Soldiers’ Remains Arrive in US
An Army carry team moves a flag-draped transfer case with the remains of Sgt. Declan Coady, 20, of West Des Moines, Iowa, who was killed in a drone strike at a command center in Kuwait after the U.S. and Israel launched its military campaign against Iran, past President Trump and first lady Melania... (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Six U.S. soldiers killed in an Iranian drone strike were returned to American soil Saturday in a dignified transfer at Dover Air Force Base, with President Trump in attendance. They are the first military members to die since Trump ordered an attack, alongside Israel, on Iran on February 28.
During the ceremony, carry teams of seven soldiers dressed in camouflage uniforms with black berets and white gloves moved each transfer case, draped in the U.S. flag, to waiting vans, according to the Delaware Journal. The cases were carried past dignitaries on one side and the families of the fallen on the other before being transported to the base mortuary.
Following protocol, President Trump did not speak during the roughly half-hour ritual. Accompanied by First Lady Melania Trump, he saluted as each case passed. The troops’ families were largely silent, the Associated Press reports. Vice President JD Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and other administration officials were also present.
Later, on Air Force One returning to Florida, Trump called the day “sad” and said he was “glad we paid our respects,” praising the families of the soldiers and noting that the parents were “so proud.”
The Pentagon identified the six soldiers as: Maj. Jeffrey R. O’Brien, 45, of Waukee, Iowa; Chief Warrant Officer 3 Robert M. Marzan, 54, of Sacramento, California; 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.
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