The U.S. troops were working at a tactical-operations center at a commercial port in Kuwait on Sunday when they were struck by a deadly Iranian drone. The strike killed six American servicemembers, including an Iowa college student; a Minnesota mother just weeks from going home; a Nebraska mechanic who had already done two tours in Kuwait; and a deeply patriotic Florida captain who felt called to serve from the time he was young.
U.S. Central Command released four names Tuesday; all were Army Reserve soldiers assigned to the 103rd Sustainment Command in Des Moines, Iowa. Between them, they were gardeners, lovers of history and regulars on the sidelines at their children’s games. At least one was part of a tradition of military service across generations.
U.S. Army Reserve Sgt. 1st Class Nicole Amor
Sgt. 1st Class Nicole Amor, 39, was weeks away from returning home to her husband and two children in White Bear Lake, Minn., said her husband, Joey Amor. “She was in her 90-day window,” he said in a text message, adding that she had deployed in early August.
Photos posted to his Facebook page capture the simple joys of family life: making funny faces, fishing, hawking Girl Scout cookies, playing lacrosse. An avid gardener, she enjoyed making salsa with her son using homegrown tomatoes and peppers, her husband said. She loved watching her son play lacrosse and was excited that he was applying to college. She adored teaching their daughter to ice-skate and would walk alongside her as she Rollerbladed.
She enlisted in the National Guard in 2005, according to military officials. A year later she transferred to the Army Reserve, deploying to Kuwait and Iraq in 2019.
U.S. Army Reserve Sgt. Declan Coady
U.S. Army Reserve Sgt. Declan Coady, 20 years old, of West Des Moines, Iowa, was a student at Drake University.
He graduated high school just three years ago, and was a Boy Scout and a member of the swim team, an email sent to Drake students said. He achieved the rank of Eagle Scout, according to a post by a West Des Moines troop.
He studied information systems, cybersecurity and computer science, according to a spokeswoman for the university in Des Moines. Coady “had an incredibly bright future ahead of him,” she said.
He had been an IT specialist in the U.S. Army Reserve since 2023 and was the youngest of the four troops identified among six who were killed in the strike in Kuwait.
Coady was posthumously promoted from specialist, the military said.
U.S. Army Reserve Sgt. 1st Class Noah Tietjens
The mother of U.S. Army Reserve Sgt. 1st Class Noah L. Tietjens, 42 years old, of Bellevue, Neb., posted a short message on Facebook after she learned that her son had been killed in Kuwait.
Glenda Tietjens’s post said, “Can’t sleep, eyes hurts, heart hurts and is broken, chest hurts too! It’s just not fair!! Can’t stop crying!” She asked for people to pray for the U.S. troops.
Noah Tietjens enlisted in the Army Reserve in 2006 as a 91B (wheeled-vehicle mechanic), according to the military. He had two deployments to Kuwait, in 2009 and 2019. He was “a devoted husband and father” and part of the martial arts community, according to a Bellevue studio that described him as an instructor and “respected Black Belt in Philippine Combatives and Taekwondo.”
“Noah lived the martial arts code. He did not simply wear a Black Belt… he lived it. He led with integrity,” said the post by Martial Arts International.
He came from a military family, according to a 2010 article in the Lincoln Journal Star.
He and others transported supplies into Iraq and provided security for private contractors, according to the article, which described a homecoming during which family members were reunited with servicemembers in a church gymnasium.
U.S. Army Reserve Captain Cody A. Khork
Capt. Cody Khork, 35, felt called to serve the U.S. from an early age, his parents said. He enlisted in the National Guard in 2009, and five years later commissioned as a military-police officer in the Army Reserve, according to the Pentagon.
“That 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,” said his father and stepmother, James and Stacey Khork, and his mother, Donna Burhans, in a written statement. They added, “He was deeply patriotic and took great pride in serving something greater than himself.”
Khork, who lived in Winter Haven, Fla., could cut loose, they said: “Cody was truly the life of the party, known for his infectious spirit, generous heart, and deep care for those who served alongside him and for everyone blessed to know him.”
He earned a political-science degree and loved history, according to his parents.
Khork deployed to Saudi Arabia in 2018, Guantanamo Bay in 2021 and Poland in 2024, the military said.
“His legacy will endure in the lives he touched, the example he set, and the love of country and family that defined him,” his parents said.
This explanatory article may be periodically updated.
Write to Scott Calvert at scott.calvert@wsj.com, Neil Mehta at neil.mehta@wsj.com and Kris Maher at Kris.Maher@wsj.com
