Oklahoma airman killed by improvised explosive device in Iraq

Another Oklahoman dies in Iraq. Air Force Tech Sergeant Jason Norton, of Miami, was killed Sunday by a roadside bomb.<br/><br/>News on 6 reporter Emory Bryan traveled to Ottawa County to talk with Nortonâ€™s

Tuesday, January 24th 2006, 11:00 am

By: News On 6

Another Oklahoman dies in Iraq. Air Force Tech Sergeant Jason Norton, of Miami, was killed Sunday by a roadside bomb.

News on 6 reporter Emory Bryan traveled to Ottawa County to talk with Nortonâ€™s friends.

Kevin Browning: "We stayed in touch everywhere he's been." Kevin Browning and Scott Miller remained close with Jason Norton, even though his military career took him to Alaska - and then to the war Iraq. Scott Martin: "That's what I worried about, was him not knowing it was coming and at any moment he could be in trouble."

Norton was a dog trainer as part of a US Air Force security team in Iraq. He was in a convoy Sunday when he was killed by a roadside bomb.

He was a native of Commerce and grew up in Miami, where he graduated from Miami High School in 1991. Former teacher Mike Reece: "He was a wrestler for me, back in Junior High. Very driven young man, good young man, and in high school I was industrial arts instructor and he came through a couple of my classes in industrial arts.â€

Norton's old friends said he enjoyed hunting in Alaska. They recalled his love of family, and his desire to get back home to be closer to his parents, a brother and sister. Kevin Browning: â€œHe really enjoyed his family and his hobbies, hunting and fishing and he was ready to draw his retirement and come back to Miami and hook back up with our families and to enjoy his family.â€

Norton joined the Air Force in 1992. His wife, Cristina is a native of the Oklahoma City area. She's a school teacher with Anchorage Public Schools. They have two children.

A memorial service is scheduled Friday at the Air Force base near Anchorage. A funeral is still being planned for Miami.