Migration News
Lakenheath unveils memorial to two fallen airmen
By
Stars and Stripes March 2, 2012
hodged@estripes.osd.mil David Hodge
Stars and Stripes March 2, 2012
Lt. Col. Paul Cairney, commander of the 48th Security Forces Squadron at RAF Lakenheath, England, passes a U.S. flag to Trish Alden, widow of U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Nicholas Alden, during a ceremony marking the one-year anniversary of the Frankfurt Airport shooting in Germany. Two U.S. airmen, including Nicholas Alden,were killed and two were wounded when Arid Uka fired on them as they waited to take a bus to Ramstein Air Base on March 2, 2011. At left is Staff Sgt. Trevor Brewer, who was among those on the bus. (David Hodge/Stars and Stripes)
Lt. Col. Paul Cairney, commander of the 48th Security Forces Squadron at RAF Lakenheath, England, passes a U.S. flag to Trish Alden, widow of U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Nicholas Alden, during a ceremony marking the one-year anniversary of the Frankfurt Airport shooting in Germany. Two U.S. airmen, including Nicholas Alden,were killed and two were wounded when Arid Uka fired on them as they waited to take a bus to Ramstein Air Base on March 2, 2011. At left is Staff Sgt. Trevor Brewer, who was among those on the bus. (David Hodge/Stars and Stripes)
Lt. Col. Paul Cairney, left, commander of the 48th Security Forces Squadron at RAF Lakenheath, England, and Lt. Col. David J. Harris, commander of the 100th Security Forces Squadron at RAF Mildenhall, unveil the Liberty's Fallen Defenders memorial during a ceremony marking the one-year anniversary of the Frankfurt Airport shooting in Germany. (David Hodge/Stars and Stripes)
The Liberty's Fallen Defenders monument was dedicated Friday to two 48th Security Forces Squadron members killed in the war on terrorism. Senior Airman Jason Nathan was killed while on patrol in Iraq in 2007 and Senior Airman Nicholas Alden was fatally shot at Frankfurt Airport, Germany, by Arid Uka in 2011. Uka confessed to the shooting and was sentenced to life in prison in Germany. (David Hodge/Stars and Stripes)
Lt. Col. Paul Cairney, commander of the 48th Security Forces Squadron at RAF Lakenheath, England, speaks at a ceremony March 2, to dedicate the Liberty's Fallen Defenders memorial to two members of the unit who have died since the beginning of the war on terrorism, Senior Airman Jason Nathan and Senior Airman Nicholas Alden. (David Hodge/Stars and Stripes)
RAF LAKENHEATH, England — A Liberty’s Fallen Defenders memorial was unveiled Friday to mark the one-year anniversary of the Frankfurt Airport shooting in Germany in which two U.S. airmen were killed.
“It’s been a year now since that’s happened,” said the 48th Security Forces Squadron commander, Lt. Col. Paul Cairney. “Since that time, even from the very beginning, it was in the hearts of the members of our squadron to dedicate something here on this base, something permanent, something by which we can always remember the sacrifices of the defenders of the 48th Security Forces Squadron who’ve lost their lives in battle.”
The Lakenheath memorial displays the names of Senior Airman Nicholas Alden, who was killed in the airport shooting on March 2, 2011, and Senior Airman Jason Nathan, who was killed in June 2007 by a roadside bomb while on patrol in Iraq. Both were members of the 48th Security Forces Squadron.
Also killed in the shooting was Airman 1st Class Zachary Cuddeback, driver of the bus waiting to take the airmen to Ramstein Air Base for a deployment to Afghanistan. Two other airmen were injured.
Arid Uka, a 21-year-old Kosovo Albanian who worked at the airport post office, confessed to the shooting, saying he wanted to prevent American servicemembers from going to Afghanistan, believing they would rape Muslim girls. Uka was tried in a German court and received a sentence of life in prison.