April 1 (UPI) — The body of a fourth U.S. soldier missing since last week during training exercises in Lithuania was found Tuesday, officials confirmed.
“The soldier was found after a search by hundreds of rescue workers from the U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, Lithuanian Armed Forces, Polish Armed Forces, Estonian Armed Forces and many other elements of the Lithuanian government and civilian agencies,” the Army said in a statement.
The fourth unidentified soldier was the last to be found after the bodies of three other U.S. Army soldiers were found Monday in a remote part of Lithuania.
“This past week has been devastating,” stated Maj. Gen. Christopher Norrie, the 3rd Infantry Division’s commanding general.
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said he was “saddened” Tuesday morning to make the announcement, offering the small eastern European nation’s “heartfelt condolences” to “our U.S. allies and their people.”
“Today our hearts bear the weight of an unbearable pain with the loss of our final ‘Dogface Soldier,'” Norrie added. “Though we have received some closure, the world is darker without them.”
The four were assigned to the First Armored Brigade, Third Infantry Division in Fort Stewart, Ga., and later deployed to Lithuania in support of support of Operation Atlantic Resolve — an operation formed in 2014 to build readiness with NATO allies.
“Lithuania has been praying for all four missing soldiers, and now, with all our hearts, we stand with their families,” Nauseda posted on X.
The four American soldiers were taking part in a tactical training exercise, mounting a major engineering and logistical operation involving experts from remote underwater vehicle specialists to geologists.
“It has been truly amazing and very humbling to watch the incredible recovery team from different commands, countries and continents come together and give everything to recover our Soldiers,” Lt. Gen. Charles Costanza, commanding general, V Corps, wrote Tuesday in a statement.
“Thank you, Lithuania, Poland, Estonia, the U.S. Navy and the Army Corps of Engineers. We are forever grateful,” he added.
Meanwhile, U.S. Army and Lithuanian authorities are investigating the cause of the incident.
“Most likely, the M88 drove into the swamp,” and the vehicle “may have just gone diagonally to the bottom,” Lithuanian Defense Minister Dovile Sakaliene told ABC last week.
On Tuesday, Lithuania’s leader said his country was “deeply grateful to everyone who dedicated immense efforts to find the one remaining soldier,” which he said was missing under “such challenging conditions.”
