Two U.S. Army soldiers identified among fatalities in Iranian missile and drone attacks on Jordan
The U.S. Department of Defense identified a 25-year-old lieutenant and a 19-year-old private killed in Jordan during Iranian missile and drone strikes, marking the first U.S. combat deaths from direct Iranian fire in the conflict.
Two U.S. Army service members were identified as killed in Jordan during Iranian ballistic-missile and drone attacks on Friday and Saturday, the Defense Department said Monday. The deceased were 1st Lt. Tyler James Feehan, 25, of Ewa Beach, Hawaii, and Private Isabella Gonzales, 19, of Carrollton, Texas. Feehan, assigned to the 32nd Army Air and Missile Defense Command from Fort Bragg, will be posthumously promoted to captain and receive the Bronze Star, Purple Heart and Combat Action Badge. Gonzales served with the 10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command in Germany and had graduated from Hebron High School the previous year.
"She gave her life in that service, and our district is heartbroken by her loss," the Lewisville Independent School District said in a statement.
The military confirmed Gonzales died on Friday and Feehan the following day, but did not release further details. A third service member remains missing; unidentified remains have been recovered and are under examination, according to U.S. Central Command.
The fatalities underscore the risk to U.S. forces deployed across the Middle East, even when not directly engaged in Iran. Additional incidents this week included a U.S. service member killed in northern Iraq during a controlled detonation of unexploded ordnance from a downed Iranian drone, and another wounded.
Since the conflict began in late February, U.S. officials have reported a total of 17 service-member deaths related to the war with Iran.