Coffins carrying the remains of four American soldiers who died during a training exercise in Lithuania will be conveyed in a procession past the capital’s cathedral square on Thursday.
Government officials and religious leaders are expected to pay their last respects before the bodies are flown back to the U.S.
The Army had confirmed that the soldiers, part of the 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, were on a tactical training exercise when they and their vehicle went missing a week ago.
Soldiers and rescuers searched through the forests and swamps at the Gen. Silvestras Žukauskas training ground in the town of Pabradė, 6 miles (10 kilometers) west of the border with Belarus.
They recovered an M88 Hercules armored vehicle from a peat bog on Monday, but the final body was recovered on Tuesday.
The U.S. Army has identified the dead soldiers as Staff Sgt. Troy S. Knutson-Collins, 28, of Battle Creek, Michigan; Staff Sgt. Jose Duenez Jr., 25, of Joliet, Illinois; Staff Sgt. Edvin F. Franco, 25, of Glendale, California; and Pfc. Dante D. Taitano, 21, of Dededo, Guam.
