IT’S A STORY MORE THAN 80 YEARS IN THE MAKING. A SOLDIER’S REMAINS FINALLY COMING HOME IN 1942, LUTHER RHODES MADE THE ULTIMATE SACRIFICE, AND AFTER DNA TESTING, HIS REMAINS WERE FLOWN HOME. OUR PEYTON FURTADO HAS HIS BITTERSWEET HOMECOMING. THEY SAY NO MAN LEFT BEHIND. THEY CALL HIM THE KID. HE WAS ENLISTED AT 17. VERY YOUNG, VERY SMALL, VERY YOUTHFUL LOOKING. HE SURVIVED TWO MONTHS OF COMBAT IN GUADALCANAL. HE WAS A PART OF THE FIRST OFFENSE THAT THE UNITED STATES HAD IN SECOND WORLD WAR AGAINST JAPAN, STARTING FROM AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND AREA UP TO THE ISLANDS ALL THE WAY TO JAPAN, LUTHER WROTE. DIED IN GUADALCANAL IN 1942, BUT AFTER YEARS OF SEARCHING USING DNA, I SAID, GIVE ME. GIVE ME ONE MORE CHANCE. AND HE SAID, OKAY. WE FOUND HIM. RHODES REMAINS WERE FOUND AND BROUGHT HOME. THESE REMAINS ARE STILL ON A JOURNEY. IT’S NOT THE END OF THE ROAD JUST YET. IT WILL GO FROM GSP. TO HENDERSONVILLE, HIS HOMETOWN. IT IS VERY, VERY MUCH SO. THE FAMILY I KNOW IS GRATEFUL. THEY’RE LOOKING SO FORWARD TO HAVING HIS BODY HERE TO BE IN HIS BURIAL SITE TUESDAY. AFTER YEARS OF UNCERTAINTY, MARVIN RHODES FINALLY HONORED HIS BROTHER FOR HIS BRAVERY AND SACRIFICE. WHEN SERVICE MEMBERS DIE AND COME HOME, THERE’S A VERY MUCH OF A FORMAT, A CEREMONY, A FLAG, M. I DON’T COME HOME, THERE’S NOTHING KNOWING HOW IMPORTANT IT IS WHEN THEY DO COME HOME AND REALIZING THAT THERE’S NO THERE’S NO CEREMONY FOR MISSING AN ACTIVE SERVICE MEMBER. AND MARVIN WENT HIS ENTIRE LIFE NOT KNOWING HIS PARENTS DIED. HIS. ALL HIS BROTHERS AND SISTERS DIED NOT THINKING THAT THAT LUTHER WOULD COME HOME. THE RHODES FAMILY KEPT A HEADSTONE AT THE LOCAL CEMETERY, POLISHING, WAITING. AND. SATURDAY. WELL DONE. WELCOME HOME. LUTHER RHODES WI
Remains of 2nd US soldier who went missing during military exercises in Morocco have been recovered
The remains of the second U.S. Army soldier who went missing during military exercises in Morocco have been recovered, the Army said Wednesday, ending a multinational search operation that deployed air, naval and artificial intelligence assets.The soldier was identified as Spc. Mariyah Symone Collington of Taveres, Fla., the U.S. military Europe and Africa said in a statement. She was 19 years old.”Royal Moroccan Armed Forces transported the Soldier’s remains by a Moroccan helicopter to the morgue of Moulay El Hassan Military Hospital in Guelmim, Morocco,” the statement said.Collington served as an air and missile defense crewmember and was assigned to Charlie Battery, 5th Battalion, 4th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command, U.S. Army Europe and Africa said. She was 19 years old.Collington entered the Regular Army’s Delayed Entry Program in 2023 before beginning active-duty service in 2024. She completed Basic Combat Training and Advanced Individual Training at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, as a 14P air and missile defense crewmember. She reported to Charlie Battery, 5th Battalion, 4th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, in Ansbach, Germany, in February 2025 and was promoted to specialist on May 1, 2026.Her awards and decorations include the Army Service Ribbon.The announcement came days after the military said the remains of another soldier, 1st Lt. Kendrick Lamont Key Jr., a 14A Air Defense Artillery officer, had been recovered. The two soldiers fell off a cliff during an off-duty recreational hike in Morocco. Their remains are en route to the United States.A spokesperson for U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa told The Associated Press that the circumstances surrounding the incident remain under investigation.The two soldiers were reported missing May 2 after participating in African Lion, an annual multinational military exercise held in Morocco. Their disappearance triggered a search operation involving more than 1,000 U.S. and Moroccan military and civilian personnel, the SETAF-AF spokesperson added.Assets deployed during the operation included a U.S. Navy P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft, unmanned aerial systems, thermal and ISR sensors, an unmanned underwater vehicle, side-scan sonar, a Moroccan multibeam echosounder and U.S. Coast Guard drift modeling capabilities, according to the spokesperson.African Lion 26 is a U.S.-led exercise launched in April across four countries – Morocco, Tunisia, Ghana and Senegal – with more than 7,000 personnel from over 30 nations. Since 2004, it has been the largest U.S. joint military exercise in Africa.In 2012, two U.S. Marines were killed and two others injured during a helicopter crash in Morocco’s southern city of Agadir while taking part in the exercises
The remains of the second U.S. Army soldier who went missing during military exercises in Morocco have been recovered, the Army said Wednesday, ending a multinational search operation that deployed air, naval and artificial intelligence assets.
The soldier was identified as Spc. Mariyah Symone Collington of Taveres, Fla., the U.S. military Europe and Africa said in a statement. She was 19 years old.
“Royal Moroccan Armed Forces transported the Soldier’s remains by a Moroccan helicopter to the morgue of Moulay El Hassan Military Hospital in Guelmim, Morocco,” the statement said.
Collington served as an air and missile defense crewmember and was assigned to Charlie Battery, 5th Battalion, 4th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command, U.S. Army Europe and Africa said. She was 19 years old.
Collington entered the Regular Army’s Delayed Entry Program in 2023 before beginning active-duty service in 2024. She completed Basic Combat Training and Advanced Individual Training at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, as a 14P air and missile defense crewmember. She reported to Charlie Battery, 5th Battalion, 4th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, in Ansbach, Germany, in February 2025 and was promoted to specialist on May 1, 2026.
Her awards and decorations include the Army Service Ribbon.
The announcement came days after the military said the remains of another soldier, 1st Lt. Kendrick Lamont Key Jr., a 14A Air Defense Artillery officer, had been recovered. The two soldiers fell off a cliff during an off-duty recreational hike in Morocco. Their remains are en route to the United States.
A spokesperson for U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa told The Associated Press that the circumstances surrounding the incident remain under investigation.
The two soldiers were reported missing May 2 after participating in African Lion, an annual multinational military exercise held in Morocco. Their disappearance triggered a search operation involving more than 1,000 U.S. and Moroccan military and civilian personnel, the SETAF-AF spokesperson added.
Assets deployed during the operation included a U.S. Navy P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft, unmanned aerial systems, thermal and ISR sensors, an unmanned underwater vehicle, side-scan sonar, a Moroccan multibeam echosounder and U.S. Coast Guard drift modeling capabilities, according to the spokesperson.
African Lion 26 is a U.S.-led exercise launched in April across four countries – Morocco, Tunisia, Ghana and Senegal – with more than 7,000 personnel from over 30 nations. Since 2004, it has been the largest U.S. joint military exercise in Africa.
In 2012, two U.S. Marines were killed and two others injured during a helicopter crash in Morocco’s southern city of Agadir while taking part in the exercises
