Families of Fallen Night Stalkers

Civic Warriors Podcast Bonus Episode: Families of Fallen Night Stalkers

“There’s always going to be somebody that remembers.”

In this bonus episode, we speak with Willi Frank, President of Families of Fallen Night Stalkers Organization, a group that maintains support for families who have lost a loved one while assigned to the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne).

They also educate the public on the Night Stalkers memorial wall located at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. The names of Night Stalkers who have died in training or combat operations, while assigned to the 160th, are etched in the memorial granite. Tune in and help support those that gave their life in support of our freedom.

To learn more about the memorial wall, click here.
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Brad:
Okay. Good afternoon everybody. Today I am with Willi. Frank Willi Frank is from the Families of Fallen Night Stalkers. And we’re going to talk a little bit about, who they are, what they do, and talk a little bit more about the night stalkers and their mission. So thank you for being with us, Willi.

Willi:
Well, thank you. Um, I’ll just start right in that my husband was CW4 Raymond Frank. He, uh, was a Night Stalker and he was as most of the people you’ll talk to in the Night Stalker Organization, he was very proud to be a Night Stalker. He was killed in October 3, 1993 in the Black Hawk Down story, the Battle of the Black Sea in Mogadishu, Somalia. And we lost 18 soldiers that day. So it was, out of the night stock of community, we lost five. So it was a big day for us and it was a changing day in the way the Night Stalker apparatus worked, uh, we were cast into the spotlight where before had been very secretive. And when Mike Duran, the other pilot in the aircraft of my husband’s, face showed up on television that Monday afternoon at three o’clock, uh, it changed a lot of the ways we did business in the 160th and things that were to come. I point to that as the Foundation for families of fallen Night Stalkers because we were so blessed to have the right people in the right place at the right time to take care of our families. And since then, we’ve all been working to try to pay back the, the stability we were given and the love and respect. And so in 2007, we created an organization called the families of fallen night stalkers. And the purpose of it really is to give our families a place where they feel secure, that they have a place where they belong, that they can come to and we will support them if they have individual or personal needs. Uh, we can assist them in finding help. Our finances aren’t so at this time that we can, uh, go out and do things on our own, but we’re like the triage unit. We can go out and find help people to help them. We have been very blessed by all the organizations that support the Night Stalker community, from education for our kids, education for our spouses, care for our families when they run into financial hardships, or have needs. It just, is that safety net there if we need it. Fortunately, most of our families go on and are very self-reliant, self sufficient and do very well. For the education for our kids, we have kids now, adults now, that are in their thirties and forties, that have been through the system. They lost their dads back in the 80s and they have had an education through the special operations warrior foundation. They have gone on and gotten their bachelors and their masters degrees. They are now mentors to the kids coming up from the families that have been lost in the last 10 years. So it’s a constant paying it forward type situation. Uh, most of the people that participate in our annual meetings are parents. The parents hold on and come back year after year. There’s a little family that lives in Nebraska named the Eichner’s and they are in their eighties now. Their baby son was killed in 1983 and the Eichner’s still come every year to everything we have wanting to honor their son and to see that he’s remembered. And the unit, the 160th does such an amazing job of making sure that our soldiers aren’t forgotten. And they treat us always like we are their guests. That we are special because our soldiers were special. And it, it makes life a lot easier sometimes, getting over those places where if we’re having a bad day or it’s a special day for us, an anniversary or something, there’s always going to be somebody that remembers. And maybe that’s the secret is Night Stalkers don’t quit. And we’ve added Night Stalkers don’t forget, because they don’t. Those names that are on that wall from uh, especially Krumbly from 1980 right through Sergeant Rivera Lopez, the last name put on the wall. Those families will always be remembered. My family itself has shrunk. I have just basically myself, my husband’s entire family has gone and I find the wall a place of joy and a place of remembrance because I can always go there and I know that anybody that walks past that wall, is going to see his name and remember him and know who he was.

Brad:
And be proud.

Willi:
And be proud.

Brad:
Extraordinarily proud.

Willi:
Last night I met a man who was in Green Platoon when my husband was in Somalia and he was telling me all the things he knew about my husband that happened 26 years ago and yet this man –

Brad:
He never forgot.

