President Biden and first lady Jill Biden on Friday met with the grieving families of the three soldiers killed in the Iran-backed militia drone strike Sunday in Jordan.
Later in the day, the president attended the return of the fallen troops’ remains at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware.
“They risked it all, and we’ll never forget the sacrifice and service to our country [from] the dozens of service members who were wounded [and are] in recovery now,” Mr. Biden said Thursday at the National Prayer Breakfast.
The three soldiers all lived in Georgia: Sgt. William Jerome Rivers, 46, of Carrollton; Spc. Kennedy Ladon Sanders, 24, of Waycross; and Spc. Breonna Alexsondria Moffett, 23, of Savannah. The two Army specialists were posthumously promoted to sergeant.
The three troops were killed and 40 were wounded when a drone struck the Tower 22 base.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Air Force Gen. Charles Q. Brown, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, joined the president at the ceremony.
Friday’s ceremony was the second dignified transfer Mr. Biden has attended since he took office. The first was in 2021, with the return of 13 service members killed in the terrorist attack outside an airport in Kabul during the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.