Tuesday, January 24 2006 @ 09:25 PM MST
Contributed by: River97
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 www.adn.com -- Two Elmendorf Air Force Base airmen killed in Iraq this weekend were in the war zone supporting the U.S. Army, military officials said today.
Brian McElroy (left) and Jason L. Norton
Tech. Sgt. Jason L. Norton, 32, and Staff Sgt. Brian McElroy, 28, had been in the country since November, officials said today. They died Sunday after their armored Humvee hit a roadside bomb near Taji, about 18 miles north of Baghdad.
The two men from the base in Anchorage were part of the 586th Expeditionary Mission Support Group in Iraq. A third Elmendorf airmen suffered "relatively minor" injuries and is being treated in Germany, said Col. Scotty Lewis, vice commander of Elmendorf's 3rd Wing.
Lewis said the base is doing everything it can to help the two men's families and friends. A memorial is being planned for this Friday, he said.
The deaths bring to three the number of Elmendorf airmen killed in the war in Iraq. Airman 1st Class Carl Anderson Jr., 21, died in August 2004 after his vehicle hit a roadside bomb. He also was in Iraq supporting the Army.
Lewis said the Army is short manpower in some areas, such as people to do convoys, and the Air Force nationwide is helping to fill the positions. All three of the Elmendorf soldiers who died were given special training prior to going to Iraq, he said.
Norton was from Miami, Okla., and McElroy was from San Antonio, Tex., military officials said. Both men were part of Elmendorf's police force, the 3rd Security Forces Squadron. |
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I would like to say thank you for your service and sacrifice for our Country. And to your families, I wish to extend my deepest sympathy.
A grateful citizen