Funeral held at Air Force Academy for major killed in Afghanistan helicopter crash

AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. — An Air Force major killed in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan is being remembered as a patriot and a loving mother.

Hundreds of people gathered for the funeral of 45-year-old Major Phyllis Pelky at the Air Force Academy's iconic chapel Monday. She was one of five people killed in the Oct. 11 crash of a British helicopter in Kabul.

Before her deployment, she worked as a German instructor at the academy and as an aide to the school's superintendent, Lt. Gen. Michelle Johnson. Johnson says Pelky's days were longer than hers and she always gave "100 percent of herself."

The Gazette reports that she left a teaching job in Rio Rancho, New Mexico to join theAir Force after the Sept. 11 attacks. She is survived by a husband, two sons and six siblings.

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