National Guard Adjutant General Major Robert Umbarger said Saturday, “We honor the sacrifice and will always remember the four men killed.

”The other three men who died in the incident are: Staff Sgt. Jonathan M. Metzger, 32, of Indianapolis, Spc. Brian J. Leonhardt, 21, of Merrillville, and Spc. Christopher A. Patterson, 20, of Aurora, Ill. The fifth soldier injured in the blast, Pvt. Douglas Rachowicz, 29, of Hammond, was first treated at a military base hospital in Kandahar before being airlifted to the U.S. military hospital in Landstuhl, Germany. The Guard reports that all of the men were combat engineers who specialized in clearing major supply routes.

The soldiers families were notified on Friday of the deaths.

A spokesman from the Valparaiso National Guard company explained that one of the jobs of their unit in Afghanistan is to clear roads of objects such as IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices) and other potential hazards that might block supply convoys. The four soldiers killed were all in the same truck, scanning the road, when they apparently stuck an IED.

Tauteris was on his second combat tour, along with his 21-year-old son Robert Tauteris III. According to family reports, father and son joined the Guard together. The Tauteris' and their unit left for Afghanistan in October, after several months training at Camp Atterbury.  

The bodies of the four soldiers will be returned to the Dover Air Force Base in Delaware. Tauteris is being escorted home by his son. They are expected to arrive at Dover at 6 p.m., Sunday.

The Guard reports the four soldiers’ deaths are the greatest number of Indiana Guard casualities since March 2005, when four members of the Indianapolis-based 76th Infantry Brigade died when a land mine exploded under their military vehicle about 30 miles south of the Afghan capital of Kabul.

Gov. Mitch Daniels relased a statement saying that he was contacted by the National Guard Saturday morning to inform him of the deaths. The governor said he is joining his prayers with those of millions of Hoosiers for the soldiers’ families, and also voiced his pride and gratitude for the courage of the men lost.

The funeral service will be at 1 p.m. (CST), Sunday (Jan. 15), at the Braman and Bailey Funeral Home in North Judson. Visitation is Sunday from 10 a.m. until the time of the service at the funeral home. Tauteris is survived by a second son, Matthew, and his father Robert Tauteris Sr. His mother Marge preceded him in death.