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U.S. soldiers' bodies on way home

A body of one of the U.S. servicemen who died is transferred to a hearse at Ramstein air base

RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany (CNN) -- The bodies of seven U.S. servicemen killed in Afghanistan this week have arrived in Germany for transport to the United States.

The seven were killed on Monday in "Operation Anaconda," a massive ground and air assault aimed at dislodging pockets of Taliban and al Qaeda resistance near Gardez in northeast Pakistan.

The body of an eighth serviceman, from U.S. Special Forces, who died in an incident on Saturday, arrived at Ramstein air base earlier.

The seven coffins arrived on Tuesday afternoon at the U.S. air base in Germany from Afghanistan aboard a C-17 transport plane, the same type used to drop humanitarian aid over Afghanistan.

Four chaplains boarded the plane and performed short ceremonies, reading psalms they had chosen for the occasion.

The guard then slowly carried the flag-draped caskets to black hearses waiting near the plane. The bodies were then individually driven to a larger C-5 transport jet waiting to take them to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware.

CNN's Matthew Chance said a "serene" feeling surrounded the airbase as the 30 representatives of the Army, Navy and Air Force waited on the airway tarmac for the coffins, draped in the U.S. flag, to be carried from the plane.

VIDEO CNN's Jamie McIntyre reports on the briefing by Gen. Tommy Franks on the deaths of eight U.S. troops in Afghanistan (March 4) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)   EXTRA INFORMATION Operation Anaconda  Map of Afghanistan  showing the location of the current fighting   MORE STORIES Bush: U.S. should prepare for more casualties

He added that the feeling among those he had spoken to was that the deaths were "a major tragedy."

It is the biggest number of deaths in a single incident to have hit the U.S. military since the outbreak of the conflict.

Chance said the sentiment at Ramstein was that the killings "would not distract" them from the job.

Names of the dead have not been released, pending notification of next of kin.

Military spokesmen said members of Special Forces, the 10th Mountain Division, and the 101st Airborne were among the 2,000 troops from the U.S.-led military coalition serving in the area around Gardez where Saturday's fierce fighting took place.

The clash was the largest operation against al Qaeda and Taliban fighters since the beginning of the Afghanistan campaign last autumn.

One of the deaths occurred when a serviceman fell out of a helicopter performing an emergency manoeuvre after being hit by a missile that did not explode.

U.S. planes have been pounding the area near where eight servicemen died

Six other men died when a second helicopter, searching for the missing man, came under fire and was forced down in a "hard landing."

U.S. Central Command chief Gen. Tommy Franks said the six were killed in a firefight on the ground with Taliban and al Qaeda forces.

The plane carrying the bodies to Germany was forced to make a slight detour to Incirlik base in eastern Turkey after a collision with a bird caused undisclosed damage.

Meanwhile, military officials said they were awaiting the arrival of about 15 injured servicemen receiving treatment at the Incirlik base in Turkey.

Some or all could be transferred to the U.S. military hospital in Landstuhl, Germany, officials said.