A Connecticut airman has died after an incident at Al Dhafra Air Base in the United Arab Emirates.
The U.S. Department of Defense said 26-year-old Staff Sgt. James T. Grotjan, of Waterford, died Thursday at a medical facility in Germany from injuries sustained in a non-combat incident at the base on July 8.
Grotjan was assigned to the 4th Civil Engineer Squadron at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in North Carolina.
Grotjan's family said he grew up in Colchester and graduated from Bacon Academy in 2010.
His mother-in-law said told NBC Connecticut he was "the guy next door" who would help anyone who needed it, and that he was a wonderful husband to her step-daughter.
