Bodies of Marines killed in NATO drill crash returned to US

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A U.S. Marine Corps carry team carries the transfer case containing the remains of Marine Gunnery Sgt. James W. Speedy, of Cambridge, Ohio, during a dignified transfer at Dover Air Force Base March 25, 2022 in Dover, Delaware. Last week, four U.S. Marines were killed when their Osprey aircraft crashed in a Norwegian town in the Arctic Circle during a NATO exercise named Exercise Cold Response. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

DOVER, Del. (AP) - The bodies of four Marines who died in a military aircraft crash during a NATO exercise were transferred back to the U.S. Friday.

The U.S. Marine Corps said an Osprey aircraft crashed on March 18 in a Norwegian town in the Arctic Circle, killing the four Marines. Officials with the Marines said Saturday that hundreds of U.S. Marines, sailors, service members and civilians rendered final salutes to the fallen Marines in Bodø, Norway, early Friday.

The bodies of the Marines were then placed on board an Air National Guard military transport aircraft and flown to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, Marine Corps officials said. The remains of the Marines will ultimately be moved to their final resting places according to their families' wishes, officials said in a statement.

The crash killed Capt. Ross A. Reynolds, 27, of Leominster, Massachusetts; Capt. Matthew J. Tomkiewicz, 27, of Fort Wayne, Indiana; Gunnery Sgt. James W. Speedy, 30, of Cambridge, Ohio; and Cpl. Jacob M. Moore, 24, of Catlettsburg, Kentucky.

The men were all assigned to Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 261, Marine Aircraft Group 26, 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing stationed at Marine Corps Air Station New River, North Carolina. They were taking part in a long-planned NATO exercise called Cold Response, which authorities said was unrelated to Russia’s war in Ukraine.