Remains of soldier killed in Afghanistan returned to U.S.

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), Eglin Air Force Base, Florida. The Pentagon has said Goble’s unit was engaged in combat operations in Kunduz Province, Afghanistan, 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.