Bodies Of Four Indiana Guardsmen Back In U.S.

Monday, January 9, 2012 at 6:29 AM

A U.S. Army carry team transfers the remains of Army Staff Sgt. Jonathan M. Metzger, of Indianapolis, Ind., at Dover Air Force Base, Del., Jan. 8, 2012. Metzger was assigned to the 713th Engineer Company, Indiana National Guard, Valparaiso, Ind. (U.S. Air Force photo/Roland Balik)

A U.S. Army carry team transfers the remains of Army Spc. Robert J. Tauteris Jr., of Hamlet, Ind., at Dover Air Force Base, Del., Jan. 8, 2012. Tauteris was assigned to the 713th Engineer Company, Indiana National Guard, Valparaiso, Ind. (U.S. Air Force photo/Roland Balik)

(Indianapolis, Ind.) - The bodies of four Indiana National Guardsmen have been returned to American soil after they were killed last week in Afghanistan.

The soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb on Friday in Kandahar Province, located in the southern part of the country. They were part of a unit conducting combat route clearance operations.

Those killed were Staff Sgt. Jonathan Metzger, 32, of Indianapolis; Spc. Brian Leonhardt, 21, of Merrillville; Spc. Robert Tauteris, 44, of Hamlet; and Spc. Christopher Patterson, 20, of Aurora, Illinois. They were all members of the 713th Engineer Company, based in Valparaiso.

Four flag-draped caskets containing the soldiers’ remains arrived Sunday night at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware.

Governor Mitch Daniels reacted to the news delivered Saturday afternoon.

“The Indiana National Guard is America's finest, reflected in its numbers, leadership, but mostly in the quality of the men and women it comprises. My prayers are joined with those of millions of Hoosiers who will hear this terrible news with deep grief but also with gratitude for the courage of those we have lost, and pride that we come from a state that produces men such as these," said Daniels.

Twenty-three soldiers of the Indiana National Guard have now fallen in the past 10 years.

"We have no more solemn obligation than rendering the proper respect, honor, and tribute to these faithful warriors and to provide the fullest possible support to their families during this difficult time." said Indiana National Guard Maj. Gen. R. Martin Umbarger.