01-04-2025
Joliet, Illinois soldier Jose Duenez Jr. among 4 killed in training exercise in Lithuania
The friend of one of the four American soldiers
killed during a training exercise in Lithuania
said he is struggling to process the loss.
Jose Duenez Jr., a native of Joliet, Illinois, and three other U.S. Army soldiers
were found dead after their armored vehicle sank in a swamp
while conducting a mission last Tuesday to repair and tow an immobilized tactical vehicle.
Duenez's friend, Ben Muller, said he had just sent Duenez a Snaptchat last week, and when he didn't hear back, he started to put the pieces together.
The two met a decade ago at a paintball business in Lockport and stayed close. Muller said Duenez was a tank mechanic in the Army – a job he loved.
Duenez and three other soldiers were found dead after a massive six-day search by U.S., Polish and Lithuanian armed forces.
Their 63-ton armored recovery vehicle
was out for a tactical training exercise
when it went under 15 feet of water, claylike mud, and silt.
Excavators, pumps, and several hundred tons of gravel and earth were moved to recover and pull up the tank. Duenez leaves behind a wife and a young son.
"I love that guy. … He had stuff about him that I had never seen in anyone else. I mean, he was compassionate, he was caring. The man would give you the shirt off his back if you didn't have it," Muller said.
Duenez's family said they need more time to process his death before they share his story.
Muller said they are waiting to hear when his remains will be sent back to the United States.
