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President Donald Trump was seen Wednesday saluting the flag-draped caskets of four U.S. service members recently killed in action in Jordan and Iraq, as he attended a dignified transfer ceremony at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware.
Trump was seen standing alongside Secretary of War Pete Hegseth as they paid tribute to 1st Lt. Tyler James Feehan, 25, of Ewa Beach, Hawaii, Sgt. Angel Rampersad, 28, of Ozone Park, New York, and Pvt. Isabella Gonzales, 19, of Carrollton, Texas, who were killed in Jordan, and Sgt. Michael Emmanuel Swinton, 30, from Fayetteville, North Carolina, who was killed in Iraq.
Trump told reporters ahead of the ceremony Wednesday that the service members were “great heroes.”
“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 it has to be done,” Trump added.
US SOLDIER KILLED IN JORDAN ATTACK REMEMBERED AS LIVING ‘LIFE OF COURAGE AND SELFLESSNESS’
“All I’m going to say is we love you. We love your child,” Trump said when asked if he had a message for the families. “And that’s what they are to them. They’re their children. There’s no games, no nothing. That’s their child. And all you could do is throw out your heart.”
Feehan’s parents, Stephen and Shari, told KUTV on Tuesday that “No parents could have asked for a better son, and carrying your legacy forward is now our purpose.”
“To that end, we’re building a scholarship in his name — one meant to open doors to education for those who serve or hope to. We’re starting it with his death gratuity, and we welcome anyone moved to give,” they added.
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U.S. Central Command said over the weekend that the service members were killed at Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan as CENTCOM and partner forces “defended against Iranian ballistic missile and drone attacks.”
Swinton was killed while troops attempted to destroy a downed Iranian attack drone Sunday at an air base in Iraq.
Both incidents remain under investigation.
Fox News’ Eric Mack and Jennifer Griffin contributed to this report.
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