Willi:
He new my husband’s story, and when you’ve lost someone, you know what that is to have your loved one remembered. It just does something great and wonderful to your heart. And so there’s soldiers on that wall that don’t have any families anymore, but we still remember them.

Brad:
And the wall is located in…

Willi:
At Fort Campbell in front of the headquarters. It’s beautiful. And then originally we started out, our mission was to, we were included soldiers that had been killed in action or in training. Those are the names that go on the wall. And it has become a phenomenon over the last, and there’s 97 names on the wall at this time. It has become a phenomenon that we’ve had. We’ve lost so many soldiers since post 9/11, two other incidences, accidents, that sort of thing. We have a couple of soldiers we lost because, uh, you know, a guy comes to the unit and they’re in there for life sometimes. And so we had a soldier spent 16 years in a unit, he gets cancer and, uh, he’s medically retired, dies the next day or six months later. And so we changed our information to where we include soldiers who were killed while serving in the unit or died of other injuries or illnesses as a result of serving in the unit. And so we have families that maybe their husbands die afterwards, but it was because of something related and that way we pick up some of the wounded and things like that. Uh, and all of our families when they come back, I like to think that all of them have that same moment of when they come home and we have a Memorial service or I remember ceremony that they feel that love and respect. They get a lot of me, I hang out around the unit. So every once in a while I’ll be out the unit attending some meeting or working on the flowers that in the planters that surround the wall, and we’ll have new soldiers come up or they’ll give me some worker bees to help me. And they’re usually snowbirds, people that are just waiting to come in or waiting to get out. And so I will always ask them if they have, if it’s their first time to the wall, uh, or if they know anything. And so I will tell them stories. I’ll pick a couple of the soldiers on the wall and tell them stories about those soldiers. I’ve been around a long time and, um, but I’ll tell them stories about some of the soldiers on there and it just, to see their wonder and to see those people come alive for them is very heartening for me. And I just, I enjoy doing it, and I want them to remember that that wall is there for a purpose and that it gives them something to look to also. Um, so I’m a little neighborhood and, and uh, we work with the unit in leadership training and so whenever they’re having leadership class, the commander has everybody meet at the wall and he talks to them about the wall. And then I will tell them a little story about somebody on the wall or wherever I have the opportunity just so that they know that those people were living, breathing things. They’re not just names carved into a wall and that they all had an experience that could help teach them. I tell our families that the remembrance ceremonies we have there on the anniversary of many of the dates, is not about the families it’s about the soldiers. That wall is there for them to remember, for them to clean energy and confidence from. And um, so it’s not about the families, it’s about the soldiers that uh, but they do invite us to come out when they’re having, remembrance ceremony in honor of our loved ones. And it’s just amazing to see all these young faces and realize that they get it. Hopefully they get it. That these are men they should remember and honor. Um, cause they were all brave and wonderful young men. They were all young once. And uh, I just think that’s one thing that the unit gives us is that opportunity to be there and express that and share in that. The other thing they give us is their support. Um, we work on a very slim budget. Uh, right now we’re hoping to increase that, but we bring the families together twice a year. The unit brings them together at once. Then we bring them together in the fall. Uh, we call it our family reunion and we – just a chance to get together, talk, go out and experience things together. Like today we discussed there’s going to be some changes in our organization and discussed what ways we can grow and where do they see that we need to make changes. And that will involve having more children’s programs. And so we hope to be able to do that in the near future and, uh, that we try to get more spouses involved. One of the things about any organization, and you’ll probably know this for anything, you belonged to, only about 10% of the people participate of your membership.

Brad:
It’s usually the 80/20, the Pareto Principle, 20% of people do 80% of the work.

Willi:
And unfortunately for us, everybody that’s a member of this organization is by default. Nobody wanted to join. So it sort of cuts our percentages a little bit.

Brad:
Got it.

