Nicholas Alden

Senior Airman Nicholas Jerome Alden, 25 years old, was killed in a terrorist attack at Frankfurt Airport, Germany, on March 2, 2011 — the first islamist terrorist attack on American military personnel on German soil.

Senior Airman Alden was standing outside a bus transporting U.S. Air Force personnel when a gunman approached and engaged him in conversation before suddenly drawing a handgun and shooting him in the back of the head. He was killed instantly. The attacker then boarded the bus, shot and killed the airman at the wheel, and wounded two others before his weapon jammed. A fellow airman pursued the gunman into the terminal and held him until German police took him into custody.

On February 10, 2012, the 21-year-old assailant was convicted and sentenced to life in prison.

Senior Airman Alden had served four years in the United States Air Force and was assigned to the 48th Security Forces Squadron.

He is survived by his wife, who was expecting their child at the time of his death, and two children.