{"id":639359,"date":"2026-03-07T20:11:13","date_gmt":"2026-03-07T20:11:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/639359\/"},"modified":"2026-03-07T20:11:13","modified_gmt":"2026-03-07T20:11:13","slug":"trump-is-joining-families-for-return-of-soldiers-killed-in-middle-east","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/639359\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump is joining families for return of soldiers killed in Middle East"},"content":{"rendered":"

DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. (AP) \u2014 President Donald Trump<\/a> on Saturday is joining grieving families at Dover Air Force Base at the dignified transfer for the six U.S. soldiers<\/a> killed in the war in the Middle East<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The dignified transfer, a ritual that returns the remains of U.S. service members killed in action, is considered one of the most somber duties of any commander in chief. During his first term, Trump said bearing witness to the transfer was \u201cthe toughest thing I have to do\u201d<\/a> as president.<\/p>\n

Trump, speaking at a summit of Latin American leaders in Miami before his trip to Delaware, said the fallen service members were heroes \u201ccoming home in a different manner than they thought they\u2019d be coming home.\u201d He said it was \u201ca very sad situation\u201d and he pledged to keep American war deaths \u201cto a minimum.\u201d Accompanying him for the ceremony was Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who wrote in a social media post Friday of \u201can unbreakable spirit to honor their memory and the resolve they embodied.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those killed in action were Sgt. 1st Class Nicole Amor, 39, of White Bear Lake, Minnesota; Capt. Cody Khork, 35, of Winter Haven, Florida; Chief Warrant Officer 3 Robert Marzan, 54, of Sacramento, California; Maj. Jeffrey O\u2019Brien, 45, of Indianola, Iowa; Sgt. 1st Class Noah Tietjens, 42, of Bellevue, Nebraska; and Sgt. Declan Coady, 20, of West Des Moines, lowa, who was posthumously promoted from specialist.<\/p>\n

The six members of the Army Reserve, who were killed by a drone strike at a command center in Kuwait, were all from the 103rd Sustainment Command based in Des Moines, Iowa, which provides food, fuel, water and ammunition, transport equipment and supplies. They died just one day after the U.S. and Israel launched its military campaign<\/a> against Iran.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese soldiers engaged in the most noble mission: protecting their fellow Americans and keeping our homeland secure,\u201d Republican Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa, a combat veteran, said after the six were identified. \u201cOur nation owes them an incredible debt of gratitude that can never be repaid.\u201d<\/p>\n

During the ritual, transfer cases draped with the American flag and holding the remains of the fallen soldiers are carried from the military aircraft that transported them to an awaiting vehicle to take them to the mortuary facility at the base. There, the service members are prepared for their final resting place.<\/p>\n

Amor\u2019s husband, Joey Amor, said earlier this week that she had been scheduled to return home to him and their two children within days.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t go to Kuwait thinking something\u2019s going to happen, and for her to be one of the first \u2013 it hurts,\u201d Joey Amor said.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Brien had served in the Army Reserve for nearly 15 years, according to his LinkedIn account, and his aunt said in a post on Facebook that O\u2019Brien \u201cwas the sweetest blue-eyed, blonde farm kid you\u2019d ever know. He is so missed already.\u201d<\/p>\n

Marzan\u2019s sister described him in a Facebook post as a \u201cstrong leader\u201d and loving husband, father and brother.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy baby brother, you are loved and I will hold onto all our memories and cherish them always in my heart,\u201d Elizabeth Marzan wrote.<\/p>\n

Coady was among the youngest people in his class, trained to troubleshoot military computer systems, but he impressed his instructors, his father, Andrew Coady, told The Associated Press.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe trained hard, he worked hard, his physical fitness was important to him. He loved being a soldier,\u201d Coady said. \u201cHe was also one of the most kindest people you would ever meet, and he would do anything and everything for anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Khork\u2019s family described him as \u201cthe life of the party\u201d who was known for his \u201cinfectious spirit\u201d and \u201cgenerous heart\u201d and who had wanted to serve in the military since childhood.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat commitment helped shape the course of his life and reflected the deep sense of duty that was always at the core of who he was,\u201d according to a statement from his mother, Donna Burhans, his father, James Khork, and his stepmother, Stacey Khork.<\/p>\n

Tietjens, who came from a military family, previously served alongside his father in Kuwait. When he returned home in February 2010, he reunited with his overjoyed wife in a local church\u2019s gym.<\/p>\n

Tietjens\u2019 cousin Kaylyn Golike asked for prayers, especially for Tietjens\u2019 12-year-old son, wife and parents, as they navigate \u201cunimaginable loss.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump most recently traveled to Dover<\/a> in December to honor two Iowa National Guard members and a U.S. civilian interpreter who were killed in an ambush attack in the Syrian desert<\/a>. He attended dignified transfers several times during his first term, including for a Navy SEAL killed during a raid<\/a> in Yemen, for two Army officers whose helicopter crashed in Afghanistan<\/a> and for two Army soldiers killed in Afghanistan<\/a> when a person dressed in an Afghan army uniform opened fire.<\/p>\n

\u2014<\/p>\n

Kim reported from Washington. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. (AP) \u2014 President Donald Trump on Saturday is joining grieving families at Dover…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":639360,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5],"tags":[272269,7574,269379,276,269376,269375,905,69,269382,272273,6064,723,57,2055,28966,7776,269378,272272,269372,53948,272270,272268,564,8006,380,3097,3663,3669,15226,3336,50,269373,269374,6986,80,272271,269380,61,96,93,103,107],"class_list":["post-639359","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world","tag-2024-2026-mideast-wars","tag-afghanistan","tag-andrew-coady","tag-california","tag-cody-khork","tag-declan-coady","tag-delaware","tag-donald-trump","tag-donna-burhans","tag-elizabeth-marzan","tag-fl-state-wire","tag-florida","tag-general-news","tag-government-and-politics","tag-ia-state-wire","tag-iowa","tag-james-khork","tag-jeffrey-obrien","tag-joey-amor","tag-joni-ernst","tag-kaylyn-golike","tag-kuwait-city","tag-maryland","tag-md-state-wire","tag-miami","tag-middle-east","tag-minnesota","tag-mn-state-wire","tag-ne-state-wire","tag-nebraska","tag-news","tag-nicole-amor","tag-noah-tietjens","tag-pete-hegseth","tag-politics","tag-robert-marzan","tag-stacey-khork","tag-u-s-news","tag-war-and-unrest","tag-washington-news","tag-world","tag-world-news"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/639359","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=639359"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/639359\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/639360"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=639359"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=639359"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=639359"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}