2 US Airmen Slain in Germany Came From Military Families

One told his mother not to worry about an upcoming deployment to Afghanistan. He said he would be "in a fairly safe place" just as he had been in during a previous tour in Iraq.

The other was an "Army brat" enjoying his time in Germany, a place where he had spent time while growing up with his two military parents.

So Senior Airman Nicholas Alden and Airman 1st Class Zachary Cuddeback obviously were well aware of the dangers of serving their country. But who could have ever predicted they would die in a shooting at Frankfurt International Airport, of all places?

The Air Force today released the names of the two men killed Wednesday as they sat on a bus at the airport. Two other injured airmen are being treated in a German hospital.

Arid Uka, a 21-year-old ethnic Albanian from Kosovo who was raised in Germany, has confessed to the shooting, authorities said.

"I'm very angry right now," Alden's mother, Cathy Garner, told The Associated Press from her home in Iva., S.C. "I'm angry because this 21-year-old boy has grown up in such a fanatic way he thinks he has the right to take the life of my son who is 25, and who just has a family going, and whose family loves him very much."

Alden was assigned to the 48th Security Forces Squadron at RAF Lakenheath in England but died in the country where he was born to two military parents.

The family returned to Indianapolis, where Alden lived until about 10 years ago when Garner got a teaching job in South Carolina. He graduated from Palmetto High School in Anderson, S.C.

At Starr-Iva Middle School, where Garner teaches English, the flag flew at half-staff Friday.

"We do that normally for any soldier from South Carolina that dies, but this is something that is even more close to home," Principal Mike Ruthsatz told the AP. "It's a devastating blow to any family. It makes this what we don't call a war -- or some people don't call a war -- it makes it real to us now."

Garner said her son wanted to be a police officer but, taking a cue from his parents, decided to try the Air Force first. He had already served a six-month tour in Iraq and was scheduled to deploy to Afghanistan.

"He said, 'Mom, I'm going to be in a fairly safe place like I was in Iraq. I'm going to have all sorts of protective gear on when I go out so I'm going to be just as safe as I was in Iraq,'" she said he told her, according to AP. "He never even got there."

Alden met his wife, Trish, while both were working at a Walmart. The couple, who lived in England, have a 3-year-old daughter and a 1-year-old son.

Like Alden, Cuddeback also came from a military family.

A native of Stanardsville, Va., Cuddeback, 21, joined the military in 2009 after graduating from William Monroe High School the year before.

In a statement, the family said he was an "Army brat that called many places his home but had a special place in his heart for St. Louis, Mo."

He was a vehicle operator in the 86th Vehicle Readiness Squadron at nearby Ramstein Air Base in Germany. His family said he was into cars and hockey.

A family friend, Erin Jones, told the Richmond Times-Dispatch that the Air Force "was an opportunity for Zac to find himself, and I believe he did."

Jones said she spoke to Cuddeback on Monday and said he was enjoying his time in Germany and the Air Force.

"He was not only a soldier for our country, but he was a soldier for his family," Jones said. "I'm very proud to call him a friend."