On March 31, 2025, three of four missing U.S. Army soldiers’ bodies were found in Lithuania. The fourth body was discovered the following day, on April 1, 2025. These four bodies belonged to Sgt. Jose Duenez Jr., 25 years old, Sgt. Edvin F. Franco, 25 years old, Pfc. Dante D. Taitano, 21 years old, and Staff Sgt. Troy S. Knutson-Collins, 28 years old. The four were assigned to the 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, operating a M88 Hercules recovery vehicle on a NATO training mission when their 63-ton vehicle submerged into 15 feet of mud. March 25, 2025, was the last day these men were seen, as the vehicle took six days to retrieve from the mud in Pabradė, Lithuania, near the border of Belarus. To retrieve the bodies, soldiers from Lithuania, the U.S., Germany, Poland, and Estonia banded together, and as Defense Minister Davile Sakaliene explained, they demonstrated “unity” in times of crisis.
The four men’s families have not said much to the press, but the mother of Sgt. Edvin F. Franco, Lourdes Arriaga Franco, did a quick interview with KTLA 5, in which she said, “It was his goal since he was 6 years old to be in the army.” Franco had a six-month-old son, Preston Carlos, with his wife, Georgina Franco, and three siblings.
US Army Pfc. Jason Tamashiro, a good friend of Pfc. Dante Gogo Taitano told Pacific Daily News, “It just destroyed my world. I can’t believe what was happening, that it’s true. We had a lot of plans on what we wanted to do together. We were going to do 20 years in the Army together. He was supposed to be the uncle to my future kids…We spent every day together here, did everything together here.” Tamashiro was from Guam originally, and Lithuania was his first deployment for the U.S. Army. He had only been in the Army for two years before the incident, passing too soon.
A flag-lowering ceremony was held in remembrance of Sgt. Jose Duenez Jr. in Illinois, his home state. The ceremony was held at sunrise on Tuesday, April 15, 2025, and the flag was raised again at sunset on Thursday, April 17, 2025.
Staff Sgt. Troy S. Knutson-Collins was the last to be retrieved from the mud, but his brother revealed his identity to News Channel 3 on the day of the incident.
Just two days after the bodies were retrieved, a farewell ceremony was held for the soldiers. On April 3, 2025, the ceremony was held in Vilnius, Lithuania, before the soldiers were returned to their families in America. Lithuania’s leaders joined the US military to honor these men, including President Gitanas Nausėda, who in a speech said, “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 honourable duty is…Although we are relieved to have found all our Dogface Soldiers, it does not make the pain of their loss any less,” said Maj. Gen. Christopher Norrie, 3rd Inf. Div. commanding general. “We will continue to care for and support the soldiers’ families and loved ones as we bring them home and honor their memory.”
