Joseph J. Hamski

Staff Sgt. Joseph J. Hamski, age 28, of Ottumwa, Iowa, died on May 26, 2011, in the Shorabak district of Kandahar Province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device. 

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Joseph was assigned to the 52nd Civil Engineer Squadron, Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany. 

Joseph Hamski graduated from Ottumwa High School in 2001. He briefly attended Iowa State University before joining the Air Force.

He previously served at Elgin Air Force Base, Cannon Air Force Base and Kusan Air Base. Joseph worked as an explosives and demolitions engineer and trained others how to detect and deactivate bombs.

Family members said that Joseph really found himself in the Air Force and that he had blossomed into a super young man. His family is devastated by his loss.

Joseph Hamski is survived by many loving relatives and friends including his wife, Air Force Staff Sgt. Maria Christina Hamski, Spangdahlem, Germany; mother, Mary Ellen Winston, a sixth-grade teacher in Ottumwa; sisters Jennifer Hensley of Shakopee, Minn., and Nicole Friedman of Blakesburg; and his brother Thomas Hamski of Nevada, as well as his grandfather, Ray Hamski of Duluth, Minnesota.

Let us pray to God the Father, Jesus, all of the saints and all of the angels that Joseph J. Hamski is in heaven. Let us pray that he is at peace and is with God. Amen.