Senior Defense Spokesperson Col. Chris Devine provided the following readout:
On April 11th, Secretary of Defense Hegseth spoke with his counterpart Lithuanian Minister of National Defence Dovilė Šakalienė, to express gratitude for her leadership in the recovery of four U.S. soldiers who went missing on March 25.
Over seven days and nights, more than 400 Lithuanian, U.S., and Allied personnel, supported by 60 civilian professionals, volunteers, and specialized teams, conducted the exhaustive search across challenging terrain in the Pabrade Training Area in Lithuania. The soldiers were recovered on March 31 and April 1.
The Secretary thanked the Lithuanian people for their outpouring of support. A crowd-funded effort from a Vilnius, Lithuania television station raised more than €200,000 for the families of the fallen.
Minister Šakalienė thanked the Secretary for the ongoing rotational presence of the U. S. Forces in Lithuania, stating that Lithuania has no greater ally.
The two Ministers agreed to speak again in the near future about the upcoming June defense ministerial meeting.