Latest news with #Dogface
Arab Times
02-04-2025
- Arab Times
Last US soldier found dead after Lithuania training accident
WASHINGTON, April 2, (AP): The final US soldier who went missing in Lithuania has been found dead, bringing to an end a massive weeklong search for the four service members whose armored vehicle was pulled from a swampy training area, the US military said Tuesday. The bodies of the three other soldiers were recovered Monday after US, Polish and Lithuanian armed forces and authorities dug the M88 Hercules vehicle out of a peat bog at the expansive Gen Silvestras Žukauskas training ground in the town of Pabradė. The Army released the identities of the three soldiers recovered Monday, but the fourth soldier's name has not been made public as family notifications continue. They were Sgt. Jose Duenez Jr., 25, of Joliet, Illinois; Sgt. Edvin F. Franco, 25, of Glendale, California; and Pfc. Dante D. Taitano, 21, of Dededo, Guam. The soldiers, part of the 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, were on a tactical training exercise when they and their vehicle were reported missing a week ago, the Army said. "This past week has been devastating. Today our hearts bear the weight of an unbearable pain with the loss of our final Dogface Soldier,' Maj. Gen. Christopher Norrie, 3rd Infantry Division commander, said in a statement Tuesday. "Though we have received some closure, the world is darker without them.' Hundreds of Lithuanian and U.S. soldiers and rescuers took part in the search through the thick forests and swampy terrain around Pabradė, 6 miles (10 kilometers) west of the border with Belarus. The 63-ton (126,000-pound) armored vehicle was discovered March 26 submerged in 15 feet (4.5 meters) of water, but it took days to pull it out of the bog. Lithuanian armed forces provided military helicopters, fixed-wing aircraft, unmanned aerial systems and search and rescue personnel. They brought in additional excavators, sluice and slurry pumps, other heavy construction equipment, technical experts and several hundred tons of gravel and earth to help the recovery. Navy divers maneuvered through thick layers of mud, clay and sediment with zero visibility to reach the vehicle Sunday evening and attach steel cables so it could be pulled out. When just three of the four bodies were found, the divers began a search of the bog area for the fourth.
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Yahoo
Glendale man among 4 soldiers killed on training mission in Lithuania
A soldier from Los Angeles County is among the four killed by a training exercise in Lithuania last month. The four soldiers were reported missing last week when their armored vehicle sank in a bog, the New York Times reports. 'The four U.S. soldiers, from the 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, were reported missing early on March 25, when they did not return from a training mission in an M88A2 Hercules, a 70-ton vehicle that is essentially a giant military tow truck,' the Times explained. Among the dead is 25-year-old Sgt. Edvin F. Franco of Glendale, who along with Sgt. Jose Duenez Jr., 25, of Illinois and Pfc. Dante D. Taitano, 21, of Guam was an M1 Abrams tank system maintainer. The fourth soldier has not been publicly identified, though the Army confirmed that the fourth body was located Tuesday, one day after the other three bodies and the armored vehicle were removed from the bog. '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, commanding general of the 3rd Infantry Division. 'Though we have received some closure, the world is darker without them.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
01-04-2025
- Yahoo
Fourth missing US soldier found deceased in Lithuanian bog
The final U.S. soldier reported missing at a Lithuanian training site last week has been found deceased, the Army announced Tuesday. 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.
Yahoo
01-04-2025
- Yahoo
4th Missing U.S. Soldier based on Fort Stewart found dead in Lithuania
WIESBADEN, Germany (WSAV) — The fourth U.S. Army Soldier assigned to 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division was found deceased near Pabradė, Lithuania, the U.S. Army Europe and Africa Public Affairs Office announced on April 1. The identity of the soldier is being withheld from the public until the next of kin is notified. On Tuesday, March 25, four soldiers permanently stationed at Fort Stewart but deployed to Lithuania in support of Operation Atlantic Resolve were reported missing. The following day, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said that they were deceased. On Monday, March 31, three of the soldiers were confirmed dead. Their M88A2 Hercules armored recovery vehicle were recovered from a peat bog. The soldier was found on Tuesday, April 1, after a week-long search by hundreds of rescue workers from the U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, Lithuanian Armed Forces, Polish Armed Forces, Estonian Armed Forces, and many other Lithuanian government and civilian agency personnel. 'This past week has been devastating. Today our hearts bear the weight of an unbearablepain with the loss of our final Dogface Soldier,' said Maj. Gen. Christopher Norrie, 3rd commanding general. 'Though we have received some closure, the world is darkerwithout them.' The soldiers, all from 1st Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, were conducting a mission to repair and tow an immobilized tactical vehicle at the time of the incident in a training area near Pabradė, officials said. 'First and foremost, we offer condolences to the loved ones of our Soldiers,' said Gen. Christopher Donahue, commander of U.S. Army Europe and Africa. 'I can't say enough about the support our Lithuanian Allies have provided us. We have leaned on them, and they, alongside our Polish and Estonian Allies – and our own Sailors, Airmen and experts from the Corps of Engineers – have enabled us to find and bring home our Soldiers. This is a tragic event, but it reinforces what it means to have Allies and friends.' The U.S. Army continues investigating the cause of the accident. This is a developing story and WSAV will provide updates as soon as they are available. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Independent
01-04-2025
- The Independent
Fourth US soldier found dead after training accident in Lithuania
The final U.S. soldier who went missing in Lithuania has been found dead, bringing to an end a massive weeklong search for the four service members whose armored vehicle was pulled from a swampy training area, the U.S. military said Tuesday. The bodies of the three other soldiers were recovered Monday after U.S., Polish and Lithuanian armed forces and authorities dug the M88 Hercules vehicle out of a peat bog at the expansive Gen. Silvestras Žukauskas training ground in the town of Pabradė. Their identities have not been released as family notifications continue. The soldiers, part of the 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, were on a tactical training exercise when they and their vehicle were reported missing a week ago, the Army said. 'This past week has been devastating. Today our hearts bear the weight of an unbearable pain with the loss of our final Dogface Soldier,' Maj. Gen. Christopher Norrie, 3rd Infantry Division commander, said in a statement Tuesday. 'Though we have received some closure, the world is darker without them.' Hundreds of Lithuanian and U.S. soldiers and rescuers took part in the search through the thick forests and swampy terrain around Pabradė, 6 miles (10 kilometers) west of the border with Belarus. The 63-ton (126,000-pound) armored vehicle was discovered March 26 submerged in 15 feet (4.5 meters) of water, but it took days to pull it out of the bog. Lithuanian armed forces provided military helicopters, fixed-wing aircraft, unmanned aerial systems and search and rescue personnel. They brought in additional excavators, sluice and slurry pumps, other heavy construction equipment, technical experts and several hundred tons of gravel and earth to help the recovery. Navy divers maneuvered through thick layers of mud, clay and sediment with zero visibility to reach the vehicle Sunday evening and attach steel cables so it could be pulled out. When just three of the four bodies were found, the divers began a search of the bog area for the fourth. Gen. Christopher Donahue, commander of U.S. Army Europe and Africa, expressed gratitude to the U.S. allies who sent troops and equipment to help in the search and recovery. 'I can't say enough about the support our Lithuanian Allies have provided us. We have leaned on them, and they, alongside our Polish and Estonian Allies — and our own Sailors, Airmen and experts from the Corps of Engineers — have enabled us to find and bring home our Soldiers," Donahue said in the statement. "This is a tragic event, but it reinforces what it means to have Allies and friends.'
