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- The People Behind The Sacrifice
Air Force Senior Airman Nicholas J. Alden
Died March 2, 2011 Serving During Operation Enduring Freedom
25, of Williamston, S.C.; assigned to 48th Security Forces Squadron, RAF Lakenheath, United Kingdom; died March 2 as a result of a shooting at Frankfurt Airport, Germany, while en route to Afghanistan.
Air Force named airmen killed by Frankfurt gunman
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — The Air Force says that the two airmen killed March 2 at a German airport were from South Carolina and Virginia.
The Air Force identified the victims as 25-year-old Senior Airman Nicholas J. Alden of Williamston, S.C., and Airman 1st Class Zachary R. Cuddeback of Stanardsville, Va.
Alden was assigned to the 48th Security Forces Squadron at RAF Lakenheath in England. Cuddeback was assigned to the 86th Vehicle Readiness Squadron at Ramstein Air Base in Germany.
German officials say a 21-year-old temporary letter sorter has admitted targeting Americans when he opened fire with a handgun on a busload of U.S. airmen at Frankfurt’s airport, killing two and wounding two others. The airmen were on their way to deployment in Afghanistan.
Airman remembered for ‘unique love of life’
The Associated Press
As friends and family recall, there were two things Nick Alden loved: his family and serving others.
He joined the Air Force and had served in Iraq, and he hoped to continue serving in law enforcement after his military career. As for his wife, the two met while working at a Walmart store in their hometown.
“Trish, I love you more than words can express,” Alden wrote in a letter to his wife just before leaving for a deployment to Afghanistan. “I want to spend forever and eternity with you and the children and the rest of my family.”
The couple had two children, 3-year-old Lilly and 1-year-old William.
Alden, 25, of Williamston, S.C., was gunned down March 2 outside an airport in Germany. Officials said he and another airman were killed by a radical Muslim man who started shooting at an American military bus. He was based in the United Kingdom.
His mother, Cathy Garner, said Alden was a fun-loving young man who liked soccer, paintball and online games such as World of Warcraft.
“He had a unique love of life,” Dick Whisenhunt told The Independent Mail newspaper. Whisenhunt was Alden’s high school chemistry teacher. “He was just a ray of sunshine.”