President Trump attends dignified transfer for four US Army soldiers killed in the Middle East

President Donald Trump traveled to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware Wednesday for the dignified transfer of the four U.S. Army soldiers who were killed in action last week in the Middle East. 

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine were also in attendance at the dignified transfer.

Speaking to reporters on his way to Dover, Trump called it "one of the hardest things to do as a president." His message to grieving families, he said, will be "we love you, we love your child."

"There’s no games, there’s no nothing — that’s their child," Trump said. "And all you can do is throw out your heart."

What we know:

The Pentagon says three U.S. Army soldiers were killed in action in an Iranian missile and drone attack at Muwaffaq Salti Air Base, Jordan, and a fourth was killed while detonating a drone in Iraq. 

The Pentagon says 1st Lt. Tyler James Feehan, 25, of Ewa Beach, Hawaii was killed July 18 and Pvt. Isabella Gonzales, 19, of Carrollton, Texas, was killed in action on July 17.  

A third soldier, Sgt. Angel S. Rampersad, 28, of Ozone Park, New York, was originally listed as missing after the July 17 attack and had likely died in the assault.

1st Lt Feehan was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 55th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 32nd Army Air Missile Defense Command, Fort Bragg, North Carolina. 

Pvt.Gonzales was assigned to 1st Battalion, 57th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 52nd Air Defense Artillery Brigade, 10th Army Air Missile Defense Command, Ansbach, Germany. 

Sgt. Rampersad was assigned to 1st Battalion, 57th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 52nd Air Defense Artillery Brigade, 10th Army Air & Missile Defense Command, Ansbach, Germany.

A fourth soldier, Sgt. Michael Emmanuel Swinton, 30, of Fayetteville, North Carolina, was killed July 19 while working to detonate a downed One-Way Unmanned Aerial System at Erbil Air Base, Iraq on Sunday. The Pentagon says the incident is under investigation.

Sgt. Swinton was assigned to D Battery, 2nd Battalion, 55th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 108th Air Defense Artillery Brigade, Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

Since the war began on Feb. 28, 18 U.S. service members have been killed.

U.S. Military Dignified Transfer 

The backstory:

The dignified transfer ritual at Dover Air Force Base is conducted for every U.S. military member who dies in the theater of operation while in the service of their country. 

The dignified transfer is not a ceremony; rather, it is a solemn movement of the transfer case by a carry team composed of military personnel from the fallen member's respective service.

During the process, transfer cases draped with the American flag holding the remains of fallen soldiers are carried from the military aircraft that transports them to Dover to an awaiting vehicle to transport them to the mortuary facility at the base. There, the fallen service members are prepared for their final resting place.

 

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