Trump joins families of six slain US service members at Dover air force base | US-Israel war on Iran

Donald Trump joined the families of six American soldiers killed in the Middle East war on Saturday in a dignified handover ritual at Dover Air Force Base.

We speak of “dignified transfer” when the remains of American service members killed in combat are returned to the United States.

The soldiers were killed in a drone strike in Kuwait earlier this week, as the United States and Israel continue their war for regime change in Iran.

This move is considered one of the darkest tasks for any commander in chief. At Saturday’s event, the president wore a Trump-branded “USA” golf cap. Cell phones were not permitted for the duration of the dignified transfer.

In addition to the president, some members of his cabinet were present, including JD Vance, the vice president; Pete Hegseth, the Secretary of Defense; Pam Bondi, the attorney general; and others.

Trump, speaking at a summit of Latin American leaders in Miami on Saturday before his trip to Dover Air Force Base, said the fallen service members were heroes “coming home in a different way than they thought they were going home.” He said it was a “very sad situation” and pledged to keep American war deaths “to a minimum.”

Those killed in action were Sergeant First Class Nicole Amor, 39, of White Bear Lake, Minnesota; Captain Cody Khork, 35, of Winter Haven, Florida; Chief Warrant Officer 3 Robert Marzan, 54, of Sacramento, California; Maj. Jeffrey O’Brien, 45, of Indianola, Iowa; Sergeant First Class Noah Tietjens, 42, of Bellevue, Nebraska; and Sgt Declan Coady, 20, of West Des Moines, Lowa, who was posthumously promoted to specialist.

The families of the six Army reservists were present during the transfer.

The six soldiers were killed by a drone strike on a command center in Kuwait. They were all from the 103rd Sustainment Command based in Des Moines, Iowa, which provides food, fuel, water, ammunition, transportation equipment and supplies, the Associated Press reported. They died just a day after the United States and Israel launched their military campaign against Iran.

During the ritual, transfer crates draped in the American flag and containing the remains of fallen soldiers are carried from the military plane that transported them to a waiting vehicle to take them to the base morgue.

Amor’s husband, Joey Amor, said earlier this week that she was expected to return home to him and her two children within a few days, the Associated Press reports.

“You don’t go to Kuwait thinking something is going to happen, and for her to be one of the first, it hurts,” Joey Amor said.

O’Brien had served in the Army Reserves for nearly 15 years, according to his LinkedIn account, and his aunt said in a Facebook post that O’Brien “was the sweetest blonde, blue-eyed farm kid you ever knew. We miss him so much already.”

Marzan’s sister described him in a Facebook post as a “strong leader” and a loving husband, father and brother.

“My little brother, you are loved and I will hold all our memories and cherish them always in my heart,” Elizabeth Marzan wrote.

Coady was among the youngest in his class, trained to troubleshoot military computer systems, but he impressed his instructors, his father, Andrew Coady, told the Associated Press.

“He trained hard, he worked hard, his fitness was important to him. He loved being a soldier,” Coady said. “He was also one of the kindest people you could ever meet, and he would do anything and everything for anyone.”

Khork’s family described him as “the life of the party”, known for his “infectious spirit” and “generous heart” and who wanted to serve in the military since childhood.

“This commitment helped shape the course of his life and reflected the deep sense of duty that was always at the heart of who he was,” according to a statement from his mother, Donna Burhans, his father, James Khork, and his stepmother, Stacey Khork.

Tietjens, from a military family, previously served alongside his father in Kuwait. When he returned home in February 2010, he found his wife delighted in the gymnasium of a local church.

Tietjens’ cousin, Kaylyn Golike, asked for prayers, especially for Tietjens’ 12-year-old son, wife and parents, as they go through an “unimaginable loss.”

Trump recently visited Dover in December for another dignified transfer of two members of the Iowa National Guard and a U.S. civilian interpreter. The three were killed in an ambush in the Syrian desert.

During Trump’s first term, he repeatedly witnessed dignified transfers, including for a Navy Seal killed in a raid in Yemen, for two Army officers whose helicopter crashed in Afghanistan, and for two Army soldiers killed in Afghanistan when a person wearing an Afghan Army uniform opened fire.

Hugo Lowell contributed reporting