The Pentagon has identified four service members who were killed in action over the weekend during operations against Iran.
Capt. Cody A. Khork, 35, of Winter Haven, Florida.; Sgt. 1st Class Noah L. Tietjens, 42, of Bellevue, Nebraska; Sgt. 1st Class Nicole M. Amor, 39, of White Bear Lake, Minnesota; and Sgt. Declan J. Coady, 20, of West Des Moines, Iowa, died on March 1, 2026, in Port Shuaiba, Kuwait, according to a DOD release.
The soldiers, who were assigned to the 103rd Sustainment Command in Des Moines, Iowa, were killed during an attack by an unmanned aircraft, the release added.
The incident is currently under investigation.
U.S. Central Command officials announced Sunday that three service members were killed in action and five troops were “seriously wounded” during combat actions against Iran.
On Monday officials said a fourth service member seriously wounded during Iran’s initial attacks succumbed to their injuries. Later that day officials stated U.S. forces recovered the remains of two “previously unaccounted for” troops from a facility struck during Iran’s initial attacks, bringing the total number of service members killed in the operation to six as of Monday, according to a CENTCOM update.
Several other troops “sustained minor shrapnel injuries and concussions — and are in the process of being returned to duty,” CENTCOM officials said Sunday.
Iran has unleashed retaliatory strikes at U.S. military installations and civilian infrastructure across the Middle East amid ongoing bombardment by U.S. and Israeli forces.
Additional details surrounding the circumstances of the other service members’ deaths have not yet been made available.
The assault by U.S. and partner forces began Saturday at 1:15 a.m., CENTCOM officials stated, with the goal of knocking out “the Iranian regime’s security apparatus, prioritizing locations that posed an imminent threat.”
Among the primary targets of the operation were Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps command-and-control facilities, Iranian air defense capabilities, missile and drone launch sites and military airfields.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed during the early stages of the operation. President Donald Trump called the moment “the single greatest chance for the Iranian people to take back their Country.”
