Servicemen killed in Iraq attack were Oklahoman, Californian

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Two servicemen killed in an Iraqi rocket attack on a U.S. base in Iraq were an Oklahoman and a Californian, the U.S. Department of Defense said Friday.

Air Force Staff Sgt. Marshal Roberts, 28, of Owasso, and Army Spc. Juan Miguel Mendez Covarrubias, 27, of Hanford, California, died in the Wednesday attack that also killed a British service member.

The U.S. has launched retaliatory airstrikes against militants in Iraq following the attack on Camp Taji.

The department said Roberts was a member of the 219th Engineering Installation Squadron of the Oklahoma Air National Guard and Covarrubias was assigned to 1st Battalion, 227th Aviation Regiment, 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division at Fort Hood, Texas.

Roberts served “selflessly and with honor,” Maj. Gen. Michael Thompson, Oklahoma's adjutant general, said in a statement.

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, Sens. James Lankford and Jim Inhofe and Rep. Kevin Hern of Tulsa, where the Oklahoma squadron is based, issued statements of condolence, calling Roberts a hero.

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