Airman from Iowa killed in Afghanistan - Air Force News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Air Force Times

Airman from Iowa killed in Afghanistan

OTTUMWA, Iowa — Family members are mourning the death of a 28-year-old staff sergeant from Iowa who was killed in Afghanistan.

Staff Sgt. Joseph J. Hamski of Ottumwa died Thursday along with 32-year-old Tech. Sgt. Kristoffer M. Solesbee of Citrus Heights, Calif., when a bomb exploded.

The incident happened in the Shorabak district of Kandahar province when enemy forces attacked, but the Defense Department did not release details.

Hamski graduated from Ottumwa High School in 2001 and briefly attended Iowa State University before joining the Air Force.

Ray Hamski, 83, of Duluth, Minn., told the Des Moines Register his grandson matured into a “super young man” in the military.

“He was kind of a free spirit in high school and he just wasn’t a college man. But he really shaped up in the Air Force,” Ray Hamski said. “It’s a devastating loss.”

Hamski was assigned to the 52nd Civil Engineer Squadron, Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany. Solesbee was assigned to the 775th Civil Engineer Squadron at Hill Air Force Base in Utah.

Hamski had worked as an explosive ordnance disposal technician training others to find and defuse bombs. He had served at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida, Cannon Air Force Base in New Mexico and Kunsan Air Base in South Korea.

“You can be thankful for all the lives he saved,” said Jennifer Hensley, Hamski’s sister. “We’re just sorry he was gone so soon.”

Officials with the 52nd Fighter Wing say Hamski’s body is scheduled to be flown back to the United States to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware this weekend.

Funeral arrangements for Hamski were pending with Reece Funeral Home of Ottumwa.