
NEOSHO, Mo. — An Air Force master sergeant who was killed Nov. 1 in Iraq is remembered for how he put the safety of others first.
Thomas Crowell, formerly of Neosho, died in an attack near Balad Air Base in Iraq. Crowell’s mother, Peggy Whipp, said her son did not have to be riding in the vehicle that was destroyed by a roadside bomb. She said Crowell had others serving under him and could have ordered one of them to do it.
Whipp, who still makes her home in Neosho, said her son always put his men before himself. That’s just the way he was, she said.
The mother said Crowell, 36, was “very, very proud” of his position as a special agent with the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, which handles criminal investigations and counterintelligence services.
Two others were killed in the attack with Crowell: Staff...