Iraq bomber kills Utahn and 3 others

A suicide bomber has killed another Utahn working as a private contractor in Iraq.

Kenneth Webb, 42, died Monday after a suicide bomber attacked the State Department motorcade he was hired to protect. He would have turned 43 on Thursday.

In total, four people died in the attack, including Webb, two other security guards who also worked for a subsidiary of security contractor Blackwater USA, and Stephen Eric Sullivan, a diplomatic security officer attached to the State Department.

Webb, a 1980 graduate of Dixie High School, was a former active duty soldier from the Utah National Guard's 19th Special Forces Group who left the Utah Guard years ago, said Guard spokesman Maj. Hank McIntire.

Webb had been working as a private security guard in Mosul for the past six months protecting State Department dignitaries.

In a prepared statement, Blackwater USA said it "grieves for the loss of all four men, and shares its deepest sympathy."

Webb leaves behind a wife and two children. His family said Thursday that he loved his job and considered it a privilege to help keep others safe.

Webb is the 14th Utahn to die in Iraq since the March 2003 start of the war. Of those, one other was working as a private contractor when he was killed.

Brandon Thomas died May 7 after two suicide car bombers plowed into a foreign security convoy, killing at least 21 other people.

Thomas was an active duty member of the Utah National Guard's 19th Special Forces Group with the rank of sergeant, but his unit had not been deployed, so he signed up for the civilian job.

---

E-mail: ldethman@desnews.com