Lithuanians bid farewell to US soldiers who died during training exercise
President Gitanas Nauseda was among those who stood in respect as hearses carried the bodies of the four young Americans to Vilinus Airport.
Lithuania’s political and religious leaders joined thousands of people to bid farewell to four American soldiers who died during a training exercise in the Baltic nation.
President Gitanas Nauseda and other dignitaries were among those who stood in respect as hearses carried the bodies of the four young Americans to Vilnius airport before being flown to the US for burial.
Many of the onlookers were in tears, and Mr Nauseda said that the reaction of the population and the military to the disappearance of soldiers was rooted in Lithuania’s own difficult history.
“For us, it is more than a duty, it is an emotion. We have experienced trials in our history and therefore we understand well what loss is, what death is, what honourable duty is,” Mr Nauseda said in a speech to those gathered.
Schoolchildren accompanied by teachers waved Lithuanian and US flags to honour the soldiers, who died in an accident along Nato’s eastern flank, a region that is on edge due to Russia’s aggression in nearby Ukraine.
Leading one group was Justin Boyd, the secondary school principal of the American International School in Vilnius, who said his group was there “to honour the fallen soldiers from the United States and to honour the relationship between Lithuania and America and the defensive pact that represents”.
“It’s important for us to give dignity to the fallen and to let the families know that we are with them and we support them in this time,” Mr Boyd said.
The soldiers, part of the 1st Armoured Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, were on a tactical training exercise when they and their vehicle went missing a week ago, the Army said.
Lithuanian, Polish and US soldiers and rescuers searched through the forests and swamps at the General Silvestras Zukauskas training ground in the town of Pabrade, six miles (10 kilometres) west of the border with Belarus.
The M88 Hercules armoured vehicle was pulled from a peat bog on Monday and the final body was recovered on Tuesday.
“I feel sorry for these young men,” said one mourner from the town of Pabrade as he watched the hearses make their way towards the airport.
“I live nearby, and I know that swamp. Dangerous places for anyone who enters that area.”
The US Army has identified the four as Staff Sgt Troy S Knutson-Collins, 28, of Battle Creek, Michigan; Staff Sgt Jose Duenez Jnr, 25, of Joliet, Illinois; Staff Sgt Edvin F Franco, 25, of Glendale, California; and Pfc Dante D Taitano, 21, of Dededo, Guam.
About 3,500 soldiers from the 1st Armoured Brigade Combat Team deployed in January to Poland and the Baltic states for a nine-month rotation as part of Operation Atlantic Resolve, which supports Nato allies and partners following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
