National Defense

Seventh American Soldier Killed In Iran War Identified

Image by David B. Gleason/Flickr

The Pentagon identified a servicemember who died of wounds from an Iranian attack during the initial stages of Operation Epic Fury Monday.

Iran responded to Operation Epic Fury by indiscriminately firing hundreds of ballistic missiles and drones at targets in Israel, Qatar, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. Sgt. Benjamin N. Pennington, 26, of Glendale, Kentucky, died of wounds sustained during an enemy attack on March 1 at Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia, on Sunday, according to a press release from the Department of War.

All of Kentucky mourns the loss of Sgt. Benjamin Pennington of Hardin County, who gave the ultimate sacrifice in Operation Epic Fury. God bless him and all of the service members fighting to rid the world of a regime that is the largest state sponsor of terrorism in the 21st…

— Congressman Andy Barr (@RepAndyBarr) March 9, 2026

The Pentagon also identified a National Guard soldier who died of what United States Central Command described as a “health-related incident.”

Maj. Sorffly Davius, 46, from Cambria Heights in Queens, New York, died Saturday, at Camp Buehring in Kuwait, according to a Sunday night release. He was part of the Headquarters Battalion, 42nd Infantry Division, based in Troy, New York.

The NYPD mourns the loss of Police Officer Sorffly Davius, who passed away yesterday as a result of a medical episode while deployed to Kuwait in support of Operation Epic Fury.

Officer Davius served in the 42nd Infantry Division in the U.S. Army National Guard and rose to the… pic.twitter.com/AmPTClTHtG

— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) March 8, 2026

President Donald Trump attended a Saturday ceremony at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, during which the remains of six American servicemembers killed in a Feb. 28 Iranian attack on an operations center in Kuwait were returned to United States territory.

The six servicemembers killed in that attack, which hit an operations center, were identified by the Department of War as 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; Maj. Jeffrey R. O’Brien, 45, of Indianola, Iowa; and Chief Warrant Officer 3 Robert M. Marzan, 54, of Sacramento, California.