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DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. (AP) — President Donald Trump traveled Monday to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware to pay respects to two U.S. soldiers killed Saturday in Afghanistan when a soldier dressed in an Afghan army uniform opened fire with a machine gun.
The Defense Department identified the dead American soldiers as Sgt. Javier Jaguar Gutierrez, 28; and Sgt. Antonio Rey Rodriguez, 28. Six other American soldiers were wounded in the attack.
Trump saluted and Vice President Mike Pence placed his hand over his heart as transfer cases containing the remains were carried out of a C-17 military plane and transferred to a transport vehicle.
As Trump and Pence stood on the tarmac in a falling mist, a woman among the mourners broke free of efforts to hold her back and ran toward the plane. She threw herself on its ramp, crying and screaming, as mourners and an official tried to restrain her. She wailed as the doors on the transfer vehicle closed.
Trump and Pence, who had traveled from a rally in New Hampshire, also met with the families before taking part in what is known in the military as a “dignified transfer."
National security adviser Robert O'Brien told reporters traveling with Trump aboard Air Force One that the president had wrapped up a reelection campaign rally in New Hampshire early so he could be with the families. O'Brien described such moments as “probably the toughest thing he does as president,” along with visiting wounded soldiers at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
“These are terrible sacrifices for the families. And these guys are heroes, they’re real warriors and did a great job for the American people," O'Brien said. “These are tough times. It’s tough for the president but he thinks it’s important to be there for the families and recognize them.”
Gutierrez was born in Jacksonville, North Carolina. He had also served in Iraq. Rodriguez was born in Las Cruces, New Mexico. He deployed eight times in support of Operation Freedom’s Sentinel, which began in 2015. Both men were posthumously promoted to sergeant first class and awarded the Bronze Star Medal and Purple Heart.
Six U.S. service members have been killed in Afghanistan since the start of 2020, including Saturday's casualties. Last year, 20 U.S. service personnel died in combat there and there were two non-combat deaths.
The incident came as Washington has sought to find an end to the war in Afghanistan.
Washington's peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad has been meeting with Taliban representatives in the Middle Eastern state of Qatar in recent weeks. He's seeking an agreement to reduce hostilities to get a peace deal signed that would start negotiations among Afghans on both sides of the conflict.
In his State of the Union Address last Tuesday, Trump referenced the peace talks, saying U.S. soldiers were not meant to serve as “law enforcement agencies” for other nations.
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Freking reported from Washington.
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