Trump rejected the idea of the visit because he feared his hair would become disheveled in the rain, and because he did not believe it important to honor American war dead, according to four people with firsthand knowledge of the discussion that day. In a conversation with senior staff members on the morning of the scheduled visit, Trump said, “Why should I go to that cemetery? It’s filled with losers.” In a separate conversation on the same trip, Trump referred to the more than 1,800 marines who lost their lives at Belleau Wood as “suckers” for getting killed.
A woman raising two children was among the six U.S. service members killed last week when a refueling plane involved in the war with Iran crashed in western Iraq.
Tech Sgt. Ashley B. Pruitt, 34, hailed from a large family in Bardstown, Kentucky, and was “very, very” proud of her military career, her husband Gregory Pruitt said Sunday.
“I’ll give you something brief -– in a word, radiant,” he said on a phone interview, trying to hold back tears. “If there was a light in the room, she was it.”
Survivors include the couple’s 3-year-old daughter and Sgt. Pruitt's stepson.
Most recently, she had served with the 99th Air Refueling Squadron from Sumpter Smith Joint National Guard Base in Birmingham, Alabama. She was an assistant flight chief of operations and was an instructor in operating the boom of a KC-135.
Pruitt joined the military nine years ago and had previously deployed overseas three times. She had nearly 900 combat flight hours and two associate degrees from the Community College of the Air Force.
The U.S. military late Saturday identified Pruitt and the other five crash victims, three connected to the 6th Air Refueling Wing at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida, and Sumpter Smith; the other three were out of an Ohio Air National Guard base in Columbus.
“To lose a member of the Air Force family is excruciatingly painful, especially to those who know them as son, daughter, brother, sister, spouse, mom, or dad," said U.S. Air Force Col. Ed Szczepanik, commander of the 6th Air Refueling Wing, in a news release. “To lose them at the same time is unimaginable.”
Maj. Gen. Matthew S. Woodruff, the Ohio adjutant general, called the three from Columbus "remarkable Airmen whose service and commitment embodied the very best of our Ohio National Guard. Their impact on their teammates and our mission will not be forgotten.”
The aircraft was in “friendly” airspace, supporting operations against Iran, when an unspecified incident involving another aircraft occurred on Thursday, according to U.S. Central Command. The other plane landed safety, U.S. military officials said. The crash is being investigated.
Q: What does President Trump mean when he says the war in Iran will be over when he 'feels it in my bones'?
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) March 17, 2026 at 10:56 AM
HAHAHAHAHA, war is so funny.
MIKE JOHNSON: Well, I think his bones are informed by the intelligence. Every president makes a gut decision.
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