Family members have confirmed one of the two U.S. servicemen killed in a suspected terrorist act in Germany late Wednesday night was from Greene County.
U.S. Air Force Airman First Class Zachary Ryan Cuddeback, who graduated from William Monroe High School in 2008, was one of two servicemen killed when a man fired on a busload of U.S. Air Force troops at the Frankfurt International Airport.
Family members declined to talk in detail Thursday, but released a statement saying Cuddeback was an “Army brat that called many places his home, but had a special place in his heart for St. Louis, Mo.”
He joined the military in 2009, loved the Air Force, cars and hockey, his family said.
“Zac always had a smile on his face for everyone, but had no closer friend than his brother, Tim,” said the family statement, released through the Greene County Sheriff’s Office.
Family friend Erin Jones described Cuddeback as “outgoing” and “friendly.” The two have known each other since they were in middle school.
“[Zac] always had a personality that could more than put a smile on your face,” Jones said.
Jones said Cuddeback enjoyed the Air Force and Germany, a place he had spent time in while growing up with two parents in the Army.
“[The Air Force] was an opportunity for Zac to find himself and I believe he did,” Jones, a junior mathematics major at Carleton College in Northfield, Minn., said.
The two friends spoke last on Monday and it was Cuddeback’s younger brother, Tim, who called share the news of his brother’s death, Jones said.
Jones said he plans to attend Cuddeback’s funeral.
“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.”
German officials said the suspect, 21-year-old Arid Uka, had an altercation with U.S. military personnel in front of a bus outside the airport Wednesday night.
They said Uka started shooting, then boarded the bus briefly and was apprehended by police when he tried to escape.
The military had not confirmed Cuddeback’s name or released the names of the other serviceman killed or the two wounded by press time Thursday.
The second slain airman, former South Carolina resident Nick Alden, was identified by his mother Thursday.
Air Force officials did not return phone calls for comment. It is not known how long Cuddeback had been stationed at Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany, but his Facebook page on Thursday shows he was stationed there.
Friends of Cuddeback wrote messages on their Facebook “walls,” talking about their friend.
“Zac, go in peace, brother, we miss you,” one wrote on his own page. “[My] prayers and thoughts to the V-Ops family and even more so, to his own family.”
Another of Cuddeback’s friends posting on the social network Yuku on Thursday said Cuddeback was a vehicle ops driver and was taking other soldiers to the airport when the shooting occurred.
Cuddeback spent a year at Old Dominion University before he joined the military and played for the school’s ice hockey team.
ODU Coach Rich Appleby on Thursday said Cuddeback was just the kind of person a coach wanted on his team.
“Zac was one of those guys that is always fun to have on a team,” Appleby said. “He might not have been the most skilled player on the team, but he contributed so much to it by just his attitude alone.”
ODU team leaders discussed Thursday ways to remember Cuddeback and plan to have a patch sewn onto team jerseys before the next season begins.
“Zac was proud of his jersey,” Appleby said. “He was one of those kids you knew came from a good, solid background and he loved being on the team.”
Cuddeback is survived by his mother, De Loyet; his father, Bob Cuddback and his brother, Tim Cuddeback.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this article.
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