President Donald Trump attended on Wednesday the dignified transfer of the four servicemembers killed in the Middle East from Friday into the weekend.
The president and other distinguished visitors observed the dignified transfer of 1st Lt. Tyler James Feehan, 25; Sgt. Angel S. Rampersad, 28; Sgt. Michael Emmanuel Swinton, 30; and Pvt. Isabella Gonzales, 19, at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware.
Feehan and Gonzales were killed in action following Iran’s ballistic missile and drone attack on Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan on Friday. Rampersad, who was announced as missing after the attack, is believed to have been killed during the assault, according to the Department of War. Swinton was killed on Sunday during the controlled detonation of a downed one-way attack drone at Erbil Air Base in Iraq.
All incidents are under investigation.
Feehan hails from Ewa Beach, Hawaii; Gonzales from Carrollton, Texas; Swinton from Fayetteville, North Carolina; and Rampersad from Ozone Park, New York.
On his way to the Air Base, Trump said receiving the remains of America’s fallen is “one of the hardest things to do as a president.”
Upon arriving at Dover Air Base, Trump met with the families of the fallen before the dignified transfer, according to the White House press pool.
The president, standing next to Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, saluted each transfer case as it was transported from the C-17 to a vehicle on the Air Base.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine and, according to the White House press pool, a dignitary who appeared to be acting Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army Gen. Christopher LaNeve, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Daryl Caudle, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, and executive assistant to the president Natalie Harp were on hand for the transfer.
The president departed for Georgia after the event, and Feehan’s family traveled aboard Air Force One with him.
“The family of LT Tyler Feehan will be flying to Georgia with us. They are from Georgia, and the president offered to give them a ride home,” a White House official said.
On Monday, Trump pledged that Iran will pay “many times over” for each American service member it kills.
“Every time Iran kills an American Soldier they will pay for that killing many times over!” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. “This directive has been passed on to Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Daniel Caine, and every Leader in the Military.”
