The Pentagon on Tuesday identified the first four American service members killed in the expanding conflict with Iran, as President Donald Trump lashed out at European allies over what he called insufficient cooperation in the war effort.
The Defense Department said Capt. Cody A. Khork, 35; Sgt. 1st Class Noah L. Tietjens, 42; Sgt. 1st Class Nicole M. Amor, 39; and Sgt. Declan J. Coady, 20, were killed Sunday in a drone attack at Port Shuaiba, Kuwait, while supporting Operation Epic Fury, the U.S. military campaign targeting Iran.
The four soldiers were assigned to the 103rd Sustainment Command based in Des Moines, Iowa. Two additional American service members were killed in the same strike, but their names have not yet been released pending notification of next of kin.
The deadly attack came as Trump publicly criticized allied governments, including Britain and Spain, for what he described as delays and refusals in granting access to key military bases for U.S. operations tied to the war.
According to the Pentagon, the soldiers died when an unmanned aircraft system struck a tactical operations center in Port Shuaiba.
The Army Reserve identified the fallen service members as:
- 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
- Sgt. Declan J. Coady, 20, of West Des Moines, Iowa
Lt. Gen. Robert Harter, chief of the U.S. Army Reserve, said in a statement that the soldiers “served fearlessly and selflessly in defense of our nation,” adding that their sacrifices would not be forgotten.
Maj. Gen. Todd Erskine, commanding general of the 79th Theater Sustainment Command, expressed condolences to the families and described the soldiers as representing “the heart of America.”
Khork enlisted in the National Guard in 2009 and was commissioned into the Army Reserve in 2014, deploying to Saudi Arabia, Guantanamo Bay and Poland during his career. Amor enlisted in 2005 and deployed to Kuwait and Iraq in 2019. Tietjens joined the Reserve in 2006 and completed two previous Kuwait deployments. Coady enlisted in 2023 and was posthumously promoted from specialist to sergeant.
The Pentagon said the incident remains under investigation.
U.S. Central Command initially reported three service members killed in Kuwait, later confirming a fourth died from injuries sustained in the attack. The remains of two previously unaccounted-for personnel were subsequently recovered from the strike site.
As of Tuesday morning, 10 U.S. service members remained seriously wounded, down from an earlier count of 18 as some progressed through medical treatment, according to a U.S. official.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called those killed “the absolute best of America” and said the military would continue operations in a manner that honors their sacrifice.
Earlier Tuesday, Trump praised the effectiveness of U.S. and Israeli strikes against Iranian forces, claiming that Tehran’s military capabilities had been “shattered” after four days of sustained bombardment.
At the same time, he criticized European leaders for what he described as a lack of cooperation. He publicly rebuked Britain’s prime minister over delays in access to airbases and threatened to cut off trade with Spain after Madrid declined to allow U.S. forces to use certain military hubs.
During a White House meeting, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz reportedly reminded Trump that Spain, as a member of the European Union, could not be excluded from broader trade agreements.
Trump has framed the conflict as a decisive effort to eliminate threats posed by Iran’s ballistic missile arsenal and nuclear program. On Monday, he described the campaign as the “last best chance” to neutralize those risks and said operations could last four to five weeks.
The U.S. and Israel launched a large-scale military operation over the weekend targeting Iranian leadership and military infrastructure, including a strike on the compound of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran. Israeli officials said additional senior Iranian commanders were killed.
Iran has responded with retaliatory strikes against Israel and U.S.-allied nations across the Middle East.
In a video message Sunday night, Trump offered condolences to the families of the fallen soldiers while warning that additional casualties may occur as the campaign continues.
“We pray for the full recovery of the wounded,” he said. “And sadly, there will likely be more before it ends.”
The identification of the first American casualties underscores the rising cost of Operation Epic Fury, both militarily and diplomatically. As U.S. forces sustain losses, Trump’s increasingly confrontational tone toward European partners suggests that the conflict is straining transatlantic alliances even as military coordination intensifies.
With casualties mounting and operations projected to continue for weeks, the war’s trajectory appears likely to deepen U.S. involvement — and test the durability of alliances Washington has relied on for decades.
