A 25-year-old Army sergeant from Glendale was among four soldiers who died in an armored vehicle that was pulled from a swampy area in Lithuania, the Army said Tuesday.
Sgt. Edvin F. Franco, of Glendale, was identified as one of the soldiers found dead in the M88 Hercules vehicle. The body of a fourth soldier was recovered after a weeklong search in a peat bog at the Gen. Silvestras Žukauskas training ground in the town of Pabradė.
The soldiers, who were part of the 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, were on a tactical training exercise when they were reported missing a week ago, the Army said.
Franco was also an M1 Abrams tank system maintainer who had been in the Army for more than six years. He deployed to Korea in 2020 and Germany in 2022.
Franco’s wife, Georgia Franco, told 11Alive in Atlanta that he had been stationed at Fort Stewart in Hinesville, Georgia, where he was a tank mechanic. The two met in 2022 and welcomed their first child in October, she said.
“He was, he’s such a good dad,” Georgia said. “He loved him. I mean, I couldn’t have handpicked somebody else to be a father. From the moment, we had him, he was in love.”
Three months after the birth of their child, Franco received word he was being deployed to Lithuania, his wife said.
The man’s mother, Lourdes Arriaga, said she and his father were proud of their son. She also said sharing the tragic news with other relatives was difficult.
“He was doing his job,” he said. “He loved his job, but what can I say to a little boy? Your brother is not coming back. He was his model.”
Capt. Madyson K. Wellens, a commander in his squadron, told The Associated Press that Franco’s “infectious smile and genuine joy in being with his team were matched only by the tenacity and drive. He never asked more of his soldiers than he was willing to give himself — a true testament to his character.”
Sgt. Jose Duenez, Jr., 25, of Joliet, Illinois and Pfc. Dante D. Taitano, 21, of Dededo, Guam, also were identified Tuesday. The identity of the fourth soldier killing in the training accident has not been released.
“This past week has been devastating. Today our hearts bear the weight of an unbearable pain with the loss of our final Dogface Soldier,” Maj. Gen. Christopher Norrie, 3rd Infantry Division commander, said in a statement Tuesday. “Though we have received some closure, the world is darker without them.”
The search in thick forests and swamp land included hundreds of Lithuanian and U.S. soldiers and rescue team members. The 63-ton armored vehicle was found March 26 submerged in about 15 feet of water.
It took days to pull the heavy vehicle from the bog using steel cables. Excavators, sluice and slurry pumps and other heavy construction equipment was used in the search.
Gen. Christopher Donahue, commander of U.S. Army Europe and Africa, expressed gratitude to the U.S. allies who sent troops and equipment to help in the search and recovery.
“I can’t say enough about the support our Lithuanian Allies have provided us. We have leaned on them, and they, alongside our Polish and Estonian Allies — and our own Sailors, Airmen and experts from the Corps of Engineers — have enabled us to find and bring home our Soldiers,” Donahue said in the statement. “This is a tragic event, but it reinforces what it means to have Allies and friends.”
“What I want him to be remembered, he didn’t just do for nothing, he was doing his job,” his mother said.
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