U.S. Identifies Four U.S. Troops Killed in Iran War: What to Know
· Time
At least six Americans have died since the U.S. and Israel launched a military campaign against Iran over the weekend, with the Pentagon confirming the identity of four of the fallen soldiers on Tuesday.
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[time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”]The U.S. servicemembers were Army Reserve soldiers who died on March 1 “during an unmanned aircraft system attack” on a commercial port in Kuwait, the Pentagon said in a statement. Their deaths are under investigation.
All four were part of the 103rd Sustainment Command, which is based in Des Moines, Iowa, and which, according to the Army Reserve’s website, deployed to Iraq in April 2010 and to the Middle East in 2019 to support broader U.S. military operations.
The Pentagon has not yet publicly identified the two other servicemembers killed in the ongoing conflict.
“We honor our fallen Heroes, who served fearlessly and selflessly in defense of our nation,” Lt. Gen. Robert Harter, chief of Army Reserve and commanding general of the U.S. Army Reserve Command, said in the statement. “Their sacrifice, and the sacrifices of their families, will never be forgotten.”
President Donald Trump had earlier extended his condolences to the families of the slain soldiers, but he warned that “sadly, there will likely be more” casualties in the conflict it started in Iran. “But America will avenge their deaths and deliver the most punishing blow to the terrorists who have waged war against, basically, civilization.”
Here’s what to know about the four killed servicemembers who were identified.
Nicole Amor
Sgt. 1st Class Nicole Amor, 39, was a resident of White Bear Lake, Minn. She enlisted in the National Guard in 2005 as an automated logistics specialist and transferred to the Army Reserve in 2006. Amor was deployed to Kuwait and Iraq in 2019.
Amor’s husband, Joey, described her to the Associated Press as an avid gardener who enjoyed spending time with their son and daughter. Amor was raring to return home and was already in her “90 day window,” Joey told the Wall Street Journal, adding that she had deployed in August.
A week before the attack, Amor had been relocated to a shipping-container-type building, with Joey Amor telling the AP that servicemembers were dispersed “in fear that the base they were on was going to get attacked and they felt it was safer in smaller groups in separate places.” Their last conversation was about two hours before her death, Joey Amor said, adding: “She just never responded in the morning.”
Declan Coady
Declan Coady was a 20-year-old specialist from Des Moines who was posthumously promoted to Sergeant. He enlisted in the Army Reserve in 2023 as an information technology specialist.
A LinkedIn page with Coady’s name and photo reads: “Having recently entered the US Army Reserves, I have been able to pick up many new skills both in the technical side of things and people side of things. … I have also been able to meet new people from different walks of life and have learned even more how to interact with countless different kinds of people from all different backgrounds.”
Coady was simultaneously studying information systems, cybersecurity, and computer science at Drake University in Des Moines, attending online classes while in Kuwait. The university said in a statement to TIME that it was “heartbroken” to learn of Coady’s death, adding that he “had an incredibly bright future ahead of him.”
The death of Coady also spurred reactions from Iowa politicians, with Gov. Kim Reynolds extending her condolences to his family and calling him a “young Iowan who heroically answered his nation’s call to duty and gave the ultimate sacrifice.” Other Republican politicians from the state, like Rep. Zach Nunn, Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, Rep. Randy Feenstra, and Rep. Ashley Hinson, also conveyed their sympathies, as did the Iowa Democrats.
Speaking to the AP, Coady’s father Andrew said that his late son had just told him about being recommended for a promotion a week before the attack. “He was very good at what he did,” Andrew Coady told AP. The Des Moines Register reported that Andrew last spoke to his son on Saturday.
“I still don’t fully think it’s real,” Declan Coady’s sister Keira Coady told the AP. “I just remember all of our conversations about what he was going to do when he came back.”
Cody Khork
Capt. Cody Khork, 35, was a resident of Winter Haven, Fla. He enlisted in the National Guard in 2009 as a fire direction specialist. Khork was commissioned as a Military Police Officer in the Army Reserve in 2014, and he was deployed to Saudi Arabia in 2018; Guantanamo Bay in 2021; and Poland in 2024.
Khork was a well-decorated servicemember, with awards including the Military Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, and Korea Defense Service Medal, among others.
Khork had “felt a calling to serve his country” at “an early age,” shared a statement from his family, leading to his enlistment in the Army Reserve and his joining in the Florida Southern College’s ROTC program. The family also said that Khork “possessed a great love for history and earned a degree in political science.”
Abbas Jaffer, Khork’s friend for more than 16 years, posted on social media Monday, according to the AP, that he had lost the best person he had ever known. “My best friend, best man, and brother gave his life defending our country overseas,” Jaffer reportedly said.
“He’s helped me get through the hardest and lowest parts of my life and been there to celebrate the best,” Jaffer added. “I’ve watched him support others and myself through the years when he had nothing to his name and never complained about it. That’s just the type of person he was.”
Noah Tietjens
Sgt. 1st Class Noah Tietjens, 42, was a resident of Bellevue, Neb., who enlisted in the Army Reserve in 2006 as a wheeled vehicle mechanic. He was deployed twice before to Kuwait: in 2009 and 2019.
Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen extended his sympathy to Tietjens’ family on X. “Noah stepped up to serve and defend the American people from foreign enemies around the world — a sacrifice we must never forget,” Pillen said. Other Nebraska Republicans, like Sen. Pete Ricketts, Sen. Deb Fischer, Rep. Don Bacon, Rep. Mike Flood, and Rep. Adrian Smith, similarly offered condolences.
The Washington Post reported that Tietjens came from a military family and grew up as a “military brat,” citing an unidentified family member. His twin Nicholas, and other brother Will both served in the Army. Per the New York Times, Tietjens is survived by his wife Shelly and a teenage son.
A martial arts studio in Bellevue where Tietjens taught remembered him as a “devoted husband and father, a respected black belt in Philippine Combatives and Taekwondo, and an instructor who gave his time, discipline, and leadership to others.”
Jonn Coleman, a friend of Tietjens, told the Des Moines Register that he first met Tietjens in 2015 as members of the Army’s 443rd Transportation Company, based in Elkhorn, Neb. “He worked out with me. He trained me on sergeant-level stuff, doing reports and how to get through the army systems on the computer,” Coleman told the Register. “He was instrumental, I could not have become a staff sergeant myself without him teaching me.”