3 airmen from Hill are killed in Iraq

CLEARFIELD — Three airmen assigned to Hill Air Force Base died Sunday while they were trying to defuse a bomb inside a car in the Baghdad area, Hill officials announced Monday.

Killed at the scene were Tech. Sgt. Timothy R. Weiner, 35, of Tamarac, Fla.; Senior Airman Elizabeth A. Loncki, 23, of New Castle, Del.; and Senior Airman Daniel B. Miller Jr., 24, of Galseburg, Ill. One other airman, who was not assigned to Hill, was injured in the blast.

Loncki's boyfriend, Sgt. Jayson Johnson, also stationed at Hill, had planned to visit the family this week and ask Loncki's father for permission to marry her.

Instead, he'll serve as a military escort for her body as it is transported to Dover Air Force Base.

"She was a beautiful, beautiful child," Stephen Loncki said of his eldest daughter. "She loved her family and her family loved her. We miss her so much."

All three airmen were members of the 775th Civil Engineer Squadron's Explosive Ordnance Disposal Flight at Hill. They were in Iraq for a four-month tour. They were the first active-duty airmen for Hill who were killed either during Operations Iraqi Freedom or Enduring Freedom.

As EOD team members, they were trained to help keep U.S. troops and coalition forces safe from roadside bombs or improvised explosive devices. IEDs have killed more than one-third of the more than 3,000 U.S. troops who have died in Iraq since the United States invaded in 2003, according to records kept at www.icasualties.org.

In a press conference Monday at Hill, Chief Master Sgt. Michael Reilly said EOD members work hard and play hard because they know that they could be "here today and gone tomorrow."

EOD team members, he said, get butterflies inside their stomachs, knowing they're performing a dangerous job and that they are "targets" of possible enemy attacks as they try to perform their duties in Iraq.

"We live life to the fullest," Reilly added.

He also knew Weiner from working together at Hill. "He was one of our backbones inside the shop and he'll be sadly missed."

Maj. Richard Roberts also worked with Weiner at Hill.

"It's particularly hard for me," Roberts said. "He's a good man."

Wiener had been at Hill since about the fall of 2005, while Loncki arrived at the base around the spring of 2004, according to Hill officials. Miller had been at Hill less than a year.

"Speaking for everyone at Team Hill, we are deeply saddened by the tragic loss of our three airmen," Maj. Gen. Kevin Sullivan said in a press release.

For privacy reasons, Hill officials would not release any family information about the three airmen. Their bodies were expected to arrive back in the United States Monday evening.

Hill officials plan to hold a memorial service for the three on Friday. Funeral arrangements in other states are pending.

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Contributing: Associated Press

E-mail: sspeckman@desnews.com