OKLAHOMA CITY — Two airmen, one from Oklahoma and the other from Texas, were killed in Iraq when their vehicle struck an improvised explosive device while they were escorting a convoy near Taji, the Department of Defense said Tuesday.
Tech. Sgt. Jason L. Norton, 31, of Miami, Okla., and Staff Sgt. Brian McElroy, 28, of San Antonio, Texas, died on Sunday.
Both men were assigned to the 3rd Security Forces Squadron at Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska.
Norton’s wife, Cristina Norton, said he was devoted to their two children, a son, 7, and a daughter, 8.
“He was the best father in the world, and I said that before anything happened,” she said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. “Family was his everything.”
McElroy also was married with children, and officials said his wife is with her family in...