Staff Sgt. Shawn Rankin, 25, died early Oct. 4, according to Justin Oakes, spokesman for Luke Air Force Base. The base, home to the 56th Fighter Wing, is near Phoenix.
The Friday before, Rankin didn't go to work; he apparently called in sick, Oakes said. Rankin lived off base in Glendale, Ariz. Early in the morning of Oct. 4, someone at his apartment called 911 because he wasn't responding. Medics couldn't revive him and he was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.
Preliminary autopsy results from the Maricopa County medical examiner found that he died of complications from an H1N1 infection, the Air Force said in a statement Friday.
Rankin had been stationed at Luke since February 2008. He was an F-16 maintenance-squad crew chief. He joined the Air Force in October 2003.
"He was a valuable member of Team Luke, and he will be greatly missed," Brig. Gen. Kurt Neubauer, 56th Fighter Wing commander, said in a written statement.
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