Remains of soldier killed in Afghanistan returned to US

The Associated Press

4 years ago

An Army carry team moves a transfer case containing the remains of U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Mic ... — An Army carry team moves a transfer case containing the remains of U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael Goble, Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2019, at Dover Air Force Base, Del. According to the Department of Defense, Goble, of Washington Township, N.J., assigned to the 7th Special Forces Group, died while supporting Operation Freedom’s Sentinel. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Acting Under Secretary of the Army James McPherson, left, National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien, Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley and others, stand as an Army carry team moves a transfer case containing the remains of U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael Goble, Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2019, at Dover Air Force Base, Del. According to the Department of Defense, Goble, of Washington Township, N.J., assigned to the 7th Special Forces Group, died while supporting Operation Freedom’s Sentinel. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Shaquita Darby closes the door of a vehicle containing a transfer case of the remains of U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael Goble, Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2019, at Dover Air Force Base, Del. According to the Department of Defense, Goble, of Washington Township, N.J., assigned to the 7th Special Forces Group, died while supporting Operation Freedom’s Sentinel. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

An Army carry team slaues a transfer case containing the remains of U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael Goble, as U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Shaquita Darby closes the door, Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2019, at Dover Air Force Base, Del. According to the Department of Defense, Goble, of Washington Township, N.J., assigned to the 7th Special Forces Group, died while supporting Operation Freedom’s Sentinel. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

An Army carry team loads a transfer case containing the remains of U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael Goble, Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2019, at Dover Air Force Base, Del. According to the Department of Defense, Goble, of Washington Township, N.J., assigned to the 7th Special Forces Group, died while supporting Operation Freedom’s Sentinel. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

DOVER, Del. — The remains of a 33-year-old American soldier killed in combat in Afghanistan have been returned to the United States, arriving at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware.

Sgt. 1st Class Michael J. Goble of Washington Township, New Jersey, was killed Monday in a roadside bombing in northern Kunduz province. The Taliban has claimed they were behind the attack.

Goble was assigned to 1st Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne) at the Eglin Air Force Base in Florida. The Pentagon has said Goble’s unit was engaged in combat operations when he suffered fatal injuries.

Multiple U.S. officials, including national security adviser Robert O’Brien and Army Gen. Mark A. Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, attended Wednesday what the military calls a dignified transfer in which the cases containing the remains are transferred to a vehicle from the aircraft that ferried them to the United States.