Washington– president Donald Trump He was scheduled to pay his respects on Wednesday at a military base in Delaware when the remains of six U.S. service members were killed Plane crash refueling They are returned to their families.
it will be The second time Since its launch War on Iran On February 28, the Republican president will attend the solemn military ritual known as the Honorable Transfer, which he once described as “the hardest thing” he had to do as commander-in-chief.
All six crew members An Air Force KC-135 refueler was killed last week in a plane crash over friendly territory in western Iraq while supporting operations against Iran. They were from the states of Alabama, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio and Washington.
The incident brought the American death toll in Operation Epic Fury to at least 13 soldiers. The Pentagon said about 200 US service members were injured, including 10 seriously.
Trump last traveled to Dover Air Force Base on March 7 Honorable transportation of six American service members Who were killed in a drone strike on the command center in Kuwait. He praised the flag-draped transport boxes containing the remains of fallen service members, as they were transferred from military aircraft to vehicles awaiting transport to the base morgue to prepare them for their final resting place.
“It’s the bad part of the war,” he told reporters afterward. When asked if he was concerned about having to make multiple trips to the base for additional dignified transfers as the war continued, he said, “I sure am. I hate doing it, but it’s part of the war, right?”
US Central Command, which oversees military operations in the Middle East, said the incident followed an unspecified incident involving two planes in “friendly airspace” over Iraq, but that the loss of the plane during a combat mission “was not due to hostile or friendly fire.” The circumstances were under investigation. The other plane landed safely.
The accident killed Three people Assigned to the 6th Air Refueling Wing at MacDill Air Force Base in Florida: Major John A. “Alex” Kleiner, 33, who served in Birmingham, Alabama; Capt. Ariana Savino, 31, of Covington, Wash.; And technology. Sgt. Ashley Pruitt, 34, from Bardstown, Kentucky.
The other three Assigned to the 121st Air Refueling Wing at Rickenbacker Air National Guard Base in Columbus, Ohio: Capt. Seth Koval, 38, a resident of Stottsville, Ohio, who was from Morrisville, Indiana; Capt. Curtis Angst, 30, who lived in Columbus; and Master Sgt. Tyler Simmons, 28, of Columbus.