Trump attends dignified transfer for soldiers killed in Iran war
· UPIJuly 22 (UPI) -- U.S. President Donald Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth attended a dignified transfer Wednesday at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware for U.S. soldiers recently killed in the Middle East during the war with Iran.
It was the third dignified transfer -- the transport of the body of a U.S. service member killed abroad back to the United States -- the president has attended since the United States attacked Iran in February. At least 18 soldiers have died in the war and about 500 have been injured, the Defense Department said.
The service members honored Wednesday were Lt. Tyler James Feehan, 25, of Hawaii; Pvt. Isabella Gonzales, 19, of Texas; Sgt. Michael Emmanuel Swinton, 30, of North Carolina; and Sgt. Angel Rampersad, 28, of New York.
Feehan and Gonzales were killed in an attack Friday on a U.S. base in Jordan. The Pentagon said late Tuesday that Rampersad, initially listed as missing after the Jordan attack, is now presumed dead. Swinton died Sunday in Iran following the controlled detonation of an Iranian attack drone at Erbil Air Base in Iraq.
"We're going to Dover," Trump told reporter before boarding Air Force One to travel to Delaware, CBS News reported. "Some of you are going with us, to honor our heroes, and they are indeed great heroes, actually.
"They said, and they -- all of them said very strongly -- we can't let, we cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon," Trump said. "They won't have a nuclear weapon. So we're going to honor them. And it's one of the hardest things to do. For me, it's one of the hardest things to do as a president. But, has to be done."
The United States first attacked Iran on Feb. 28. The two countries agreed to a cease-fire in April -- although attacks continued -- and signed a memorandum of understanding in June intended to lay groundwork for ending the war. However, the agreement fell apart in early July, with hostilities centered around control of the Strait of Hormuz.
As of Wednesday afternoon, the United States has struck Iranian targets 11 straight days, with Iran in turn striking U.S. bases in the Middle East.
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Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth speaks during a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on President Donald Trump's June 24 supplemental funding request at the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo