With identical twin sons serving in harm's way in Iraq, Mike Mobley routinely checks the Internet for war news in the middle of the night.

So when the Highlands Ranch dad got up at 3 a.m. today and found an e-mail news alert about a chopper crash killing 14 soldiers assigned to Task Force Lightning, his thoughts raced to his 21-year-old son, Matthew Mobley.

Matt is serving on that operation as an 82nd Airborne paratrooper specially trained in helicopter assaults.

"Trust me, it's been a real long night," Mobley said this morning.

"I need to hear something from somebody," said the father, who even on routine days spends hours scouring the Internet, TV and radio for reports about the war. He communicates with family members of other soldiers and Marines through Internet support groups.

"I'm one of those who's got to know everything," said Mike Mobley, whose other son, Ryan, is serving his second Iraqi tour with the Marines near Fallujah.

Normally, Mobley stays in touch with both his sons by instant messaging.

"But when something like this happens in Iraq, they do a communication blackout until all relatives (of victims) have been notified ... So we won't hear anything from Matthew for a minimum of three days."

Unless the news is bad.

Then, Mobley added, "the golden rule is you'll be notified by the military in 24 hours if something happened to your son."

Mobley grasped a measure of relief from vague news reports that the soldiers killed in the Black Hawk crash might be from another unit.

But if it's other parents who will learn the worst, Mobley said, "I really feel sorry for those people."

As he spoke, the father had just received an instant message from Ryan, who's on a two-day R&R north of Fallujah. But Ryan said he was unaware of the crash. Instead, his message focused on the twins' eagerly anticipated return to Colorado on leave this fall.

"All he's talking about is coming home," Mobley said of Ryan.

Even the scheduled leave has dad edgy.

"They're identical twins and I always have these funny premonitions — like, I haven't heard from Matthew and so I'm going to hear from him today," he said.

"The thing about it is, they're so close to coming home and you just don't want to jinx anything. You don't want anything to happen."

This isn't the first scare the family's faced during Matt's year in Iraq.

In February, Matt was hit by a roadside bomb — or improvised explosive device. Surgeons removed nine pieces of shrapnel from his back and Matt returned to duty in 10 days.

Mobley said he asked Matt why he hadn't taken more time to recover like other soldiers.

"I just didn't want to sit in the hospital that long," Matt told his dad. "I think I can recover quicker with my buddies."

gathrighta@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5486