Pentagon Identifies Drone Strike Casualties

The Department of Defense has released the identities of the three soldiers killed in the drone strike on Sunday in Jordan while supporting Operation Inherent Resolve.

“Sgt. William Jerome Rivers, 46, of Carrollton, Ga..; Spc. Kennedy Ladon Sanders, 24, of Waycross, Ga.; and Spc. Breonna Alexsondria Moffett, 23, of Savannah, Ga., died Jan. 28, 2024, in Jordan, when a one way unmanned aerial system (OWUAS) impacted their container housing units,” according to the official statement released by the DoD.

In addition to the three deaths, at least 34 others were wounded in the drone attack that officials say was carried out by Iran-backed militants.

The targeted base, known as Tower 22, sits near the demilitarized zone on the border between Jordan and Syria with the Iraqi border only six miles away. The attack was the culmination of a series of increasingly brazen drone strikes in the region, with over 150 such attacks against U.S. military installations since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, according to the Pentagon.

Present Joe Biden released a statement immediately following the attack saying, “The three American service members we lost were patriots in the highest sense. And their ultimate sacrifice will never be forgotten by our nation … We will carry on their commitment to fight terrorism. And have no doubt — we will hold all those responsible to account at a time and in a manner of our choosing.”

Former President Donald Trump countered with his own official statement on Truth Social saying, “The drone attack on a U.S. Military Installation in Jordan, killing 3 American service members, and wounding many more, marks a horrible day for America … This brazen attack on the United States is yet another horrific and tragic consequence of Joe Biden’s weakness and surrender.”

Biden, who had been traveling in South Carolina, assured a Baptist church audience following a moment of silence, “We shall respond.”