Three-year-old Abrianna Hahn thought it could only mean one thing when she spied her late father's portrait in the chapel of Davis-Monthan Air Force Base.
"There's Daddy!" she called out happily at the sight of his face. "Is this heaven?" she asked her mom.
It was an afternoon of questions and of tears on Wednesday as hundreds of airmen gathered to grieve for the little girl's father, Staff Sgt. Timothy Hahn, who died Saturday in a flash flood in Bear Canyon.
The 25-year-old mechanic, who worked on the aircraft used by Air Force rescuers, was praised as a hero himself for trying to save Angela Knoche, a 19-year-old base lifeguard who also perished.
"Although Tim couldn't save Angie, he tried. He didn't hesitate to give his life in an effort to save another," said Maj. John Bulldis, commander of the 563rd Maintenance Squadron, to which Hahn belonged.
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Video taken by bystanders showed Hahn trying to grab onto Knoche before both were pulled under by the torrent, Bulldis said.
The base chapel was filled to capacity for the airman's memorial service, with about 300 mourners representing units from across the base.
Several who wore green flight jumpsuits were pilots of the HC-130 planes that Hahn maintained, fliers whose lives depended on his skills.
"Every time they stepped into that aircraft, they trusted that he had done a good job," Bulldis said in an interview.
Military composure went by the wayside as many left the chapel with red faces and watery eyes. Among them was Staff Sgt. Christopher Wiggs, who was with Hahn and Knoche during the last moments of their lives.
Wiggs, 25, and his wife, Aimee, 24, both Georgia natives, had hiked the canyon area before without incident and said they didn't know about the potential dangers of flash-flooding. On Saturday, they invited their respective pals, Hahn and Knoche, to join them.
Hahn had never been hiking in Tucson before, said Wiggs, who until recently lived three doors down from the Hahns in base housing. The two also deployed to Africa together in 2005.
Wiggs said Hahn normally spent all his spare time with his wife, Candice, and their daughter but happened to be free on Saturday because they were visiting relatives.
Knoche, a friend of Aimee Wiggs, agreed to go along, too, and the four set out on what seemed a perfect summer day in Tucson.
"It was so pretty, with blue skies and white clouds," Christopher Wiggs said. "We had no idea a 5-foot wall of water 50 feet wide was going to come crashing down on us."
When it did, the scene turned fatal within moments, he said.
Knoche was pushed off balance first, and Hahn was, too, when he instinctively tried to grab her. Christopher Wiggs said he reached out for Hahn, only to see him swept away.
"In a matter of seconds we realized Tim and Angie were gone," Aimee Wiggs said. "We're still trying to figure out how we went down there with our two friends and came back by ourselves.
"There's a lot of guilt, a lot of wondering why we survived and they didn't. But the families (of Hahn and Knoche) have been really good about not blaming us," she said.
Hahn's death illustrates an Air Force-wide truth: Many more airmen die in accidents at home than when deployed overseas.
Since military operations began in Afghanistan and Iraq, D-M hasn't seen a single war death. But seven local airmen have been felled in recreational or traffic accidents during that time, base officials said.
And every time it happens, it hurts, said Bulldis.
"When you all wear the same uniform," he said, "it's personal."
See more images from the memorial service at azstarnet.com/slideshows
