March 17, 2026
His mother, Cheryl, remembered the exact moments officers came to her door to deliver the heartbreaking news, saying it was shocking, remembering how much her son loved his job.
The family of a U.S. Air Force airman is mourning and seeking answers after Tech Sgt. Tyler Simmons was killed along with other service members in a refueling aircraft accident in Iraq, expressing feelings that his death could have been prevented, 10 TV reports.
Simmons, a 28-year-old airman with the 121st Air Refueling Wing at Rickenbacker Air National Guard Base, died after the KC-135 Stratotanker he was aboard went down supporting operations in the area. U.S. Central Command claims the crash came following an unspecified incident involving two aircraft in neutral airspace and that the other plane landed safely. However, that doesn’t give answers to a grieving family. “He had a million-dollar smile. When people see my cousin, they’d be like, that smile is gonna take him places, and it took him to his dream job,” Tracy Peaks, Simmons’ cousin, said.
His mother, Cheryl, remembered the exact moments officers came to her door to deliver the heartbreaking news, saying it was shocking, remembering how much her son loved his job as an airman. “When he opened the door, he said, ‘Oh no,’ and I jumped up and ran in there, and they were lined up out on the porch,” the grieving mother said.
“‘You got to be kidding me.’”
Other families and Simmons’ family members can relate. The Columbus, Ohio, native’s grandmother, Bernice Smith, said people shouldn’t be experiencing this type of grief right now, “just to create a war because you want to create a war is not right.” Cousin Stephan Douglas agreed, saying, “We believe this could have been prevented. It’s a sad day.” “We didn’t need to be in this war,” he continued, according to Daily Beast.
“This is uncalled for, and this is what we get.”
Americans woke up Feb. 28 to war rhetoric from President Donald Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, launching “Operation Epic Fury” in the Middle East. Since then, several members of the U.S. military and civilians have been killed, causing rifts at home between supporters and opponents.
Amid preparations for the midterms, the Simmons family, for those who don’t support this conflict, wants voters to take their issues out to the poll booths, to take their grief to the ballot box in November. “Our hearts are saddened beyond measure to learn of six more airmen being killed last night,” the family said in a written statement. “One of them is our beloved Tyler Simmons. Tyler’s smile could light up any room; his strong presence would fill it. His parents, grandparents, family, and friends are grief-stricken for the loss of life,” the family wrote in a statement.
“Vote for Tyler and the five others who lost their lives recently, and for all those serving our country. They are heroes who are loved and will be missed. Praying for Tyler, his fellow airmen, his family, and we pray for the United States to do better and be better.”
Elected officials at both the state and federal levels have shared in the Simmons’ family thoughts, with Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther saying his “life was taken far too soon in a recent accident in Iraq.”
Ohio Democratic Rep. Joyce Beatty, who serves the Columbus area, released a statement on X, saying she was “heartbroken” to hear about the news. “My heart is with Tyler’s family and the families of the other five servicemembers who were killed, including two other Ohioans,” she wrote.
“In Columbus and across the nation, we will always remember the sacrifice of Tyler and his fellow servicemembers.”
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