EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, FLORIDA - Crestview resident and Technical Sergeant Andy Baxter bumped into his friend Master Sergeant Ken Kitson at the Tom Thumb in Destin the day before Kitson and other members of Eglin’s 33rd Fighter Wing left for Saudi Arabia. "We gave each other a hug," recalls Baxter. "It feels like yesterday."

Baxter had no idea it would be the last time he’d see his friend.

Baxter was one of many to mourn the loss of 19 airmen, 12 of them Eglin Nomads, killed by a terrorist bomb at Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia, June 25, ’96, 10 years ago.

The 10th Anniversary Memorial Ceremony at Eglin Air Force Base brought the memories all back.

Kitson, who had volunteered to take someone’s place, told Baxter, "‘Yeah, I thought I’d go help out.’

"One of our guy’s son got into trouble, was going through some family problems," said Baxter. It was just like Kitson to go instead.

Baxter also lost his closest friend and fishing buddy, Technical Sergeant Thanh Van Nguyen, who went by "Gus."

"Gus would drag us to the jetties. People could be trying all around us, and nobody’d have a bite. We’d load our cooler up in 30 minutes and leave." Gus was a natural fisherman, Baxter recalled quietly. Mostly they caught king mackerel, cobia, and occasionally grouper.

Nguyen possessed an admirable disposition, said Baxter. "He was the nicest, easiest person you ever knew, always smiling. He was always doing something for somebody."

If Nguyen heard that someone had a car problem, or needed home repairs, "he’d show up with all his tools."

Whatever a person needed, Gus would help out.

He would surely try to lift Baxter’s spirits if he knew how sorely his friend still misses him. For instance, he’d probably throw an impromptu party together. "He absolutely loved get-togethers. We’d grill fish, play poker."

Baxter’s wife, Sherie, used to baby-sit Christopher, Nyugen’s son. "Christopher was a teenager when it happened," said Baxter.

"It" meant the day Baxter lost two friends at once, Christopher lost his father, and countless families’ lives were shattered.

For Technical Sergeant Kenneth Goss, the loss began in the tenth of a nanosecond that it took to lock eyes with another airman as the loudest explosion he’d ever heard created hellish pandemonium in the Khobar Towers, near Dharan. Soldiers in the military housing complex went into automatic pilot to deal with the emergency. "No one stopped to ask questions, there’s no time for that," said Goss, one of four men to speak at the Memorial Anniversary. "We knew what needed to be done."

The bomb created a crater 35 feet deep and 85 feet wide, exploding at about 10 p.m. Over 400 American and Saudi people were injured. Fortunately, many escaped.

Mostly Goss recalls the immense courage and discipline he witnessed during horrible chaos. He will long remember the sight of one man with a head wound who carried an IV for himself while rescuing others. Meanwhile, people wielded stretchers through stairwells filled with glass shards, twisted metal, desks, and chairs – furniture occupied leisurely only moments before.

The next morning, Goss took a picture of dawn breaking. That photo occupies his desk as a continual reminder that, "No matter what hell you’re in, the sun will rise the next day."

In a choked voice, Goss urged everyone, "Don’t mourn for how they died. Honor them for how they lived and served their country."

Staff Sergeant Raymond Sallard said he was one of the young airmen scheduled to head back from Saudi that night. "I didn’t expect anything like this to occur. That happens on CNN," not to people like him. The attack changed his views. People are indeed vulnerable, especially in hot spots. He advised the audience to "take your training seriously, all the exercises. I never liked math, for instance." Today Sallard uses it extensively in his work with the SBSS [Standard Base Supply System], keeping expert track of massive amounts of equipment and all supplies used in deployment.

In a conflict that has persisted for over 15 years in the Persian Gulf, thousands of deployed troops have died. "Liberty is a precious gift," said Colonel Doug Cochran. "Every loss is a tragedy." And for some, 10 years seems an eternity, but what stays fresh in his mind are the "Nomads working in heat and dust, who never complained, were proud to be serving, proud to be Americans, but looking forward to coming home. I think of you each and every day," Cochran said, before calling out the nicknames he had for each: "K.K., Dan, Pat, Gus, Dee, Jr., Jeremy, Brent, Brian, Pete, Joseph, Josh."

These nicknames belong to:

Master Sergeant Kendall Keith Kitson, Jr.

Technical Sergeant Daniel Ben Cafourek

Technical Sergeant Patrick Phillip Fennig

Technical Sergeant Thanh V. "Gus" Nguyen

Sergeant Millard D. "Soup" Campbell

Senior Airman Earl Frederick Cartrette, Jr.

Senior Airman Jeremy Allen Taylor

Airman First Class Brent Evan Marthaler

Airman First Class Brian William McVeigh

Airman First Class Peter James Morgera

Airman First Class Joseph Edward Rimkus

Airman First Class Joshua Edward Woody

The 33rd’s new Commander, Russell Handy, said the 12 Eglin men who perished represent the greater whole, men and women in an ongoing war who are "still there, quietly doing their job, putting service before self." Handy read aloud a personal message sent by former President Bill Clinton to the 33rd Fighter Wing, ending with the statement, "The American spirit is stronger than any force that seeks to destroy us."

Ruby Marthaler, Highlands, Colorado, said she appreciated the Memorial Service, particularly the men’s personal stories. She came to honor her nephew, Brent Evan Marthaler. "They were such great hosts," she said, of the 33rd Fighter Wing.

Technical Sergeant Mitch Wright, one of the injured at Khobar Towers, nearly lost all his sight in the attack. Nevertheless, he feels fortunate. "I have a little bit left. I can see green grass and a little blue sky."