Miles Parker Henderson
Chief Warrant Officer 2, U.S. Army

Miles Parker Henderson was born on 28 January 1982 in Amarillo, TX, the son of Brad and Terry Henderson. Although he was born in Amarillo, Miles always called Canadian, TX, his home.

He was a scholar who hated school but was salutatorian of his class when he graduated from Canadian High School with the class of 2000. He loved the camaraderie of his friends, who said that Miles had a huge heart full of compassion and drive and worked hard to accomplish his goals. Almost the smallest player in the school district, he fought to be the biggest encourager for his football teammates.

After graduation from high school, Miles attended Western State College in Gunnison, CO, and it was jokingly said that his attendance there lasted until his ski lift ticket expired. Beginning the summer of 1997 and until he joined the Army, Miles was employed by two terrific friends, Chad Mason and Don Marks, at Amarillo Artificial Limb and Brace. Along with their families, they loved and mentored Miles during his employment with them.

Miles enlisted in the U.S. Army in May 2003. He worked very hard to qualify for flight school and was very proud of what he was doing as a helicopter pilot flying the AH-64 Apache Attack Helicopter. In November 2006, Chief Warrant Officer 2 Henderson was serving with Alpha Company, 1st Attack Reconnaissance Battalion, 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division, based at Fort Bragg, NC, but deployed in Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

During a night flight on 6 November 2006, CW2 Henderson was flying with his friend and mentor, CW4 John R. Priestner [Honoree Record ID 6481], who was the pilot-in-command of the lead AH-64 Apache Attack Helicopter of a 2-ship combat mission. While returning to home base, their helicopter impacted the ground during a turn. A post-crash fire ensued. The crash was reportedly due to deteriorating weather conditions. The accident occurred near Balad in Salah ad-Din Province. [http://www.armyaircrews.com/apache.html]

CW2 Henderson and CW4 Priestner were both killed in the crash.

Medals, Awards and Badges

Bronze Star Medal
Air Medal
National Defense Service Medal
Iraq Campaign Medal
Army Aviator Badge

Honors

On 12 September 2014, during the annual homecoming celebration, the field house that served as the home of the Canadian (TX) Wildcats was officially dedicated as the Miles P. Anderson Field House in honor of Miles Henderson who played on the 1999 Canadian Wildcat team.

Family

On 1 July 2006, Miles married Artis Chester in Fort Meyers Beach, FL.

Disposition of Ashes

After cremation, the ashes of Chief Warrant Officer Two Miles Parker Henderson were scattered above his family's ranch in Texas.