Pentagon identifies 2 of the US soldiers killed in Iranian strike on Jordan base
The Department of Defense identified two of the three U.S. troops killed last week in an Iranian attack on a base in Jordan.
The two active duty soldiers were killed when Iranian drones and missiles targeted the base on Friday, July 17. The attack on Muwaffaq Salti Air Base was part of a wider wave of strikes on installations in the Middle East used by American troops, part of days of back-and-forth fighting between the U.S. and Iran.
Pvt. Isabella Gonzales, 19, was killed July 17, and 1st Lt. Tyler James Feehan, 25, died July 18, according to a statement put out by the Department of Defense.
Feehan, from Ewa Beach, Hawaii, was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 55th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 32nd Army Air Missile Defense Command at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
Gonzales, from Carrollton, Texas, was assigned to 1st Battalion, 57th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 52nd Air Defense Artillery Brigade, 10th Army Air Missile Defense Command based at Ansbach, Germany.
One other service member was listed as missing and has not yet been identified, U.S. Central Command officials said Saturday. Remains were found at the base on Sunday, although the military has not confirmed they are of the missing service member.
Four other troops were injured in the attack at Muwaffaq Salti Air Base but were evacuated to hospitals in Jordan. Officials said Saturday that those troops were discharged and other personnel evaluated for minor injuries returned to duty.
Last week’s fatal strike comes after the commander of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 5, died in a helicopter crash in the Arabian Sea earlier this month. In March, thirteen troops died during operations against Iran, including six airmen who died when their LC-135 refueling plane crashed in western Iraq. To date, according to reporting by the Associated Press, 17 American service members have died since the U.S.-Iran war began on Feb. 28.