By JESSIE STENSLAND

and PAUL BORING

Staff reporters

Three sailors from Whidbey Island Naval Air Station killed in Iraq April 6 were active, well-loved members of the Oak Harbor community.

The men, from Explosive Ordnance Disposal Unit 11, were the first sailors from the base to be killed in the war. The Department of Defense reported that they died from enemy action while conducting combat operations near Kirkuk, Iraq, but other details haven’t been released.

Chief Petty Officer Gregory J. Billiter, 36, was the father of a 3-year-old son and the husband of a seventh grade teacher at North Whidbey Middle School, where news of his death was a blow to students and staff alike.

Petty Officer 2nd Class Curtis R. Hall, 24, was a 6-foot-7 former Eagle Scout and high school basketball player who made up in hard work and determination what he lacked in coordination.

Petty Officer 1st Class Joseph “Adam” McSween, 26, was a husband and a father of two young daughters. The family was very active in the Oak Harbor Church of Christ, where the congregation felt the loss Sunday. He was a “tenderhearted” young man who studied to become a minister before deciding to serve his country in a risky branch of the military, his hometown pastor said.

NAS Whidbey spokesperson Kim Martin said the base will likely have a memorial service for the men at the end of the month, but the details have yet to be ironed out.

Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit 11 has established accounts with the Navy Federal Credit Union for each of the families of the lost sailors. Donations may be made to any Navy Federal Credit Union worldwide.

The account names are: EODMU-11 Memorial Fund in care of Gregory Billiter; EODMU-11 Memorial Fund in care of Adam McSween; and EODMU-11 Memorial Fund in care of Curtis Hall.

Gregory J. Billiter, 36

Billiter’s wife, April, teaches seventh-grade science. Assistant Principal Shane Evans had met Billiter at staff gatherings and, although his contact was brief, he was impressed with the sailor.

“He was a very liked and loved man,” Evans said about the doting father. “A very generous person.”

School staff were alerted on Saturday after the death was confirmed, giving them time to deal with their grief and shock before entering the classroom.

“It would have been a very difficult Monday morning had the staff heard moments before going to teach,” Evans said.

A crisis team made up of counselors, psychologists and administrators met Monday morning before school began. A prepared statement was read to the students, notifying them of the tragedy, and grief counseling was offered.

“Counselors were in the library most of the day, available to talk with students,” the assistant principal said.

For April’s four classes, totaling between 100 to 120 students, the kids were placed in one room and informed of the death.

“They were given the opportunity to write sympathy cards and 100 or more were delivered to the family,” Evans said. “Our kids have been remarkable in their outpouring of sympathy.”

For Billiter, whose hometown is Villa Hills, Ky., the tour in Iraq was supposed to be his third and final. His Navy biography has a long list of his duty stations. Billiter, like the other two men killed in action, was listed as a diver. He was trained as a student with the SEAL team in Coronado, Calif., as well as at a Navy dive and salvage school.

Billiter earned a long list of awards and decorations during his 15-year Navy career. They include four Sea Service Deployment Ribbons, a Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, a Meritorious Unit Commendation and five Navy/Marine Corps Achievement Medals.

Curtis R. Hall, 24

Hall’s bravery and determination to succeed were apparent long before he joined the Navy. When he was a 14-year-old Boy Scout, he helped save his father from drowning during a rafting accident, his sister told the Everett Herald. He earned the Boy Scout’s Honor Medal and his story was featured in Boys Life magazine.

His high school basketball coach in Burley, Idaho, remembers Hall as a quiet, sweet kid with a great personality.

“He had a great sense of humor and was very nice,” Jack Bagley said. “Everyone liked him.”

Hall grew to a towering and lanky 6-foot-7 in high school, so Bagley said he kept him on the team even though he didn’t have much coordination in the beginning. The tall young man was dubbed the “project player,” since it was quite a project to teach him to play well.

Bagley said Hall practiced and worked as hard as he could, successfully transforming himself into a star player by his senior year.

“I still use Curtis as an example today of what hard work can get you,” Bagley said.

Bagley said he wasn’t surprised to learn that the tall young man enlisted in the Navy and worked defusing bombs in Iraq. He figured Hall could do just about anything he set his mind to.

Hall enlisted in the Navy in the fall of 2001. He earned a Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, a Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal and a Good Conduct Medal.

Joseph ‘Adam’ McSween, 26

State Rep. Barbara Bailey, an Oak Harbor resident, counted herself among the many close friends of Adam McSween and his wife, Erin. The couple and their daughters, 5-year-old Lily and 2-year-old Gwyneth, are members of the “very close church family” of Oak Harbor Church of Christ, which Bailey also attends.

Bailey said the church family had a sad day Sunday, as they had just learned about the tragedy in Iraq.

“We are all pretty devastated,” she said. “We are just trying to help the family and be a source of comfort and strength for them right now.”

Bailey said she was very grateful to the McSweens for encouraging her in her run for office. She said Adam McSween was active in the church, but also volunteered in the community. He was very proud of his military service.

“He was quiet, but determined,” she said. “He was a very strong, admirable young man who wanted to be of service to others, particularly to the church family.”

McSween’s dedication to serving others began at his hometown church in Valdosta, Ga. John Klimko, the minister of Central Avenue Church of Christ, was McSween’s youth pastor for many years. He said McSween was a beloved member of the church who made a big splash when he brought his family for a visit last year.

Klimko described “a wonderful kid” who volunteered to do yard work for the elderly, preached in the homes of shut-ins, but also enjoyed working with younger children.

“He had a big heart. He had a tender heart,” he said. “He wasn’t the kind of tough guy you might imagine being in the military. He was tenderhearted, kind and compassionate.”

McSween enjoyed the church work so much that he made plans to become a minister and went off to York College. But during college, he decided to enlist in the Navy. It was a move that didn’t surprise Klimko.

“Adam did what he loved doing,” he said. “He was serving his country and died protecting his country.”

You can reach News-Times reporter Jessie Stensland at jstensland@whidbeynewstimes.com or call 675-6611.