The body of the fourth American soldier was found a week after they disappeared in Lithuania.
The soldier was part of a team of four who conducted military training in a large armored vehicle when they disappeared near the city of Pabrade.
The vehicle – Hercules M88A2 – and the bodies of the other three soldiers were found in a peat swamp on Monday.
Efforts to search, followed by the difficult mission of escaping the vehicle from the Bolot, includes hundreds of rescuers from the US Army and the Navy, as well as from Lithuanian, Polish and Estonian Armed Forces, a statement said.
“It was devastating in the past week. Today, our hearts carry the weight of unbearable pain … The world is darker without them,” says General Gen Christopher Nori in a statement published by the US Army Europe and Africa.
LT Gen. Charles Costanza described the incident as a “tragic incident” and added that “it is humble to watch the incredible recovery team from various commands, countries and continents that are gathering.”
The US army is investigating the incident.
The statement did not specify where the body of the final soldier was found. The team worked near the border with Belarus.
The M88A2 Hercules, one of the largest military vehicles used by the US Armed Forces, is designed to restore damaged tanks and other vehicles from the battlefields.
Two more Hercules M88A2 are required, plus bulldozers Drag the wreck from the swamp on MondayOn a recovery mission that saw teams working “day and night”, the statement said.
The identity of the soldiers is withheld. They were located in Lithuania as part of the Atlantic solution operation – a response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.