On Memorial Day, Linda Crate of Spanaway received the news every military mother dreads.

Her only child, Staff Sgt. Casey Crate, 26, had been killed in an air crash northwest of Baghdad.

"What an appropriate day," Linda Crate said. "If it happens, what a great tribute. That's how I look at it. I know he is with God and in a safe place."

The Defense Department yesterday made public the deaths of Crate and three other airmen who died in the crash Monday: Maj. William Downs, 40, of Winchester, Va.; Capt. Jeremy Fresques, 26, of Clarkdale, Ariz.; Capt. Derek Argel, 28, of Lompoc, Calif.

All were assigned to Air Force Special Operations Command at Hurlburt Field in Florida.

Crate grew up in Spanaway, Pierce County, and graduated from Spanaway Lake High School in 1996.

He enrolled in Pierce College but didn't take his studies seriously, his mother said.

"I gave him four options," she said. "Get the grades up to go to WSU, go to trade school or flip hamburgers for a living for the rest of your life."

Crate chose his mother's fourth option: military service.

He joined the Air Force and worked in avionics, which he found uninteresting.

"I said, 'Are you sure? You don't have to do this.' He said, 'I want to do this,' " Linda Crate said. "We were all very proud of him, and he was very proud of himself."

Last Christmas, he presented his mother with a special gift: a new 2005 Honda Civic.

"He was a wonderful son," she said.

Crate had been overseas since February and was set to return home this month, perhaps in time for his 27th birthday June 5.

He was flying aboard a single-engine, prop-driven Comp Air 7SL piloted by an Iraqi Air Force member when it crashed.

According to Air Force Times, the plane, which can hold as many as six people, left Kirkuk Air Base on a mission about 10 a.m.

Two hours later, an Iraqi civilian reported the crash to military authorities.

The plane went down near the village of Jalula, about 80 miles northeast of Baghdad. The aircraft's primary mission is reconnaissance and airlifting personnel, but Linda Crate said the military did not tell her what kind of mission her son was on when he died.

His body will be returned to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware tomorrow, and the family will schedule a memorial at McChord Air Force Base within the next week or so.

Although she never got the chance to say goodbye, she said her son is not far away.

"I had a talk with him today, and he wants me to be strong."

Alex Fryer: 206-464-8124