Joseph R. Fischer

Northumberland

Death found four Third Infantry Division soldiers in a nighttime training accident in Lithuania on March 25 when their M88A2 Hercules armored recovery vehicle sank into 15 feet of bog mud. It was a lethal non-combat accident, the kind that makes military life many times more dangerous than most civilian careers. For the record, their names were: Staff Sgt. Troy S. Knutson-Collins, Sgt. Edvin F. Franco, Sgt. Jose Duenez, Jr. and Pfc. Dante D. Taitano. May the diversity of their surnames be noted and may we remember them among our fallen.

Hundreds of Lithuanians understood the sacrifice and turned out to honor the fallen soldiers as the hearses carrying their bodies made their way through Vilnius. “We consider U.S. soldiers in Lithuania as our own… For us, it is more than a duty, it is an emotion. We have experienced trials in our history and therefore we understand well what loss is, what death is, what honorable duty is,” President Gitanas Nauseda said in a speech to those gathered. Then an Air Force transport took the soldiers home to the United States for what is known as a dignified transfer.

While it is normally the president’s job to meet planes carrying the honored dead home, this time would be different. No president speaking of “honored duty” this time around. In fact, across four years of being Commander-in-Chief, Donald Trump had managed to attend four such transfers.

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth met the coffins at Dover Air force Base. Where was his boss? The president had departed the day before to Mar-a-Lago to play in the Saudi backed LIV golf tournament and attend a $1,000,000 a plate for his own MAGA PAC. Trump owns three golf courses in Florida and played all of them during his four-day visit. Trump made a point of noting to reporters present that he had won the tournament–first things first after all. As for the honored dead in Delaware, Trump said nearly nothing. While he may have thought “thank you for your service” between the many holes he played, the president’s actions suggested — probably not. Hundreds of Lithuanians turned out to honor their fallen American brothers. The American president played golf.