Overcome with grief at 'dignified transfer,' woman runs to plane crying out loved one's name

President Trump and Vice President Pence were on hand to pay tribute.

February 11, 2020, 8:08 PM

It is always a solemn and emotional moment: top military and civilian officials joining families to witness the "dignified transfer" of loved ones killed serving in the U.S. military overseas.

On Monday night, it was too much for one woman, who was overcome with grief.

The unidentified woman had just come off a bus that had brought family members of the two deceased soldiers to the tarmac at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware.

She broke away from the group and sprinted towards the huge C-17 transport where the soldiers’ remains, in what are called "transfer cases, " were being prepared to be taken off the plane.

The woman’s wails pierced the night sky as a light mist started coming down.

Screaming out her loved one’s name, she threw herself on the plane’s open ramp and had to be restrained and helped away by other family members and an official nearby.

President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence observe the dignified transfer of two soldiers killed in Afghanistan, at Dover Air Force Base in Dover, Del., Feb. 10, 2020.
Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images

The Pentagon had announced Sunday that Sgt. 1st Class Javier Jaguar Gutierrez and Sgt. 1st Class Antonio Rey Rodriguez, both 28 years old, were killed as a result of wounds sustained while engaged in combat operations.

The tarmac scene unfolded moments before President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence arrived.

It wasn't clear what they saw or heard but they then walked up the plane's ramp and went inside to pay their respects to the fallen, as a chaplain read a brief prayer.

President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence watch as a U.S. Army carry team moves a transfer case containing the remains of Sgt. 1st Class Javier Gutierrez, of San Antonio, Texas, Feb. 10, 2020, at Dover Air Force Base, Del.
Evan Vucci/AP

They had traveled to Dover separately late Monday night after a Keeping America Great campaign rally in New Hampshire. The visit was unannounced until just before they arrived.

National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien told reporters traveling on Air Force One with the president that Trump wrapped up his New Hampshire rally early so that he could attend and visit with families.

O’Brian told reporters that spending moments like these with grieving families is “probably the toughest thing he does as president.”

PHOTO: President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence attend a dignified transfer of the remain of Special Forces soldier Sgt. 1st Class Javier Gutierrez, at Dover Air Force Base in Dover, Del. Feb. 10, 2020.
President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence attend a dignified transfer of the remain of Special Forces soldier Sgt. 1st Class Javier Gutierrez who was killed in an attack in Afghanistan, as the president stopped for the ceremony on his way back to Washington from New Hampshire, at Dover Air Force Base in Dover, Del. Feb. 10, 2020.
Jonathan Ernst/Reuters

Trump and Pence stood at attention in the rain as the two flag-draped transfer cases were carried down the plane’s ramp.

Trump saluted as the honor guard carried the metal cases to a waiting transfer vehicle, while Pence placed his hand over his heart.

The woman’s wails could be heard as the honor guard gently closed the doors.