The Pentagon has released the names of the last two of the six soldiers killed during a recent drone strike in Kuwait. They were killed on Sunday, a day after the United States and Israel launched attacks on Iran. Their names were released by the US Department of Defense on Wednesday.
The two soldiers were identified as Chief Warrant Officer Robert Marzan, 54, and Maj. Jeffrey O’Brien, 45. They were from Sacramento, California and Indianola, Iowa, respectively.
O’Brien had earned several awards and decorations during his time in service, including the Army Achievement Medal and the Army Service Ribbon, the Department of Defense said in a statement.
The US Army Reserve said it would investigate the incident that led to their deaths and those of Capt. Cody Khork, 35; Sergeant Nicole Amor, 39 years old; Sergeant Declan Coady, 20; and Sergeant Noah Tietjens, 42, who were identified Tuesday.
The Pentagon said Marzan was at the scene when a drone strike hit the command center in Kuwait and is “believed to be the individual who died at the scene,” according to the statement. A medical examiner will confirm the identification, the Pentagon said.
“We pray for the full recovery of the injured and send our immense love and eternal gratitude to the families of the fallen,” Donald Trump said in a video statement Sunday as the deaths were announced. “And unfortunately, there will probably be more before it’s over. That’s the way it is, there will probably be more, but we’ll do our best when that’s not the case.”
Since Saturday, US and Israeli forces have carried out large-scale attacks across Iran, including the attack on the compound of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was assassinated on Saturday. Iran has responded with retaliatory attacks, launching missiles aimed at Israel and US military facilities in the region, including Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.
According to the Iranian Red Crescent emergency service, at least 787 people have died in Iran since Saturday. In Israel, authorities said at least 10 people had died.
On Tuesday, the US State Department announced a series of charter flights for Americans wishing to leave countries such as Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
In a statement, a department spokesperson said the government had helped more than 9,000 Americans leave the Middle East and had received requests for assistance from another 3,000 citizens seeking to return to the United States.
Since the names of the first four soldiers were released, details about their lives and the pride they felt in their military service have come to light.
Armor, the mother of a high school student and a fourth-grader, was days away from reuniting with her children and spouse, her husband told the Associated Press. “She was almost home,” said her husband, Joey Amor. “You don’t go to Kuwait thinking something is going to happen, and for her to be one of the first… it hurts.”
Coady, a cybersecurity student at Drake University in Des Moines, had been communicating with his family from Kuwait every hour or two after the United States and Israel launched their military campaign against Iran, even as Iran launched retaliatory attacks.
When he didn’t respond to messages Sunday, “most of us started wondering,” Coady’s father, Andrew, told the Associated Press. “Your insides are starting to get a feeling.”
Khork, whose family described him as “the life of the party” to the Associated Press, wanted to be in the military since he was a child and was part of Florida Southern College’s ROTC program. “That commitment helped shape the course of his life and reflected the deep sense of duty that was always at the center of his identity,” said his mother, Donna Burhans; father, James Khork; and stepmother, Stacey Khork, in a statement.
Tietjens, who came from a military family, previously served alongside his father in Kuwait, the Associated Press reports. “We lost a brave soldier this weekend and many hearts are broken,” his cousin Kaylyn Golike wrote on Facebook on Tuesday.
