The Army has identified the four soldiers who perished last week during a training exercise in Lithuania when their military vehicle became submerged in a deep swamp, triggering a complex and multinational recovery effort.
The soldiers, all assigned to the 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, were based at Fort Stewart, Georgia. They were identified as Staff Sgt. Jose Duenez Jr., 25, of Joliet, Illinois; Staff Sgt. Edvin F. Franco, 25, of Glendale, California; Pfc. Dante D. Taitano, 21, of Dededo, Guam; and Staff Sgt. Troy S. Knutson-Collins, 28, of Battle Creek, Michigan.
“Although we are relieved to have found all our Dogface Soldiers, it does not make the pain of their loss any less,” Maj. Gen. Christopher Norrie, 3rd Infantry Division commander, said in a statement. “We will continue to care for and support the soldiers’ families and loved ones as we bring them home and honor their memory.”
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Knutson-Collins, Duenez and Franco were all posthumously promoted to the rank of staff sergeant.
Knutson-Collins was an artillery mechanic with more than seven years in the Army. He was assigned to 1st Battalion, 41st Field Artillery Regiment. His awards include two Army Commendation Medals, an Army Achievement Medal and Master Technician Badge.
The other three soldiers were all assigned to 5th Squadron, 7th Cavalry Regiment.
Duenez, a seasoned M1 Abrams tank mechanic, had served in the Army for more than seven years, and was previously stationed with the 1st Infantry Division at Fort Riley, Kansas. His commendations included two Army Commendation Medals and three Army Achievement Medals.
Franco, also a tank mechanic, had completed more than six years of service and was the recipient of two Army Commendation Medals and two Army Achievement Medals. Taitano, the youngest of the three, had been in the service for nearly two years and was awarded an Army Commendation Medal.
The soldiers were part of a broader deployment of roughly 3,500 members of the 3rd Infantry Division that arrived in Europe in January for a nine-month mission. Stationed across Poland and the Baltic states, their presence is intended to reinforce NATO’s eastern flank amid heightened tensions following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The soldiers were in a 70-ton M88A2 Hercules, which is effectively a massive armored tow truck for tanks and other combat vehicles. It is believed the soldiers drove into a swamp where the vehicle quickly sank, though the investigation is ongoing as to what happened.
The soldiers were on their way to recover another vehicle that had broken down during a training exercise.
The recovery operation for the bodies and the M88 was an intricate and arduous weeklong process, enlisting the expertise of roughly 200 personnel from the U.S., Polish, Estonian and Lithuanian armed forces.
The mission included the deployment of drones, search dogs, Navy divers and ground-penetrating radar. To stabilize the swampy terrain, crews brought in nearly 70 tons of sand and gravel, underscoring the logistical complexity of the undertaking.
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