The troops were on a refueling training mission when the aircraft crashed off the coast of Cyprus. The episode, which Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III said was an accident, is under investigation.
The latest deployment is in response to growing threats from Iran and its allies in the region. President Biden has warned Iran to not join the war against Hamas.
Greek authorities assumed the victims were asylum seekers because no one was looking for missing people locally. And for more than a month, their identities, and the circumstances of their deaths, remained a mystery.