President Donald Trump is set to attend one of the most heartbreaking duties of any commander in chief on Wednesday, welcoming home four U.S. service members who lost their lives in recent fighting in the Middle East.
Trump will travel to Dover Air Force Base for a dignified transfer ceremony as the flag-draped transfer cases carrying the fallen arrive home to their grieving families. It will be the third such ceremony he has attended since the war with Iran began in February.
Among those returning are two U.S. Army soldiers killed in Iranian missile and drone attacks in Jordan, according to an administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.
The remains of a third soldier, who disappeared during the Jordan attacks and is now presumed dead, will also be transferred, along with a soldier killed in Iraq when an Iranian drone exploded.
"I'll be going to Dover for something that I feel is — it's a great honor for me to do it," Trump said Tuesday from the Oval Office.
The Defense Department identified the fallen as 1st Lt. Tyler James Feehan, 25, of Ewa Beach, Hawaii; Pvt. Isabella Gonzales, 19, of Carrollton, Texas; Sgt. Angel S. Rampersad, 28, of Ozone Park, New York; and Sgt. Michael Emmanuel Swinton, 30, of Spring Lake, North Carolina.
Trump said Sunday the troops died while helping prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
"We feel very badly, but you know, those great people, those great patriots were out there fighting so that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon," he told reporters, adding that U.S. strikes on Iran were carried out "in honor" of the fallen.
The U.S. has launched multiple retaliatory strikes as an interim agreement to end the conflict has faltered. On Monday, Trump warned that if Iran kills another American service member, "they will pay for that killing many times over!" Since the war began on Feb. 28, 18 U.S. service members have been killed.
Trump also said Tuesday that although most incoming missiles and drones in Jordan were intercepted, some broke through U.S. defenses.
"They did slip something through in Jordan," he said. "If we had other operators, you know, it would have not happened, unfortunately."
At Dover, each flag-draped transfer case will be carefully carried from the aircraft by military personnel before being taken to the base mortuary, where the fallen will be prepared for the final journey home.
Feehan will be posthumously promoted to captain and awarded the Bronze Star, Purple Heart and Combat Action Badge. Gonzales served with the 10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command.
Rampersad was assigned to the 57th Air Defense Artillery Regiment. Swinton will be posthumously promoted to staff sergeant and awarded the Bronze Star, Purple Heart and Combat Action Badge.
