Bodies of Marines who died in NATO exercise in Arctic Circle returned to U.S.

DOVER, Del. — The bodies of four Marines who died in a military aircraft crash during a NATO exercise were transferred back to the United States on Friday.

The U.S. Marine Corps said an Osprey aircraft crashed 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, Mass.; Capt. Matthew J. Tomkiewicz, 27, of Fort Wayne, Ind.; Gunnery Sgt. James W. Speedy, 30, of Cambridge, Ohio; and Cpl. Jacob M. Moore, 24, of Catlettsburg, Ky.

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, N.C. They were taking part in a long-planned NATO exercise called Cold Response, which authorities said was unrelated to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.