Related videos:
The Pentagon confirmed on Tuesday the identities of four of the first American military personnel who died in the armed conflict with Iran, following a drone attack on a U.S. military facility in Kuwait.
Among the victims is a captain from Florida.
The soldiers died on March 1, 2026, when a drone struck a command center located in Port Shuaiba, Kuwait, just one day after the United States and Israel began their military campaign against Iran, which triggered a series of retaliatory attacks from Tehran.
The Department of Defense reported that the military personnel belonged to an Army Reserve unit based in Des Moines, Iowa, specifically the 103rd Sustainment Command, a unit responsible for logistical and supply operations within the global deployment of the U.S. Army.
A captain from Florida among the deceased
Among the victims is Captain Cody A. Khork, 35 years old, a resident of Winter Haven, Florida.
Khork had previous experience in international deployments.
According to military information, he had previously been sent to Saudi Arabia in 2018; to the Guantanamo naval base in 2021; and most recently to Poland in 2024.
Alongside him, three other reservists died:
-First Class Sergeant Noah L. Tietjens, 42 years old, from Bellevue, Nebraska.
-First Class Sergeant Nicole M. Amor, 39 years old, from White Bear Lake, Minnesota.
-Sergeant Declan J. Coady, 20 years old, from West Des Moines, Iowa.
Coady, the youngest of the group, had enlisted in the Army Reserve in 2023 and was posthumously promoted after his death.
According to the Army, several of the military personnel had prior experience in operations in the Middle East.
Amor had been deployed in Kuwait and Iraq in 2019, while Tietjens had participated in two previous missions in Kuwait in 2009 and 2019.
Major General Todd Erskine, who leads the 79th Theater Sustainment Command, expressed his condolences to the families of the deceased and to their unit colleagues.
"My deepest condolences and my respect" to the family members and members of the command, he stated in an official declaration.
The drone attack in Kuwait
The attack occurred when a drone struck directly against a U.S. military facility in the port of Shuaiba, a key logistical base for Washington's military operations in the region.
According to officials cited by Reuters, the facilities were protected by blast-resistant concrete walls, but they did not have a reinforced roof, which would have allowed the drone to cause fatal damage when crashing into the command center.
Moreover, one of the officials indicated that it is unclear whether the complex had air defense systems, and apparently "no alarm sounded when the drone approached", suggesting that the attack may have caught the military personnel by surprise.
Escalation of the conflict with Iran
The deaths occur amidst a rapid military escalation in the Middle East following the initial attacks by the United States and Israel on Iranian targets.
According to the United States Central Command (CENTCOM), Iran has responded with more than 500 ballistic missiles and over 2,000 drones launched against targets in the region.
The magnitude of these attacks was one of the central topics in a closed-door briefing with lawmakers in Washington, which included Secretary of War Pete Hegseth; Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine; CIA Director John Ratcliffe; and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
After the session, Democratic Senator Chris Murphy revealed the seriousness of the warnings received.
"They told us in that room that there would be more Americans who would die, that they would not be able to stop these drones," he stated.
Until now, at least six American soldiers have died in the war with Iran, although the Pentagon has only disclosed the identities of four of them.
The administration of President Donald Trump has acknowledged that the conflict could continue to result in American casualties as Tehran's retaliatory attacks against U.S. and allied military positions in the Middle East persist.
Filed under: