By NOREEN GILLESPIE
Associated Press Writer
October 15, 2004, 9:06 PM EDT
BROOKLYN, Conn. -- Eric D. Miner spent more than a decade in the military as a special forces soldier with the Rhode Island National Guard. But when he left for Iraq last August, he wasn't in uniform. The 44-year-old father of three went to the turbulent region as an employee of State Department security contractor DynCorp International. He and three fellow workers were killed Thursday when two bombs exploded in the tightly guarded area of Baghdad known as the Green Zone.
"He had mentioned that there was an opportunity to make a great deal of money over there," his friend, Andrew Carey, told radio station WILI. "I think he liked the adventure that goes along with that sort of life. He was an extremely capable individual, and we're all very proud of him and what he stood for."
Also killed were DynCorp employees John Pinsonneault, 39, of North Branch, Minn., and Steve Osborne, 40, of Kennesaw, Ga. Ferdinand Ibaboa, 36, of Mesa, Ariz., was missing and presumed dead.
A stream of friends and neighbors showed up Friday at Miner's home to comfort his widow, Tammy, and three children. A woman who answered the door said family members were too distraught to speak.
Miner, whose parents died when he was young, was raised along with a brother by Lois Potter, a family friend.
When Lois Potter's husband died in the mid-1980s, Miner purchased their farm property in Brooklyn, and has lived there ever since, said Lois Potter's son, Judge Russell F. Potter. "He loved the place," he said.
Miner was on leave from the Rhode Island National Guard, where he held the rank of sergeant first class with A Company, 2nd Battalion, 19th Special Forces Group. Military records show he joined the National Guard in 1991. He was deployed to both Kosovo and Kuwait after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
He asked for a leave of absence in July to pursue the job with DynCorp, said Rhode Island National Guard Major General Reginald A. Centracchio.
"No matter how you lose a soldier, it's still not an easy thing, certainly, for any of us to be able to justify," Centracchio said.
The blasts were reportedly the work of suicide bombers. The terror group led by Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi reportedly claimed responsibility.
State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said Friday the terrorists were targeting "not just Americans, but scores of innocent Iraqis. We condemn these acts, and they will not succeed."
Copyright © 2004, The Associated Press
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