7th Soldier Killed in Iran War Mourned as ‘American Hero’
This image provided by the US Army shows US Army Sgt. Benjamin N. Pennington, 26, of Glendale, Kentucky. (US Army via AP)
The Pentagon has confirmed that 26-year-old Army Sgt. Benjamin Pennington of Glendale, Kentucky, is the seventh U.S. service member killed in the war with Iran. Officials reported that Pennington was gravely injured on March 1 in an Iranian strike on Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia and died Sunday from his wounds, CNBC reports.
Pennington served with the 1st Space Battalion, 1st Space Brigade, based at Fort Carson, Colorado, part of the Army Space and Missile Defense Command. Speaking at an event Monday in Washington, D.C., Vice President JD Vance said Pennington’s remains were expected to be returned to the U.S. later in the day and asked attendees to pray for the fallen.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear described Pennington as “a hero who sacrificed everything serving our country,” the AP reports. The Army said Pennington, a 2017 high school graduate, enlisted as a unit supply specialist that year and was assigned to the Space and Missile Defense Command last June.
Tom Pitt, a former auto tech instructor at Hardin County Early College and Career Center, called Pennington “an American hero,” the AP reports. “A lot of times as a teacher, you have students who are smart, you have students who are charismatic, who are likable, dare I say, enchanting,” Pitt said. “Rarely do you have students who are all of those. And Ben Pennington was all of those. He was basically the quintessential all-American.”
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