The 4 American soldiers who disappeared in Lithuania found dead, says the army

The four American soldiers who had been in the center of a recovery mission in Lithuania to a week After his Sunk armored vehicle In a peat swamp near the border with Belarus has been dead, said the army. The fourth body of the missing soldier was recovered on Tuesday, one day after the other three soldiers were found, said the European and Africa Command of the Army in a statement.

All soldiers were assigned to the first combat team of the armored brigade, the third infantry division and were permanently parked in Fort Stewart in Georgia.

The four soldiers were identified by the military as the sergeant. José Duenez, 25 from Jr. de Joliet, Illinois; Sergeant Edvin F. Franco, 25, by Glendale, California; and PFC. Dante D. Taitano, 21, De Dedo, Guam; and the personnel sergeant. Troy S. Knutson-Collins, 28, by Battle Creek, Michigan.

“This loss is simply devastating,” said Major General Christopher Norrie, the third infantry division under the general, in a statement. “These men were honored with soldiers of the Marne division. We are wrapping our arms with the families and loved ones of our soldiers for an incredibly difficult time.”

The soldiers disappeared on Tuesday, March 25, while making a mission to repair and tow an immobilized tactical vehicle. His submerged armored recovery vehicle was located by the authorities of the Army and Lithuanian the next day.

The incident is being investigated by the army and the Lithuanian authorities.

The command said the vehicle was removed from a peat swamp on Monday morning. In an update of the weekend, the command said that the vehicle was below at least 15 feet of water, mud and silt similar to clay.

The discovery came after the recovery dogs of Lithuania and the nearby country of Estonia joined the search effort, the command said early. The dogs were placed in an inflatable boat of the US Navy. With the hope of collecting any tracking aroma under the surface of the swamp.

Hundreds of members of the Army Service, the Navy and the military of Lithuania and Poland helped in the effort to carry the armored recovery vehicle of 63 tons M88a2 Hercules to the surface, said the command. The Lithuanian civil agencies also contributed to the effort, with the command calling the unstable conditions of the land around the submerged vehicle as a “engineering challenge.”

“I cannot say enough about the support our Lithuanian allies have given us,” said General Christopher Donahue, EE Army Commander. UU. Europe and Africa, in Tuesday’s statement. “We have leaned on them, and they, along with our Polish allies and Estonios, and our own sailors, aviators and experts from the body of engineers, have allowed us to find and bring home to our soldiers. This is a tragic event, but reinforces what it means to have allies and friends.”

The excavators, the bombs and several hundred tons of gravel and land moved to the search area near Pabradė, near the border of Lithuania-Black, to lift the vehicle.

A devastating loss

Norrie said the soldiers who died in the incident were familiar.

“This loss is simply devastating,” Norrie said Tuesday in a statement. “… No words can capture the depth of pain or gratitude we feel for your service.”

The identified soldiers were among the 3,500 that were deployed in January in several places in Poland and the Baltic states for a nine -month rotation as part of the resolution of the Atlantic operation in support of NATO.

Delnez was a mainer of the M1 Abrams tank system with more than seven years in the army. He arrived at Fort Stewart in February 2022. Delnez had been previously deployed in Poland in 2021 and Germany in 2022.

Captain Madyson K. Wellens, commander of the Diesel Front Support Troop, said in a statement that Delnez greeted “each challenge with a smile and a willingness to support anyone who requires help.”

Franco, 25, was a mainer of the Abrams M1 tank system that served in the army for more than six years. He arrived at Fort Stewart in 2019. He had been deployed to Korea in 2020 and Germany in 2022.

“Edvin was a friend whose influence touched so many,” Wellens said.

Taitano, 21, was a M1 Abrams tank system in its first deployment. It served in the army for almost two years. He arrived at Fort Stewart in October 2023, after his entry training.

Taitan “constantly gathered the team with his charisma and laughter,” CPT said. Matthew Lond, commander of the Darkhorse Troop, in a statement.

The final soldier who will be identified, Troy S. Knutson-Collins, was an artillery mechanic with more than seven years in the army that had received multiple praise medals.

“The words cannot express how deep this loss in our unit feels,” said Captain Jackson Patillo, commander of Newstrot Company, 1st Bn., 41 ° Far. “Sergeant of Sergeant Troy Collins was an exceptional friend for all of us and an irreplaceable member for our whole News family that we will really miss.”

Knutson-Collins, Owners-and Franco were posthumously promoted to the staff of the Personnel Sergeant, the army said in a statement.

The president of Lithuania, Gitanas Nausėda, expressed his condolences to President Trump and the United States on social networks.

“@realdonaldtrump, Lithuania cries together with the American nation,” Nausėda said on the social platform X. “Please accept my most sincere condolences, as well as those of Lithuanian people, for you, the loved ones of those who lost their lives and all the people of the United States of America. During this difficult time, our thoughts and sentences are with you.”

Where is Lithuania?

Lithuania is located northwest Belarusthe country led by Alexander Lukashenkoa key ally of the Russian president Vladimir Putin.

Lithuania, like her neighbor of Northern Latvia, joined NATO in 2004. To the southwest of Lithuania, they are the Russian province of Kalinningrad and Poland, another NATO member.

The Baltic Sea is located west Lithuania.

In:
• Lithuania
• United States Army