Washington — President Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth traveled to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware on Wednesday for a solemn dignified transfer ceremony honoring four U.S. Army soldiers killed in the Middle East amid the ongoing war with Iran.
The Trump administration is examining the attacks on Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan, where two of the soldiers were killed and a third, initially reported missing, is now presumed dead. The ceremony also honored an Army sergeant who died at a base in northern Iraq during the controlled detonation of an Iranian drone.
The fallen service members were identified as:
According to the White House, the president met privately with the families of each of the soldiers before the transfer.
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Speaking to reporters ahead of the trip, Mr. Trump said he was going to Dover to pay tribute to what he described as America’s heroes. He said the fallen soldiers had been firm in their belief that Iran must not be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon, and he repeated that Iran would not be permitted to do so. The president also called the ceremony one of the most difficult responsibilities he faces in office, while stressing that it was necessary.
The Pentagon said Feehan and Gonzales were killed in action during the strikes on the Jordanian base. U.S. Central Command initially listed Rampersad as missing in action, but on Tuesday changed her status to whereabouts unknown. She is believed to have died in the same attack.
Swinton, who was a father of two, was killed at Erbil Air Base in northern Iraq while an Iranian drone was being detonated under controlled conditions.
Department of Defense
The president told reporters Wednesday that the administration would share the results of the probe into the attacks in Jordan.
A dignified transfer is a nonceremonial movement of a fallen U.S. service member killed in a theater abroad back to the United States. The fallen are moved in flag-draped cases, not caskets, and carried by members of the military. It is customary for the president or other high-ranking administration officials to attend.
