Trump pays tribute to Las Cruces soldier killed in Afghanistan
DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Delaware — President Donald Trump traveled Monday night to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware to pay respects to two U.S. soldiers, one of them from southern New Mexico and the other from Texas, killed Saturday in Afghanistan when a soldier dressed in an Afghan army uniform opened fire with a machine gun.
The Defense Department identified the dead American soldiers as Sgt. Antonio Rey Rodriguez, 28, of Las Cruces, New Mexico, and Sgt. Javier Jaguar Gutierrez, 28, of San Antonio, Texas. Six other American soldiers were wounded in the attack.
Trump saluted and Vice President Mike Pence placed his hand over his heart as transfer cases containing the remains were carried out of a plane and transferred to a transport vehicle.
As Trump and Pence stood on the tarmac in a falling mist, a woman among the mourners struggled to reach the plane’s ramp, pulling her companions with her as they tried to hold her back. She wailed as the doors on the transfer vehicle closed.
National security adviser Robert O'Brien told reporters traveling with Trump on Air Force One that the president wrapped up a re-election campaign rally in New Hampshire a bit early so he could visit with the families of the soldiers. He described such moments as “probably the toughest thing he does as president,” along with visiting wounded soldiers at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
“These are terrible sacrifices for the families. And these guys are heroes, they’re real warriors and did a great job for the American people," O'Brien said. “These are tough times. It’s tough for the president but he thinks it’s important to be there for the families and recognize them.”
Rodriguez, a native of New Mexico, was born in Las Cruces; he deployed eight times in support of Operation Freedom’s Sentinel, which began in 2015. Gutierrez was born in Jacksonville, North Carolina; he had also served in Iraq.
Both men were posthumously promoted to Sgt. 1st Class and awarded the Bronze Star Medal and Purple Heart.
Six U.S. service members have been killed in Afghanistan since the start of 2020, including Saturday's casualties. Last year, 22 U.S. service personnel died in combat there.
The incident came as Washington has sought to find an end to the war in Afghanistan.
Washington's peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad has been meeting with Taliban representatives in the Middle Eastern state of Qatar in recent weeks. He's seeking an agreement to reduce hostilities to get a peace deal signed that would start negotiations among Afghans on both sides of the conflict.
In his State of the Union Address last Tuesday, Trump referenced the peace talks, saying U.S. soldiers were not meant to serve as “law enforcement agencies” for other nations.
