Trump and first lady attend dignified transfer for 6 US troops killed in Kuwait

President Trump and first lady Melania Trump participated in a dignified transfer at Dover Air Force Base in Kent County, Delaware, Saturday for six U.S. service members killed in a March 1 Iranian drone attack in Kuwait. 

The solemn ritual returns the remains of troops killed in action and is considered one of the most somber duties of a commander in chief.

The fallen troops were killed in Port Shuaiba, Kuwait, while supporting Operation Epic Fury.

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Transfer cases were used to move the soldiers to Dover Air Force Base, where they will be identified and prepared for their journey home.

After identification, the fallen, who were assigned to the 103rd Sustainment Command from Des Moines, Iowa, are placed in a casket and transported to their final resting places.

All six were U.S. Army soldiers assigned to the 103rd Sustainment Command in Des Moines, Iowa, which provides food, fuel, water and ammunition and transports equipment and supplies.

The War Department identified the fallen service members as Maj. Jeffery O’Brien, 45, of Indianola, Iowa; Capt. Cody Khork, 35, of Winter Haven, Florida; Sgt. 1st Class Nicole Amor, 39, of White Bear Lake, Minnesota; Sgt. 1st Class Noah Tietjens, 42, of Bellevue, Nebraska; and Sgt. Declan Coady, 20, of West Des Moines, Iowa.

Chief Warrant Officer 3 Robert Marzan, 54, of Sacramento, California, is also believed to be deceased.

Each of the soldiers’ families were present at the transfer.

Trump, speaking at a summit of Latin American leaders in Miami before traveling to Delaware, called the fallen service members heroes “coming home in a different manner than they thought they’d be coming home.” 

He described the attack as “a very sad situation” and pledged to keep American war deaths “to a minimum.”

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, who also attended the ritual, wrote in a social media post Friday of “an unbreakable spirit to honor their memory and the resolve they embodied.”

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Officials said the soldiers were supporting operations in the region when the unmanned aircraft struck their position.

Khork enlisted in the National Guard in 2009 as a multiple launch rocket system/fire direction specialist, then commissioned as a military police officer in the Army Reserve in 2014. He deployed to Saudi Arabia in 2018, Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, in 2021 and Poland in 2024. His awards include the Meritorious Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal and the Armed Forces Reserve Medal with 10 Year Device and “M” Device.

Amor joined the National Guard in 2005 as an automated logistics specialist and transferred to the Army Reserve the following year. She deployed to Kuwait and Iraq in 2019 and earned multiple commendations, including the Army Commendation Medal and the Armed Forces Reserve Medal with “M” Device.

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Tietjens joined the Army Reserve in 2006 as a wheeled vehicle mechanic and completed two deployments to Kuwait in 2009 and 2019. His decorations include the Meritorious Service Medal, Army Achievement Medal and the Iraq Campaign Medal with Campaign Star.

Coady enlisted in the Army Reserve in 2023 as an information technology specialist and was posthumously promoted from specialist to sergeant. His awards include the National Defense Service Medal and the Overseas Service Ribbon.

O’Brien served nearly 15 years in the Army Reserve. Commissioned in 2012 as a Signal Corps officer, he was promoted to major in 2024 and previously deployed to Kuwait in 2019. In civilian life, he worked in cybersecurity and defensive cyber operations.

Marzan, of Sacramento, California, was an Army reservist assigned to the 103rd Sustainment Command. Family and state officials described him as a devoted husband and father.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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