President Donald Trump, First Lady Melania Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth attended a dignified transfer ceremony Saturday afternoon at Dover Air Force Base for six U.S. Army Reservists killed in an Iranian drone strike in Kuwait. The ceremony marked the return of the remains of the first American troops killed in the ongoing U.S.-Israeli war against Iran.

The six soldiers died March 1 when an Iranian drone evaded air defenses and struck a tactical operations center at Port Shuaiba in Kuwait, a civilian port area hosting U.S. logistics operations. The attack occurred without warning or sirens around 9 a.m. local time, hitting a makeshift triple-wide trailer office shielded by concrete barriers designed for ground threats but vulnerable to aerial drones. Initially, three deaths were reported, but the toll rose to six after rescuers recovered two more bodies from the rubble amid ongoing fires.

All six were assigned to the 103rd Sustainment Command (Expeditionary), an Army Reserve unit based near Des Moines, Iowa, responsible for supplying food, fuel, water, ammunition, and transport to U.S. forces. The Pentagon identified them as:

  • Chief Warrant Officer 3 Robert M. Marzan, 54, of Sacramento, California
  • Maj. Jeffrey R. O'Brien, 45, of Indianola, Iowa
  • 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 (posthumously promoted)

The strike came one day after the U.S. and Israel launched Operation Epic Fury, the initial strikes against Iranian targets. Iran retaliated with drones and missiles against U.S. allies in the Gulf, including bases in Bahrain, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Qatar. More than 13,000 U.S. troops are stationed in Kuwait under a longstanding defense pact.

Questions have arisen about the facility's defenses, described by officials as fortified but penetrated by a single projectile. Satellite imagery showed the building engulfed in smoke and fire post-strike. The incident remains under investigation.

U.S. Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll said, "These men and women all bravely volunteered to defend our country, and their sacrifice will never be forgotten." Sgt. 1st Class Amor's husband, Joey, noted she had been moved to the site days earlier due to fears of attacks elsewhere: "She was almost home." President Trump remarked, "Sadly, there will likely be more before it ends. That’s the way it is."