JD Vance attended a dignified transfer ceremony on Monday for the seventh US soldier killed in the ongoing Middle East conflict.

The solemn ceremony was held at Dover Air Force Base for US Army Sgt. Benjamin Pennington.

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Sgt Pennington, 26, died on March 8 from injuries he sustained during a strike on March 1 at Prince Sultan Air Base. The base had been targeted amid escalating regional tensions.

Originally from Glendale, Kentucky, Pennington served with the 1st Space Battalion, 1st Space Brigade, stationed at Fort Carson.

During the ceremony, a group of uniformed soldiers carried the flag-draped coffin from a C-17 military transport aircraft to a transfer vehicle in silence. Vice President Vance stood alongside US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Dan Caine as they saluted the fallen soldier.

Vance declined to answer questions from reporters following the ceremony.

Pennington is the seventh American service member killed in the conflict. The remains of six other fallen soldiers, five men and one woman, have previously been returned to the United States.

The dignified transfer ceremony, a long-standing military tradition, marks the return of fallen service members to the US soil and honours their sacrifice in service to the country.