among the 15 service members and three civilians onboard. (Lara Korte/Stars and Stripes)
Better known by its nickname, Big Windy, the regiment in 2005 had just begun a yearlong deployment to Afghanistan. Besides Sanders, it lost four other soldiers in the crash: Chief Warrant Officer 2 Clint Prather, Chief Warrant Officer 2 David Ayala, Spc. Michael Spivey and Spc. Pendleton Sykes II.
Five years afterward, Wilhelm started the Windy25 Memorial fund to support the families. He said he felt a sense of duty, and the organization has since become a way for members to stay connected and lean on one another for comfort.
“This is a family,” Wilhelm said. “It may not be a family we wanted, but it’s a family that we are happy to be part of because we know what they’re going through.”
The Sanderses were joined Friday in Ansbach by four other relatives of the 2005 crash victims.
Sheldon Spivey, whose nephew Michael was 21 when he died, said the other family members he’s met through Windy25 regularly gather to remember their loved ones and called the get-togethers cathartic.
His wife, Angie, said: “At any point in time, any of us are reachable to each other.”
The couple described their nephew as “witty and mischievous” and said he “always wanted to have a good time.”
Michael Spivey came from a long line of military service dating back to the Revolutionary War, his uncle said, and he was eager to join the legacy of service.
Gerry Connolly shared memories of his brother, Maj. David Scott Connolly, an Army reservist with the 1173rd Transportation Terminal Battalion and a prosecutor for Suffolk County in Massachusetts.
The 37-year-old from Boston had served in Iraq before joining the prosecutor’s office.
He was known for his motivational spirit and ability to bring people together, Connolly said, adding that his brother’s gung-ho attitude and intensity had earned him the nickname “Captain America.”
Shortly after 9/11, David Connolly decided to answer the call for experienced soldiers and returned to active duty.
Susan Connolly runs in honor of her brother-in-law, Maj. David Scott Connolly, in Ansbach, Germany, on July 18, 2025. A memorial and a 5K run were held to commemorate 20 years since the April 6, 2005, crash of an Army Chinook helicopter in Afghanistan that killed Connolly and 17 others. (Lara Korte/Stars and Stripes)
Gerry’s wife, Susan, said her brother-in-law is memorialized in Ireland and San Francisco, and pictures of him were placed all over Boston.
“It’s just so funny how he just touched a lot of people,” she said.
The Ansbach memorial Friday was followed by a 5K race around the base.
Army restructuring over the years has redesignated Big Windy as Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 214th General Support Aviation Battalion.
Speaking to the crowd at Katterbach Kaserne, the company’s commander, Capt. Matt Pastino, read off the names of the 18 victims and spoke of carrying on the legacy of the members of the unit who had sacrificed their lives.
“The truth is, once in Big Windy, you’re always in Big Windy,” he said.
Chinook helicopters, part of Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 214th General Support Aviation Battalion, or "Big Windy," sit on the tarmac at Katterbach Kaserne in Germany on July 18, 2025. (Lara Korte/Stars and Stripes)
Soldiers attend the memorial for the 20th anniversary of the 2005 CH-47 Chinook helicopter crash that killed 18 Americans in Afghanistan at Katterbach Kaserne in Germany on July 18, 2025. (Lara Korte/Stars and Stripes)
Staff Sgt. Charles "Chuck" Sanders with his son, Drake, and daughter Sydney in Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Germany. Sanders was killed while aboard an Army CH-47 Chinook helicopter that crashed in Afghanistan on April 6, 2005. (Courtesy of Gwendolyn Sanders)
