Alden, Nicholas Jerome
Male
Verified Senior Airman Nicholas Jerome Alden, 25, of Williamston, South Carolina, was a U.S. Air Force security forces airman assigned to the 48th Security Forces Squadron at RAF Lakenheath, United Kingdom. He was killed in a hostile incident at Fra
Their Story
Nicholas Jerome Alden was a Senior Airman in the United States Air Force, serving with the 48th Security Forces Squadron based at RAF Lakenheath in the United Kingdom. A native of Williamston, South Carolina, the 25-year-old had deployed to multiple locations in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, including Afghanistan, the Philippines, and the Horn of Africa.
On March 2, 2011, Alden was among a group of U.S. Air Force personnel traveling through Frankfurt Airport, Germany, en route to a deployment in Afghanistan. At approximately 3:20 p.m. local time, a 21-year-old Kosovo-born man, Arid Uka, approached the group at a bus terminal. According to German federal prosecutors and U.S. Air Force reports, Uka shot and killed two airmen, including Alden, and seriously wounded two others before being subdued by a German federal police officer.
Alden's death occurred during Operation Enduring Freedom, the U.S.-led military campaign that began in October 2001 following the September 11 attacks. The operation's objectives, as defined by the U.S. government, were to dismantle al-Qaeda and remove the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. The incident in Frankfurt was a rare attack on U.S. military personnel on German soil, a country hosting major U.S. air bases used for logistical support for the war.
German authorities charged Arid Uka with murder and attempted murder. During his 2012 trial, prosecutors stated Uka was radicalized by online jihadist propaganda and targeted the airmen because they were U.S. soldiers. He was convicted and sentenced to life in prison. The U.S. Air Force posthumously awarded Alden the Purple Heart and the Air Force Combat Action Medal.
Alden was buried with military honors in South Carolina. He is memorialized on the Air Force Memorial Wall and by a scholarship fund established in his name at his former high school, reflecting his service and the loss felt by his community.
Explore Further
Senior Airman Nicholas Alden was killed during Operation Enduring Freedom (2001?2014). The conflict concluded in December 2014. See the full roster of those killed in this conflict.
Among those documented in the same conflict: Andrews, Evander Earl, Edmunds, Jonn Joseph, Stonesifer, Kristofor Tif, Davis, Bryant Leroy.
