BURSTA fourth American soldier who went missing after their vehicle became submerged in a bog during training in the country was found dead Tuesday, the White House announced.
“Tragically, three soldiers were found deceased in Lithuania yesterday, and it pains me to confirm that today the fourth soldier was also found deceased,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters during the daily briefing.
She noted President Trump, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and “the entire White House are praying for the victim’s friends and family during this unimaginable time.”
Four U.S. soldiers from the 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division went missing on March 25 at the expansive General Silvestras Žukauskas training ground in the town of Pabradė, close to the border with Belarus. Their M88 Hercules vehicle was later found about 15 feet deep in a peat bog on March 26.
The bodies of three of the soldiers were initially recovered Monday after a massive, nearly week-long effort to dig the vehicle out. Hundreds of rescue workers from the Army, Navy, Lithuanian Armed Forces, Polish Armed Forces, Estonian Armed Forces “and many other elements of the Lithuanian government and civilian agencies” aided in the retrieval, U.S. Army Europe and Africa said in a Tuesday statement.
The identities of the soldiers are being withheld pending family notifications and U.S. Army and Lithuanian authorities are investigating the cause of the accident.
“I can't say enough about the support our Lithuanian Allies have provided us. We have leaned on them, and they, alongside our Polish and Estonian Allies - and our own Sailors, Airmen and experts from the Corps of Engineers - have enabled us to find and bring home our Soldiers,” U.S. Army Europe and Africa Commander Gen. Christopher Donahue said in the statement, noting that the tragic event “reinforces what it means to have Allies and friends.”
The military command had earlier said Lithuanian armed forces provided military helicopters, fixed wing aircraft, unmanned aerial systems and search and rescue personnel to help locate the missing soldiers. Later, after the vehicle was found, they brought in excavators, sluice and slurry pumps, other heavy construction equipment, technical experts and several hundred tons of gravel and earth to help in the recovery.
U.S. Navy divers then “maneuvered through thick layers of mud, clay, and sediment with zero visibility to reach the vehicle and hook steel cables” to it that were attached to vehicles to pull it out. When the vehicles began to lose traction, several dozers were attached to provide additional grip. It took approximately two hours of this to remove the M88 from the bog, according to the command.
The Navy dive team then searched the area using radar for the fourth soldier.
All soldiers were deployed to Lithuania in support of Operation Atlantic Resolve “to provide credible ground deterrence alongside Allies and partners,” and were permanently stationed at Fort Stewart in Georgia.
“This past week has been devastating,” said Maj. Gen. Christopher Norrie, the 3rd Infantry Division commanding general. “Today our hearts bear the weight of an unbearable pain with the loss of our final Dogface Soldier. Though we have received some closure, the world is darker without them.”