Sgt. Declan J. Coady – The United States (US) Department of Defence has confirmed the identities of four Army Reserve soldiers killed in an Iranian drone attack on an American military base in Kuwait.
In a statement issued by the Pentagon, the fallen US soldiers killed are 35-year-old Capt. Cody A. Khork from Winter Haven in Florida, 42 year old Sgt. 1st Class Noah L. Tietjens, from Bellevue, Nebraska, 39-year-old Sgt. 1st Class Nicole M. Amor, from White Bear Lake in Minnesota and 20-year-old Sgt Declan J. Coady, from West Des Moines in Iowa.
All four soldiers were attached to the 103rd Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) of the US Army Reserve, headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa.
The soldiers were killed on Sunday, March 1, 2026, when an Iranian unmanned aerial vehicle struck a US military facility in Port Shuaiba, Kuwait.
In this article, TVC News profiled the 20-year-old Sgt Coady killed in the attack.
As of today, March 5, 2026, the story of Sgt. Coady has become a focal point of national mourning and international discourse regarding the escalating conflict in the Gulf region.
One of the youngest in his class
Coady had just told his father last week that he had been recommended for a promotion from specialist to sergeant, a rank he received posthumously.
He was one of the youngest people in his class but seemed to impress his instructors, his father Andrew Coady said Tuesday.
“He was very good at what he did,” he said.
Coady trained as an information technology specialist with the Army Reserves and was studying cybersecurity at Drake University in Des Moines. He was taking online classes while in Kuwait and wanted to become an officer.
Read Also
“I still don’t fully think it’s real,” his sister Keira Coady said. “I just remember all of our conversations about what he was going to do when he came back.”
He was an Eagle Scout who graduated from high school in 2023 and enlisted in the Army Reserve as an Army information technology specialist that same year, CBS affiliate KCCI reported.
He was assigned to the 103rd Sustainment Command. This was his first deployment.
Sgt. Coady was promoted to sergeant posthumously. He had told his father the week before his death that he had been recommended for the promotion, KCCI reported.
Andrew Coady told KCCI that his son had the option of remaining at Drake and going through the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps, which would have allowed him to commission later as an officer, “but he was adamant, like, ‘I’m going to go with my unit.'”
Coady earned honours including the Army Service Ribbon, the National Defence Service Ribbon, and the Overseas Service Ribbon, the U.S. Army Reserve said.
“I just wish he could have known one more time that we all loved him, because he was so amazing and kind,” Keira Coady told KCCI.
The Governor of Iowa, Kim Reynolds, also mourn the loss of the young soldier.
“We mourn the loss of Sergeant Declan Coady, a young Iowan who heroically answered his nation’s call to duty and gave the ultimate sacrifice.
“Kevin and I offer our deepest condolences to his family and ask all Iowans to join us in prayer for their healing and comfort.”
