Latest news with #DogfaceSoldier
Yahoo
01-04-2025
- Yahoo
Body of 4th missing U.S. Army soldier found in Lithuania
April 1 (UPI) -- The body of a fourth U.S. soldier missing since last week during training exercises in Lithuania was found Tuesday, officials confirmed. "The soldier was found after a 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 elements of the Lithuanian government and civilian agencies," the Army said in a statement. The fourth unidentified soldier was the last to be found after the bodies of three other U.S. Army soldiers were found Monday in a remote part of Lithuania. "This past week has been devastating," stated Maj. Gen. Christopher Norrie, the 3rd Infantry Division's commanding general. Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said he was "saddened" Tuesday morning to make the announcement, offering the small eastern European nation's "heartfelt condolences" to "our U.S. allies and their people." "Today our hearts bear the weight of an unbearable pain with the loss of our final 'Dogface Soldier,'" Norrie added. "Though we have received some closure, the world is darker without them." The four were assigned to the First Armored Brigade, Third Infantry Division in Fort Stewart, Ga., and later deployed to Lithuania in support of support of Operation Atlantic Resolve -- an operation formed in 2014 to build readiness with NATO allies. "Lithuania has been praying for all four missing soldiers, and now, with all our hearts, we stand with their families," Nauseda posted on X. The four American soldiers were taking part in a tactical training exercise, mounting a major engineering and logistical operation involving experts from remote underwater vehicle specialists to geologists. "It has been truly amazing and very humbling to watch the incredible recovery team from different commands, countries and continents come together and give everything to recover our Soldiers," Lt. Gen. Charles Costanza, commanding general, V Corps, wrote Tuesday in a statement. "Thank you, Lithuania, Poland, Estonia, the U.S. Navy and the Army Corps of Engineers. We are forever grateful," he added. Meanwhile, U.S. Army and Lithuanian authorities are investigating the cause of the incident. "Most likely, the M88 drove into the swamp," and the vehicle "may have just gone diagonally to the bottom," Lithuanian Defense Minister Dovile Sakaliene told ABC last week. On Tuesday, Lithuania's leader said his country was "deeply grateful to everyone who dedicated immense efforts to find the one remaining soldier," which he said was missing under "such challenging conditions."
Yahoo
01-04-2025
- Yahoo
Fourth US soldier found dead after training accident in Lithuania
WASHINGTON (AP) — 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.'
Associated Press
01-04-2025
- Associated Press
Fourth US soldier found dead after training accident in Lithuania
WASHINGTON (AP) — 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.'
