Fourth missing US soldier found deceased in Lithuanian bog
The soldier was the last of four U.S. soldiers of the 1st Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, to be recovered after they went missing in the early morning hours of March 25 while operating an M88A2 Hercules armored vehicle near Pabadre, Lithuania.
The bodies of the three other soldiers were recovered Monday after recovery crews pulled the vehicle from a peat bog near the training site.
Recovery of missing soldiers underway at training site in Lithuania
'This past week has been devastating. Today our hearts bear the weight of an unbearable pain with the loss of our final Dogface Soldier,' said Maj. Gen. Christopher Norrie, 3rd Infantry Division commanding general, in a statement Tuesday. 'Though we have received some closure, the world is darker without them.'
The Army has not released the soldiers' names, pending confirmation of notification of next of kin.
At the time the soldiers were reported missing, they had been conducting a maintenance mission to recover another Army vehicle at a training area near Pabadre, U.S. Army Europe and Africa said in a release. The soldiers were deployed to Lithuania as part of Operation Atlantic Resolve, which has been sending rotations into Europe since Russia invaded the Crimea region of Ukraine in 2014.
The soldiers were permanently stationed at Fort Stewart, Georgia.
The initial search for the soldiers included military helicopters, Lithuanian diving teams and hundreds of U.S. and Lithuanian soldiers and law enforcement officers looking through thick forests and swampy terrain. On March 26, search teams found the soldiers' vehicle 15 feet underwater.
What followed was an arduous, multiday effort to get to the vehicle, which continued to sink and be encased in mud as time went on. Officials brought in engineers, tons of gravel, excavators and slurry pumps. The Polish Armed Forces volunteered a unit of 150 military engineers to help in the recovery. And over the weekend, a U.S. Navy dive crew from Commander, Task Force 68, headquartered in Rota, Spain, arrived on site.
There was a breakthrough in the recovery effort Sunday when the Navy dive crew — after multiple failed attempts — attached steel cables to two of the hoist points on the M88A2 Hercules, the Army said. To get to the hoist points, divers maneuvered through layers of mud, clay and sediment, using a ground-penetrating radar provided by Lithuanian experts to find their way.
Two hours after the cables were attached, the vehicle was unearthed from the bog. By that time, the recovery team grew to include hundreds of personnel from multiple services and countries, the Army said.
Recovery operations continued Monday after the crews recovered the bodies of three of the soldiers. Recovery dogs and their handlers flew in from Estonia on Monday to assist in the search for the fourth soldier. Crews also employed two specialized drone systems, including one equipped with ground-penetrating radar.
'We are incredibly relieved that we were able to bring this recovery to an end and bring closure to all the families, friends and teammates of our soldiers,' said Maj. Gen. Curtis Taylor, commanding general of 1st Armored Division. 'We cannot thank our Allies and fellow service members enough, especially the Lithuanians, who spared no resource in support of this mission. Together, we delivered on our promise to never leave a fallen comrade.'
An investigation into the incident is ongoing, the Army said.
Military Times Senior Editor Nikki Wentling contributed to this report.
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