Image: from Salem News Channel X @WatchSalemNews
By Open Chronicle Staff with Agencies
DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. — Under a somber gray sky, President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth stood in silent salute Saturday as the remains of six U.S. Army Reserve soldiers returned to American soil.
The service members, all assigned to the Des Moines-based 103rd Sustainment Command, were killed during the opening hours of the burgeoning conflict with Iran. The fatal encounter occurred last weekend at Shuaiba Port in Kuwait, a critical logistics hub, when an Iranian drone strike targeted the facility. The attack also left 18 other service members wounded.
At the back of the Air Force plane carrying the bodies of six Americans slain in a Kuwait drone strike, President Trump, VP JD Vance, and Secretary Hegseth pray. pic.twitter.com/ODAdWxDDJT
— Donald J Trump Posts TruthSocial (@TruthTrumpPost) March 8, 2026
The Pentagon has identified the fallen as:
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Maj. Jeffrey R. O’Brien, 45, of Indianola, Iowa
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Chief Warrant Officer 3 Robert Marzan, 54, of Sacramento, California
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Sgt. 1st Class Noah L. Tietjens, 42, of Bellevue, Nebraska
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Sgt. 1st Class Nicole M. Amor, 39, of White Bear Lake, Minnesota
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Capt. Cody A. Khork, 35, of Winter Haven, Florida
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Sgt. Declan J. Coady, 20, of West Des Moines, Iowa
President Trump spent time privately with the grieving families at the base before the transfer began. “It’s a very sad day,” the President told reporters on the tarmac. “Tough situation, great people, great parents, wives, family, and a beautiful ceremony.”
The gravity of the ceremony did little to alter the administration’s resolve regarding the military campaign. When asked if the sight of the flag-draped coffins changed his perspective on putting “boots on the ground” in the Middle East, the President remained defiant.
“We’re winning the war by a lot,” Trump said. “We’ve decimated their whole evil empire. It’ll continue, I’m sure, for a little while.” Addressing the reality of casualties, he added, “There’s always, when it comes to war, there’s always that. But we’re going to keep it to a minimum.”
In heart-wrenching tributes, the families of the fallen remembered their loved ones not as statistics of war, but as pillars of their communities. The family of 20-year-old Sgt. Coady described him as “a rock in all of our lives,” while the family of Capt. Khork said his life was “defined by devotion, character, and service,” noting his “infectious spirit.”
As the conflict entered a volatile new phase, the President indicated he would return to Dover for future transfers if necessary. “Sure, I hate to do it, but it’s a part of war,” he said before departing on Air Force One.