{"id":2416415,"date":"2025-03-27T09:32:01","date_gmt":"2025-03-27T13:32:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/nato-walks-back-claim-missing-us-soldiers-died-in-lithuania\/"},"modified":"2025-03-27T09:45:58","modified_gmt":"2025-03-27T13:45:58","slug":"nato-retracts-statement-about-missing-us-soldiers-deaths-in-lithuania","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/nato-retracts-statement-about-missing-us-soldiers-deaths-in-lithuania\/","title":{"rendered":"NATO retracts statement about missing US soldiers&#8217; deaths in Lithuania"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fnato-retracts-statement-about-missing-us-soldiers-deaths-in-lithuania%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2416415&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>NATO recently retracted a statement made by it&#8217;s Secretary General, Mark Rutte, regarding the fate of four U.S. soldiers who went missing during a training exercise in Lithuania.Initially, Rutte claimed that the soldiers had died, but NATO later clarified that this was incorrect and that the search for them was still ongoing. The U.S. soldiers from the 1st Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division disappeared near Pabrad\u0117, wiht their vehicle found submerged in a peat bog. Ongoing efforts by a <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\">joint task force<\/a>, including the U.S.Army and Lithuanian Armed Forces,are focused on locating the missing soldiers. Lithuanian Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas expressed solidarity with the rescue operation, while U.S.Ambassador Kara McDonald visited the site to show support and gratitude for lithuania&#8217;s assistance.Both leaders indicated a commitment to doing everything possible to find the soldiers. The confusion surrounding the soldiers\u2019 status underscores the challenges and dangers associated with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/israel-morocco-sign-historic-defense-agreement\/\" title=\"Israel, Morocco Sign Historic Defense Agreement\">military training exercises<\/a> in complex environments.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">NATO walks back claim that missing US soldiers have died in Lithuania<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_2039791\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/nato\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"NATO\">NATO<\/a> walked back its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/defense\/3359736\/army-soldiers-missing-lithuania-died-nato-mark-rutte\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"NATO\">claim<\/a> that the four United States soldiers missing in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/lithuania\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"NATO\">Lithuania<\/a> had died.<\/p>\n<p>On Wednesday, NATO Secretary General <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/defense\/3359736\/army-soldiers-missing-lithuania-died-nato-mark-rutte\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Mark Rutte announced\">Mark Rutte announced<\/a> that four U.S. soldiers who had gone missing during a training exercise in Lithuania had died. Later that day, NATO clarified that it was not the case.<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/world\/3360016\/rubio-admits-signal-group-chat-debacle-big-mistake\/\">Rubio admits Signal group chat debacle was a &#8216;big mistake&#8217;<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/world\/3359266\/russia-reneges-blacksea-ceasefire-western-sanctions-lifted\/\">Russia reneges on Black Sea ceasefire, says Western sanctions must first be lifted<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/world\/3358592\/palestinians-in-gaza-protest-hamas\/\">Palestinians in Gaza protest Hamas rule: &#8216;We are dying&#8217;<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">U.S. soldiers gather near military and other vehicles parked at a training range in Pabrade, north of the capital Vilnius, Lithuania on Thursday, March 27, 2025. (AP Photo\/Mindaugas Kulbis)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&ldquo;On the 4 US soldiers missing in a military exercise in Lithuania, the search is ongoing. We regret any confusion about remarks <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/SecGenNATO\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">@SecGenNATO<\/a> delivered on this today. He was referring to emerging news reports &amp; was not confirming the fate of the missing, which is still unknown,&rdquo; NATO spokeswoman Allison Hart said.<\/p>\n<p>Four members of the 1st Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, disappeared at a training range near the Lithuanian city of Pabrad&#279;. Their M88 Hercules armored recovery vehicle was found submerged over 16 feet in a peat bog. A joint recovery operation from the U.S. Army, Lithuanian Armed Forces, and civilian agencies is ongoing.<\/p>\n<p>Lithuanian Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas visited the site of the rescue in a show of support.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Expressed my Government&rsquo;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/hungarian-parliament-passes-law-banning-showing-lgbt-content-to-minors\/\" title=\"Hungarian Parliament Passes Law Banning ...ing LGBT Content To Minors\">full solidarity<\/a> and support for the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/somber-news-on-41-workers-trapped-in-collapsed-tunnel-for-eight-days\/\" title=\"Somber News on 41 Workers Trapped in Collapsed Tunnel for Eight Days\">ongoing rescue operation<\/a> of 4 missing US troops. Our thoughts &amp; prayers are with their families and brothers in arms,&rdquo; he said.