Bodies of three missing American soldiers discovered in Lithuania

The bodies of three US soldiers in a peat swamp in Lithuania, where they disappeared six days ago while participating in military training, the US army confirmed.

Rescue crews are still looking for a fourth soldier near the city of Pabrad.

“The soldiers we lost in this tragedy were not only soldiers – they were part of our family … But the demand was not over until everyone was home,” said Major Christopher Nori in a statement issued by the US Army Europe and Africa.

The sophisticated search and rescue mission includes the US and Navy Army, plus Lithuanian and Polish armed forces in efforts that require “huge resources,” the statement said.

The four soldiers disappeared On the morning of March 25, while exercising in their Hercules M88A2, a large armored vehicle that is designed to recover damaged tanks and other vehicles from the battle fields.

They “conducted a mission to repair and withdraw an immobilized tactical vehicle” when they disappeared, the statement said.

The soldiers’ vehicle was found immersed in Bolota near the Border with Belarus in early March 26th. Its mud was a difficult mission.

The US Navy was brought to attach cables to the sunken vehicle and had to maneuver “through thick layers of mud, clay and zero -visibility sludge,” the statement said.

These cables were then connected to the other two Hercules M88A2, which also began to slide into the swamp, resulting in a call of several bulldozers.

Other heavy construction equipment, including excavators and pumps for grinding and suspension, as well as technical experts and “several hundred tonnes of gravel and ground,” have been imported, the US Army said.

On Sunday, soldiers, military commanders and Lithuania Minister attended a liturgy held in the capital Vilnius.

“Lithuania mourns with the US nation,” writes President Gitanas Naidda at X.

“Please accept my heartfelt condolences, as well as those of the Lithuanian people, for you, the relatives of those who have lost their lives, and all the people of the United States of America,” he said, turning to US President Donald Trump.

Lithuania, a member of NATO and the EU, is the base of more than 1,000 US Rotation troops.

The identity of the four soldiers, who were appointed to the combat team of the 1st armored brigade, the 3rd Infantry Division, were withheld until their next family was informed.

They were located in Lithuania as part of the Atlantic solution operation – a response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Their home base is Fort Stewart, in the US state of Georgia.

The US Army and Lithuanian authorities are investigating the cause of the accident.