The bodies of two young Americans who died fighting the Islamic State group in Syria were returned to their sobbing families on Friday in simple, gray caskets that were pulled from an Amtrak train in Denver as throngs of sleepy passengers watched. The State Department said it worked to help return the remains of the men to their families. The remains of Keith Broomfield of Massachusetts, believed to be the first American to die alongside Kurds fighting Islamic State, were returned to the U.S. through Turkey last year. But officials determined it would be too dangerous to repatriate the bodies of Shirley, MacTaggart and Savage through Turkey and instead shipped them hundreds of miles east to Iraq. MacTaggart, of Castle Rock, Colo., died Aug. 3 while fighting in a squad that included two Americans and a Swede in Manbij, Syria.

Source: Los Angeles Times September 16, 2016 23:05 UTC