DOD IDENTIFIES AIR FORCE CASUALTY
April 23, 2003
The Department of Defense announced today that Maj. William R. Watkins III, 37, of Danville, Va., was killed in action April 7 while supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Watkins was assigned to the 333rd Fighter Squadron, Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, N.C.
Watkins was the weapons system officer of an F-15E that went down April 7 during a combat mission in Iraq. The incident remains under investigation.
The pilot of the F-15E, Capt. Eric B. Das, was also killed when the aircraft went down.