The Knock At The Door

Brian Craig's parents had planned to meet him in San Diego when he returned from Afghanistan, but he wanted to surprise them by showing up on their Houston doorstep.

On Monday, the knock at the family's door came from military officials, who brought word that the Army staff sergeant was one of four American soldiers killed in an accidental explosion in Kandahar.

Craig had been talking to his sister about keeping his parents from finding out when his battalion would arrive in San Diego so they wouldn't go there to meet him.

"He was using her as a go-between," said Craig's mother, Barbara. "He was going to try and surprise us and come home to Houston. We were looking so forward to him coming home."

Craig, 27, died handling large caliber rockets confiscated from former Taliban ammunition dumps. Also killed were Staff Sgt. Justin J. Galewski, 28, of Olathe, Kan.; Sgt. Jamie O. Maugans, 27, of Derby, Kan.; and Sgt. 1st Class Daniel A. Romero, 30, of Longmont, Colo.

The accident is under investigation.

Craig, Galewski, and Maugans were part of 710th Ordnance Company, a small unit on a Navy submarine base in San Diego. Galewski's wife, Christine, heard from her husband a few days ago.

"I feel very fortunate to have been with him," she told ABC's "Good Morning America," which had been following her for a story about military wives. "I want him to know that I'm going to be OK."

She said the loss had not sunk in.

"I just keep feeling they're going to come through the door and say 'Sorry, we got the wrong one,"' she said. The couple had two children.

Romero was with the 19th Special Forces Group based at Pueblo, Colo. His wife and parents described him as sensitive, spiritual and a dedicated soldier.

"He was a very loving son. He loved his family and his wife," said his father, Michael Romero.

The family last talked to Romero on Sunday. They knew he was helping to fight the war on terrorism, but they didn't know he was in Afghanistan, his father said.

"This tragedy brings home ... the sacrifice that brave Americans make daily to defend our freedom," said Colorado Gov. Bill Owens, who ordered flags at state buildings to be flown at half-staff Tuesday.

Maugans' family said he felt he was saving other soldiers as well as civilians. They last heard from him in an e-mail on Easter, when he said he'd be home in a month.

"He was hoping to go out and have a beer or two with me - I was looking forward to that," said his father, Bryce.

His grandmother, Shirley Maugans of Wichita, said the family had been looking forward to his return because he'd been overseas since November.

"He was a gentle man, from the time he was born," she said. "He was very sweet and kind."

The soldiers' bodies arrived Tuesday at the Ramstein Air Base in Germany en route to the United States.

An honor guard and chaplains stood at attention as the C-17 cargo plane carrying the coffins taxied on the runway. Members of the honor guard saluted as others carried the flag-draped coffins down the plane's ramp to waiting hearses.

By Pam Easton