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Phillip A Myers


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HOPEWELL, VA, USA

U.S. Air Force

TSGT, 48TH CIVIL ENGINEER SQUADRON, RAF LAKENHEATH, UK

HELMAND PROVINCE, AFGHANISTAN 04/04/2009


When Air Force Tech. Sergeant Phillip A. Myers returned to the United States this month after a decade of service to his country, his arrival received news coverage around the world.

Myers, 30, was killed April 4 near Helmand province in Afghanistan by a makeshift bomb. The arrival of his remains at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware the next day was the first to be covered by the news media since Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates lifted a 1991 ban on news coverage. That night, his return was attended by a small group that included his wife, Aimee, his parents, brother and uncle. Yesterday, they were joined by hundreds of others who gathered at Arlington National Cemetery to say goodbye to Myers.

He was born and raised in Hopewell, Va., and was like “any other teenager,” interested in cars and music, said his father, Eddie Myers of Prince George County, Va. He graduated from Hopewell High School in 1996 and worked at the Riverside Regional Jail in Hopewell before joining the military.

When Phillip Myers decided to join the Air Force, his father did not expect him to choose explosive ordinance technician, or bomb technician, as his specialty. “That was the biggest thing that surprised me,” his father said. Myers half-jokingly told his father that he took on the job because it paid more, but he wound up loving the work and finding direction in the military.

“If there’s anything we can find comfort in, it’s knowing that he died doing what he loved to do,” his father said. “That is without a doubt. He was just so enthused about it.”

Myers was in charge of explosive ordnance disposal equipment with the 48th Civil Engineer Squadron, based in England. He was the 2008 U.S. Air Force Military Technician of the Year and had been awarded the Purple Heart and Bronze Star, according to his base.

Eddie Myers said his son looked out for the people serving under him.

“If he thought a job was too dangerous, he would get out and check it out himself,” he said. “That might be why we don’t have Phillip here today. But to me, that’s admirable. That’s the kind of guy he was.”

Eddie Myers said the family was proud that his son was the first to return under the new media policy. He described the April 5 ceremony as “very emotional.”

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