DOVER, Del. — One by one, the flag-draped transfer cases containing the remains of three U.S. Army reservists from Georgia killed over the weekend in Jordan were carried from an Air Force cargo plane to an awaiting vehicle Friday afternoon.
The process, known as “the dignified transfer of remains,” was solemn and wordless except for the occasional shouted military command and a prayer by a chaplain stationed at Dover Air Force Base. He asked for blessings for the families of those who were killed and the others injured in the drone attack. Of the three service members who died, he asked that the “stories of their lives be honored by others.”
President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden met privately with the families of U.S. Army Reservist Staff Sgt. William Jerome Rivers, 46, and Sgts. Breonna Moffett, 23, and Kennedy Ladon Sanders, 24, prior to the transfer.
Later, they all gathered on the tarmac with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin: Gen. Charles Q. Brown, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Georgia U.S. Sens. Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock; Delaware U.S. Sens. Tom Carper and Chris Coons; and U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter of Georgia.
Carter, Ossoff and Warnock all said afterward that the weight of watching the remains of their fallen constituents returned to U.S. soil affected them greatly. For all three, it was their first time attending a dignified transfer, and they said they allowed the gravity of the moment to sink in.
“From a parent’s perspective, I can’t imagine any parents having to bury a child,” Carter said. “And yet today, three sets of parents are seeing the remains brought back in this country of three of our heroes.”
The three reservists were killed Sunday after a drone struck the living quarters of their base near the Syrian border. On Friday, the U.S. launched retaliatory airstrikes in the region, likely targeting the Iran-backed militants responsible for the soldiers’ deaths.
Carter said the lasting image in his mind will be three silver boxes with flags draped over them and troops standing watch nearby.
The remains will be taken to a mortuary on base where they will be prepped according to the families’ wishes and transferred to caskets. Funeral homes back in Georgia will facilitate the funerals or memorial services, although the military will remain involved.
Ossoff and Warnock reflected on how honoring fallen troops only reinforces the weight of their roles as members of Congress regarding issues such as national defense and veterans affairs.
“Days like this really just underscore how much is at stake in the decisions that we make and the work we do, (and) how much our service members who are the best among us give every single day,” Warnock said.
Ossoff said he hopes that Georgians pause to remember the three soldiers and their families.
“I hope all Georgians will take some time today, and in the days to come, out of their daily lives to reflect on what these three fellow Georgians gave,” Ossoff said, “for our nation and what their kin and loved ones are going through right now as they process this loss and the sacrifices that were made in defense of the American people.”
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