Trump Honors Fallen US Soldiers: Dover Ceremony For 4 Troops Killed In Middle East

President Donald Trump stood at attention at Dover Air Force Base on Wednesday, saluting four flag draped transfer cases while the price tag of the war that killed these soldiers keeps climbing past accountability. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs Chairman General Dan Caine flanked him, presumably so the cameras had enough braid to photograph.

The dead have names, unlike the strategy that got them killed. Army 1st Lt. Tyler James Feehan, 25, of Hawaii, and Pvt. Isabella Gonzales, just 19, of Texas, were killed in an Iranian attack on the Muwaffaq Salti base in Jordan on July 17. Sgt. Angel Rampersad, 28, of New York, was initially listed missing before the Pentagon quietly updated her status to killed. Staff Sgt. Michael Emmanuel Swinton, 30, of North Carolina, died in northern Iraq during a controlled detonation of an Iranian drone, the kind of death that sounds almost administrative next to the others.

Trump called the ritual one of the hardest things he does as president, which is touching, except this was his third Dover ceremony since launching the war in February. Practice, as they say, makes perfect. His message to the families was simple, he said: we love your child.

Back in Washington, Trump, for his part, offered reporters a fresh excuse for the Jordan casualties, suggesting other operators had let the side down and that Americans doing someone else's job never works out well. He did not clarify who exactly he was blaming, leaving the families of Feehan and Gonzales to wonder along with the rest of us.

The dignified transfer is regarded as one of the most solemn responsibilities of a commander in chief, symbolizing the nation's recognition of the ultimate sacrifice made by its service members.