US Soldiers Missing: The Big Rescue Mission in Lithuania

A big rescue operation is underway in Lithuania. It all started when four U. S. soldiers went missing during a training exercise. They were part of the 1st Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division and were on a mission to recover another Army vehicle. Their armored vehicle, an M88 Hercules, was found underwater in a swamp near Pabrade, Lithuania. The tricky part? The vehicle is 15 feet underwater and the area is super muddy and marshy. This makes it really hard for the rescue team to get to the vehicle. The rescue team includes U. S. Navy divers and a group of Polish Armed Forces engineers. They are working together to drain the water and remove the mud from the site. This is no easy task. The area is so wet and marshy that it can't support the heavy equipment needed for the rescue. Plus, the groundwater keeps seeping in, making the draining process slow and difficult. The rescue mission started on Wednesday, and by Friday, experts from the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers had joined the team. They brought in some heavy-duty equipment, including a large-capacity slurry pump, cranes, and over 30 tons of gravel. The Polish Armed Forces also sent a unit of military engineers with water pumps and tracked recovery vehicles. The soldiers went missing on Tuesday, and the initial search involved military helicopters, Lithuanian diving teams, and hundreds of U. S. and Lithuanian soldiers and law enforcement officers. They searched through thick forests and swampy terrain. Since the armored vehicle was found, the focus has been on draining water and removing mud from the site to stabilize the ground. The rescue operation is expected to be long and difficult. Maj. Gen. Curtis Taylor, the commanding general of the 1st Armored Division, said so in a statement. The families of the soldiers are being kept updated on the situation. The Army has not yet confirmed the fates of the four soldiers, and their names have not been released. Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda and the U. S. ambassador to Lithuania, Kara C. McDonald, visited the site on Friday. They wanted to understand the complexity of the operation. Maj. Gen. Taylor expressed the team's commitment to bringing the soldiers home. He praised the discipline, commitment, and camaraderie of the unit involved in the rescue mission.