Trump to attend dignified transfer as 4 US troops killed in Iran war return home

DOVER, Del. (TNND) — President Donald Trump on Wednesday will attend the dignified transfer of four U.S. service members killed in the Middle East, one of the most solemn duties of a commander in chief, as the war with Iran continues.

The remains of the troops will be returned to their families at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware. It will be the third dignified transfer Trump has attended since the conflict began in February.

“I’ll be going to Dover for something that I feel is — it’s a great honor for me to do it,” Trump said in the Oval Office on Tuesday.

Two U.S. Army soldiers were killed in Iranian ballistic missile and drone attacks at Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan over the weekend. The victims were identified as 1st Lt. Tyler James Feehan, 25, of Ewa Beach, Hawaii, and Pvt. Isabella Gonzales, 19, of Carrollton, Texas. Both were deployed in support of the mission against the Islamic State group, according to U.S. Central Command.

A third soldier initially reported missing after the attack was later identified as Sgt. Angel Rampersad, 28, of Ozone Park, New York. Officials said her remains are believed to have been recovered and will also be returned to Dover.

The fourth service member, Sgt. Michael Emmanuel Swinton, 30, of Fayetteville, North Carolina, was killed Sunday in Iraq during the “controlled detonation” of a downed Iranian drone.

The deaths came as the U.S. launched an 11th consecutive night of retaliatory strikes against Iran after an interim agreement aimed at ending the war continued to unravel.

Trump warned Monday that “every time Iran kills an American Soldier they will pay for that killing many times over!”

The four deaths bring the number of U.S. service members killed since the war began on Feb. 28 to 18.

Trump said Tuesday that while U.S. air defenses intercepted nearly all of the incoming missiles and drones targeting Jordan, some managed to get through.

“They did slip something through in Jordan,” he said. “We’ve stopped almost everything, but unfortunately they did slip something through.”

Feehan, who was killed Saturday, will be posthumously promoted to captain and awarded the Bronze Star, Purple Heart and Combat Action Badge. He was assigned to the 32nd Army Air and Missile Defense Command out of Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

Gonzales, who was killed Friday, served with the 10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command in Ansbach, Germany. She graduated last year from Hebron High School in Carrollton, Texas, school officials said.

Rampersad, who is believed to have been killed in Friday’s attack, was assigned to the 57th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 52nd Air Defense Artillery Brigade, 10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command in Ansbach, Germany.

Swinton, who was killed Sunday, will be posthumously promoted to staff sergeant and awarded the Bronze Star, Purple Heart and Combat Action Badge. He enlisted in the Army in 2017 and was assigned to the 55th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 108th Air Defense Artillery Brigade, out of Fort Bragg.