DOVER, Del. (WANE) — The remains of four United States Marines, including one from Fort Wayne, killed in a NATO exercise crash last week will be returned to the United States Friday.
The bodies of Capt. Matthew J. Tomkiewicz, 27, of Fort Wayne, Indiana; Capt. Ross A. Reynolds, 27, of Leominster, Massachusetts; Gunnery Sgt. James W. Speedy, 30, of Cambridge, Ohio; and Cpl. Jacob M. Moore, 24, of Catlettsburg, Kentucky, are expected to arrived at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware Friday afternoon for a “solemn dignified transfer of remains.”
The Air Force Mortuary Affairs Operations details the process:
Once the aircraft lands at Dover AFB, service-specific carry teams remove the transfer cases individually from the aircraft and move them to an awaiting transfer vehicle. The vehicle(s) then transport the fallen to the mortuary facility for positive identification by the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System and preparation for their final resting place.
Funeral arraignments for Capt. Tomkiewicz are pending.
The Marines died when their Osprey aircraft crashed Friday night in a Norwegian town in the Arctic Circle during a NATO exercise. They were assigned to Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 261, Marine Aircraft Group 26, 2d Marine Aircraft Wing stationed on Marine Corps Air Station New River, North Carolina.
The cause of the crash remains under investigation.
Capt. Tomkiewicz was a 2012 Homestead graduate. He joined the Marine Corps in June 2015 and had served as an MV-22B Osprey pilot.
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