American soldiers' farewell in Vilnius honours sacrifice
A ceremony took place in Vilnius on Thursday to bid farewell to the four American soldiers who died at the training ground in Pabrade. Thousands of people paid tribute to the soldiers by accompanying the funeral procession.
On Thursday, 3rd April, in Vilnius, a ceremony took place to bid farewell to the four American soldiers who died at the training ground in Pabrade. Thousands of people gathered on the streets to say goodbye to the soldiers, as hearses with coffins passed in the funeral procession towards the airport.
A sad ceremony in Vilnius
During the ceremony, the memory of Edvin Ben Franco, Jose Duenez, Dante Gogo Taitano, and Troy Smith Knutson-Collins was honoured with a minute of silence. The Archbishop of Vilnius, apostolic administrator of the Military Ordinariate of the Lithuanian Armed Forces, Gintaras Grušas, blessed the coffins with the soldiers' remains.
The ceremony was attended by the President of Lithuania, Gitanas Nausėda, and his spouse, the Commander of the Lithuanian Armed Forces, Gen. Raimundas Vaikšnoras, Speaker of the Seimas, Saulius Skvernelis, Minister of National Defence, Dovile Szakalienė, and other members of the Lithuanian government. Ambassadors and officials were also present.
Tragic accident at the training ground
The soldiers died on 25th March when their M88 Hercules recovery vehicle went to perform a task. After a week-long recovery operation, the vehicle with three bodies was retrieved on 31st March, and the fourth body was found on 1st April.
At the request of the US Armed Forces, only fellow servicemembers from the unit in which the fallen served attended the ceremony at the airport.
The Pabrade training ground, where about 1,000 American soldiers are stationed, is approximately 15-20 kilometres from the border with Belarus.
Source: Polish Press Agency
