Trump attends return of fallen Navy SEAL
By
President Trump and his daughter Ivanka departed the White House for Dover Air Force Base in Delaware on Wednesday afternoon to witness the arrival of Chief Petty Officer William “Ryan” Owens, who was killed during an intelligence gathering raid in Yemen last weekend
Owens, a member of the Navy’s SEAL Team Six, was killed in a clandestine raid at an al Qaeda facility that Trump had authorized early Sunday morning. The operation left four additional U.S. service members wounded and marked the first military fatality under the new administration.
Trump, who was to be joined by Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., upon arriving at Dover, had a “very somber and lengthy” conversation with Owens’ family on Tuesday.
“The president offered his sincerest condolences to Officer Owens’ wife, his father and their three children,” White House press secretary Sean Spicer told reporters. “Chief Owens was on his 12th deployment, from what I understand. We could never repay the debt of gratitude we owe him, the freedom he fought for, and the sacrifice he made as well as the other members of his unit injured in this operation.”
According to U.S. Central Command, 14 members of the al Qaeda terror group were also killed during the raid.