Eric Weiner said his brother, who leaves behind a wife and a teenage son, loved the technical side of defusing bombs.

"He loved the fact that he was out there saving lives," Eric Weiner said. "He's an outstanding guy. How do you put that into words?"

Timothy Weiner was married to his "high school sweetheart" for 18 years. "That's a tough thing to do in the military," Eric Weiner said from his home in Colorado.

The bodies of all three airmen arrived back in the United States on Monday evening.

Loncki, who entered the military in March 2003, had been stationed at HAFB since spring 2004. HAFB officials said that Staff Sgt. Jayson Johnson, who also was assigned to Hill, had planned on asking Loncki to marry him. Her tour in Iraq was two weeks from completion.

Loncki's family declined requests Tuesday for an interview. It's expected that she will be buried in Delaware, where her family resides.

Lt. Col. Craig Biondo, squadron commander of the 775th, said Loncki's performance reports showed she was well liked.

"She has been truly a great troop, totally stellar," Biondo said Tuesday evening. "We're all mourning all of their losses here. Any one death is a tragedy — three, the same incident, same unit, it's a catastrophe."

Biondo said Loncki is the first female explosive-ordnance disposal technician for the Air Force to have been killed in action since the terrorist attacks on the United States on Sept. 11, 2001.

A memorial service for the three airmen is planned for Friday at HAFB.

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E-mail: sspeckman@desnews.com