New Speaker:
Because these people are just members because they lost a loved one. And so there’s no requirement on them to participate or anything. But those that do seem to come purposefully. And like I said, with the Eickners, they’re there every year. Uh, this was the first year they couldn’t come. And, uh, because Mr. Eickner’s health, I mean, they’re in their eighties, please, you know, and so all the travel and everything. But they sort of assembled to us that of the eternity of the relationship that we have with the unit and the unit with our families. Uh, I’m very proud of the history that we created of the organization that we’ve recreated. When my husband and I came to the unit in 1998. There was no notification process in our unit or in the army and a little three by five metal box. Three by five cards in was the first notification process and that was in 1990 and we all filled out a card. If something comes to my husband, please contact me yet so and so and bring my friend. And uh, that was the beginning of it. Today’s army program stemmed out of what was born in the 160th. Granted the rest of the army didn’t know they needed until 9/11 but we had started that program having a process for um, notifying our families, for caring and for our families. I think we made the first video like in ’94 and ’95 and it was a video made in the unit for casualty assistance officers. Uh, I moved to Washington DC and the lady came out from across the street. I know you, we were just a command staff college and the wives had to go and attend the part on casualty assistance and they showed your video. We had no idea they were gonna use that Army one.

Brad:
it just caught on yeah.

Willi:
And, uh, it was how we dealt with our families and that became the standard for today’s Army. And I worked, uh, with department of justice, so I worked with state departments and the FBI and things like the USS Cole and the embassy bombings in Nairobi and Kenya. And seeing how those families were taken care of by the state department and by the Navy and other organizations, unless we had the only outfit going where we had an organization of families taking care of families. And it’s not that we do, we do go to the memorials when we have a new loss and we’re there to support the families if they want us. But, um, we’re always there. We’re always there to take care of one another. And I just, I’m just so proud that we are the beginning of how military and the government takes care of our families. Now, that to me was, is a really big thing.

Brad:
That’s fantastic.

Willi:
And, um, I mean to imagine being picked up in one country, dropped off in the United States at LaGuardia in the middle of the night with no money, no clothes, no anything, and you’re left to your own devices. I mean, that would never happen with us. So it’s been very heartening. And then to get to work with those organizations and help them in developing. I was called in to speak with the FBI when they were picking up the USS Cole on how to take care of our families when they were taking over the Navy families. And so we had simple guidelines – always be honest, be thorough in your honesty and don’t treat them like children. We are adults and it’s almost insulting, but I know people do it out of kindness and good intention, but sometimes it makes the whole situation much more difficult. And so, well, that’s something we’ve learned over the years is um, treat the people respectfully and don’t try to take too much care of us. Um, it’s, we are still big people and that, uh, treat us that way and we’ll respond much more quickly. Uh, I really hadn’t intended to go into that part of it. I think it’s more important that we walk away knowing that the unit is here because of the right people in the right time. Got together, decided we needed to provide special support for our families. And here in the Night Stalker community, we’re able to do that. We are one of the only units where our casualty assistance officers all come from within our unit. They’re all associated with the know the trials and tribulations that the families are going through or have been through. And then we have this backup organization that is there to pick up after the military moves away and all that. Ours never moved away really far but when they step back into their daily duties, then we’ve got our Night Stalker families to pick up and be there, to talk, to help grieve through the process, um, just to be there to support our families. And I think that’s the greatest thing that this, one of the greatest things that this unit does is take the way it takes care of its soldiers, the way it takes care of its families. And if there’s anything that I could ask someone to do would be to support that.

Brad:
And how does one support that? Like if I were to, if you said, Hey Brad, I’d like you to support our cause. How can I help support your cause?

Willi:
Well, fortunately we are coming into an entirely new era of the Night Stalker Foundation and um, where we’ve had separate umbrellas before, we had the Night Stalker Association. We had the Families of Fallen Night Stalkers, we had the Unit, this will be all encompassing, and it’s going to cover the scholarships for all of our children, both active duty and fallen. It’s going to cover the fall families of fallen Night Stalkers to help us be able to better serve our families that do participate in our activities and it’ll continue, uh, working with our soldiers. I remember one of the first things – with Night Stalker Association, not that, yeah, that’s – back in the old days that was called a right arm night. All the guys would get together, go to the club and it’s not just limited to things like that. It is soldiers taking care of soldiers. And so the Night Stalker Foundation is the umbrella that all this will fall under now and we’re excited about it. And so if people want to donate, I would say go to the Night Stalker Foundation, make your donations there. If you have a specific requirement that you want to put money towards scholarships, then there’s a place that you can do that. And if you have questions, there’s a number there that you can contact. But through the Night Stalker Foundation, we hope to improve the programs that we’ve created and just make sure they work a little bit better to give us the funding to be able to take care of things the way we want to and need to and um, ensure their continuation. Like I said, we are unique and we want to be sure that we are able to continue to maintain this program. We don’t need to be unique always, but that, uh, we’d like there to be more organizations like us, but the 160th being special.

