The Pentagon on Tuesday identified four of the six American troops killed in the opening hours of the war with 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 Saturday in Kuwait from an Iranian drone attack.
All soldiers were assigned to the 103rd Sustainment Command, an Army Reserve unit based in Des Moines, Iowa.
All six died in the same attack at Shuaiba port in Kuwait, a commercial harbor that doubles as a logistics hub through which the U.S. military ships tactical vehicles and supplies into the region.
Sgt. Declan Coady, Sgt. 1st Class Noah Tietjens, Sgt. 1st Class Nicole Amor and Capt. Cody Khork.
Department of Defense
The other two names are being withheld until a day after the next of kin have been notified. An additional 18 service members were wounded in the strike.
The six represent the first Americans killed in action in the joint U.S.-Israel war against Iran.
“It [is] with deep sadness and unyielding grief that we acknowledge and recognize our Soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country. Our Soldiers relentlessly, consistently, and fearlessly served with sincere dedication and pride,” said Brig. Gen. Clint Barnes, Deputy Commanding General, 1st Theater Sustainment Command, Operational Command Post. “They were the ultimate ambassadors for freedom.”
Damage to buildings on a Kuwaiti military base which hosts American troops.
Planet Labs PBC
Khork enlisted in the National Guard in 2009 and was commissioned as a Military Police Officer in the Army Reserve in 2014. He has prior deployments to Saudi Arabia, Guantanamo Bay, and Poland.
Amor, enlisted in the National Guard in 2005. She transferred to the Army Reserve in 2006 and first deployed to Kuwait and Iraq in 2019.
Tietjens enlisted into the Army Reserve in 2006, and had two prior deployments to Kuwait.
Coady, who was posthumously promoted from specialist, enlisted in the Army in 2023.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks during a press briefing at the Pentagon, March 2, 2026, in Washington.
Mark Schiefelbein/AP
The joint U.S.-Israel campaign entered its fourth day Tuesday, with American forces having struck more than 1,700 targets inside Iran as fighting spread across at least a dozen countries.
Trump and top Pentagon officials warned the toll is expected to rise.
“We expect to take additional losses, and as always, we will work to minimize U.S. losses,” Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Monday.