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President Donald Trump paid an emotional tribute to fallen Army 1st Lt. Tyler James Feehan during an event Wednesday at Wheeler High School in Marietta, Georgia, revealing he invited the slain soldier’s grieving family aboard Air Force One.
The family was in the crowd after Trump met with them earlier in the day at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware.
Trump traveled to Georgia after attending the dignified transfer ceremony of four U.S. service members killed in Jordan, including Feehan, and the president met Feehan’s parents, Shari and Stephen, and his uncle David.
Speaking to the crowd, Trump recounted learning the family was also headed to Georgia after the ceremony.
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“I said, ‘If you want, I’ll give you a ride on Air Force One,'” Trump told the audience. “Today they were on Air Force One, and it’s quite nice, I must say.”
Trump said the family was “heartbroken” but grateful for the gesture.
“They couldn’t believe it,” he said. “They live minutes away. We’re here today.”
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Feehan, 25, of Ewa Beach, Hawaii, was among four U.S. service members killed in Jordan while supporting a U.S. mission. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 55th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 32nd Army Air and Missile Defense Command at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
Pvt. Isabella Gonzales, 19, of Carrollton, Texas, was also among those killed. U.S. Central Command announced the deaths Saturday.
Trump said he reviews biographies of fallen service members before each dignified transfer and described Feehan as an exceptional young officer with a promising future.
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“Lieutenant Tyler Feehan … he was a person that was going all the way,” Trump said. “He was going to be a general. He would have been a general very quickly. He was heading in that path.”
Trump then thanked Feehan’s family, whom he said he got to know during the flight from Dover to Georgia aboard Air Force One.
“But I just want to thank Tyler’s mother, Shari; his father, Stephen; and his uncle David. Great people. I got to know them a little bit on the plane and standing there and watching this site,” he said.
Calling dignified transfers the most difficult responsibility of the presidency, Trump said he would never forget the family.
“I think it’s the toughest thing I do,” Trump said. “But to Shari and Stephen and David, we will carry Tyler’s memory in our hearts forever. I just want to thank you. It’s an honor to have you here today.”
The audience responded with sustained applause before Trump addressed Feehan’s mother directly.
“Shari, he’s looking down right here,” Trump said. “He’s so proud right now.”
Trump visited Georgia on Wednesday to tout his administration’s Trump Accounts initiative, saying the program would help families build long-term savings for their children as part of what he described as America’s “Golden Age.”
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