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Expressed my Government&#8217;s full solidarity and support for the ongoing rescue operation of 4 missing US troops. Our thoughts &amp; prayers are with their families and brothers in arms. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/tM3NBMavgy\">pic.twitter.com\/tM3NBMavgy<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Gintautas Paluckas (@g_paluckas) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/g_paluckas\/status\/1905155753750438275?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 27, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script> <\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>He was joined by Defense Minister Dovil&#279; &Scaron;akalien&#279;, who <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/DSakaliene\/status\/1904958105957302427\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"said that rescuers were working\">said rescuers were working<\/a> &ldquo;round the clock.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>She told Lithuanian media outlet LRT Thursday that the rescue efforts involved water pumping and ground reinforcement. They had observed &ldquo;certain positive signs that give hope for a quicker scenario.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;US soldiers are our soldiers, we will do everything possible for each of them,&rdquo; she wrote on Facebook.<\/p>\n<p>The Lithuanian Armed Forces shared a picture of the operation, saying, &ldquo;special machines are draining the swamp and intensively digging to reach lost vehicle,&rdquo; with additional heavy equipment on the way. It said on Wednesday there was &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/LTU_Army\/status\/1904954683208143072\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"no evidence\">no evidence<\/a> or information confirming the death of the troops.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Rescue operation in Pabrad&#279; training area is ongoing &ndash; special machines are draining the swamp and intensively digging to reach lost vehicle. Adittional heavy equipment &ndash; on its way. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/ZSs9dggKAw\">pic.twitter.com\/ZSs9dggKAw<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Lithuanian_Armed_Forces (@LTU_Army) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/LTU_Army\/status\/1905204206350238105?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 27, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script> <\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>The U.S. ambassador to Lithuania, Kara McDonald, visited the rescue site to show support and thank Lithuania for its help.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/defense\/3359736\/army-soldiers-missing-lithuania-died-nato-mark-rutte\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"FOUR US ARMY SOLDIERS WHO WENT MISSING IN LITHUANIA HAVE DIED, NATO CHIEF RUTTE SAYS\">FOUR US ARMY SOLDIERS WHO WENT MISSING IN LITHUANIA HAVE DIED, NATO CHIEF RUTTE SAYS<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;As our Secretary of Defense said, we will not rest until our soldiers are found. We can see that this is a technically very difficult situation. I want to thank the Lithuanian Government, the authorities and everyone who is here and helping in the search. Their support is absolutely necessary and needed. We are very grateful. Lithuania is an exemplary ally and we are very grateful for the help,&rdquo; she said.<\/p>\n<p>Former Lithuanian Armed Forces Commander VJ &#381;ukas <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lrt.lt\/naujienos\/lietuvoje\/2\/2522970\/pabrades-poligonas-didelis-klaidus-bet-jav-kariams-gerai-zinomas-kodel-ivyko-nelaime\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"expressed confusion over the incident to LRT\">expressed confusion over the incident to LRT<\/a>, saying the training ground is deeply mapped out, including what areas are safe for certain types of vehicles.<\/p>\n<p>On Thursday, President Donald Trump was asked about the soldiers and said he had not been briefed on the situation.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_2039791\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"2039791\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>NATO retracts statement on missing US soldiers&#8217; deaths in Lithuania<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2653,"featured_media":2416416,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/US-troops-Lithuania.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[548],"tags":[52274,39304,7624,52275,51849],"class_list":["post-2416415","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-conservative-news-daily","tag-lithuania","tag-military-news","tag-nato","tag-statement-retraction","tag-us-soldiers"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/US-troops-Lithuania.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2416415","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2653"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2416415"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2416415\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2416419,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2416415\/revisions\/2416419"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2416416"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2416415"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2416415"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2416415"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}