Brad:
It’s pretty special.

Willi:
it’s pretty special.

Brad:
Pretty special.

Brad:
So before we go, um, I know before we started talking you mentioned, I mean, the word unique is important, but I guess, any stories you want to share, anything that, uh, can help? I know you’ve, you’ve mentioned you have a lot of stories, you’ve met a lot of families, you’ve been involved for a few years now. Any stories come to mind that you’d like to share?

Willi:
Of course, until you ask me I can think of a thousand things.

Brad:
That’s always how it works.

Willi:
I’ve been a widow for 26 years now. Um, there’s, uh, people that come and they are just amazed that – they say, well, you seem so well adjusted. I don’t know what we’re supposed to be, but I really had to respond to that. Uh, I really truly think it’s because we have the support of the organization. Um, I always love when I go to the wall as a docent and, uh, somebody will just walk up and you’ll say, is there any particular name you’re looking for? And they’ll say, no. And so just to pull a name. And I’ve sorta got a trick to it. I’ve got some memorized and the others, you could tell me a name right now and I might not even know who it is, but no, I do their names often enough building in calendars and keeping track of their families. But, um, it’s just, when you tell somebody when, in my particular case, when I say the Black Hawk Down story, instead of saying he was killed in Somalia, that was a long time ago. Some of these kids weren’t born yet. But when I say the Black Hawk Down story, everybody knows immediately what I’m talking about. And uh, they’ll always have a question. Was that really how it happened? You know, this, this and this. And, uh, so it’s interesting to see the expression on their face when it’s like seeing a movie star. They’re just so surprised that I guess we’re still around. But, so surprised that these were real people that did real things. They’re not just names on the wall.

Brad:
Well and it’s not just Hollywood. It’s, it’s, the story behind it is the most important part.

Willi:
And it’s real and it happened and that, uh, these guys will have those opportunities to do that. Again, I am so proud of our unit. One for all is accomplished. And, uh, there’s just little things in our life that some people think, maybe a little bit morbid, but we don’t. It’s, uh, it’s just all how you look at it. But, uh, I think we’re pretty good bunch. And I think that, uh, the guys that went before us, the plank holders, the guys that started it out, um, had no idea what they were creating. They were having fun. They were doing things with aviation that people didn’t do back then. And, uh, creating a whole new way to fly and a way to operate. And throughout the history of the unit, we’ve been innovative, whether it be an aviation or family care. And I think that’s, uh, that’s our greatest gift to the world.

Brad:
Yeah. And just everything that I’ve learned today and my time kind of working with the foundation is just everyone’s dedication to the cause. Everybody’s, um, just the way that they approach everything is just very, very, uh, they believe very strongly in it and very, uh, objective oriented, very, um, very, very unique. How you approach, uh, scenarios and, you know, every, every one of them is very passionate about about it. And it’s just, it’s great to hear. And I know just myself in the role that I have in the world, um, you know, it makes you want to be a better person too, whatever that means. It makes, you know, I’m around that and I just see how they interact. I see how they, how –

Willi:
How we love on each other.

Brad:
How you love each other, how there’s this, this, this culture that is unbreakable and it’s, you know, you want to be a part of that too. When you’re around it for, you know, five minutes, you’re like –

Willi:
I just want to join this team!

Brad:
That’s what I said if I could go back 10 years, I would tell my younger self, join this team.

Willi:
Yeah.

Brad:
You can be better than you are. And, uh, that’s, that’s the vibe I get, which is fantastic.

Willi:
And it’s true. No matter if you’re talking to a new guy coming into the unit cause, they’re so excited.

Brad:
Oh my God, I can imagine.

Willi:
Or you’re talking to an old guy that just, we can’t push them out the door.

Brad:
Yeah. Cause they don’t want to leave.

Willi:
Right. Or somewhere in the middle, you’re a family that’s hanging onto the memory and, and, uh, the remembrance and the support from that.

Brad:
Okay. Great. Alright, well thank you so much for your time.

Willi:
Thank you, thank you so much.

Brad:
I mean this was fantastic. I loved it.

Brad:
And ultimately we’ll tell the world a little more about you.

Willi:
Okay, terrific!