Just one day into the war with Iran, the country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed in the attacks launched by the United States and Israel. His death was both celebrated and mourned by Iranians, whom President Trump urged to “take back” their country.
But the coordinated attacks that launched Saturday have also yielded hundreds of other casualties — among them at least six American service members. Their deaths are a sobering detail in a conflict that the Trump administration has said could last for weeks, while officials have warned that more U.S. casualties are expected.
On Tuesday evening, federal officials identified four of the U.S. victims as Army Reserve members who were killed Sunday during an unmanned aircraft system attack in the Shuaiba port in Kuwait. The attack is under investigation.
The four named had all been assigned to the 103rd Sustainment Command in Des Moines. They were Capt. Cody A. Khork and Sgts. Nicole M. Amor, Declan J. Coady and Noah L. Tietjens. The two other service members who were killed have not yet been identified.
As family and friends grappled with the news of their loved ones’ deaths on Tuesday, the Department of Defense praised the soldiers for their “defense of our nation.”
“Their sacrifice, and the sacrifices of their families, will never be forgotten,” Lt. Gen. Robert Harter, the chief of Army Reserve and the commanding general of U.S. Army Reserve Command, said in a statement.
Noah L. Tietjens, 42
Raised in a military family, Sgt. First Class Noah L. Tietjens joined the Army in the early 2000s and had completed at least four tours in countries including Kuwait and Iraq, said his twin brother, Nicholas.
He had proven himself to be a “great leader,” Nicholas said, and was three months away from wrapping up his deployment in Kuwait. “He just wanted to get there, and get it over with, and get back,” his brother said.
Sergeant Tietjens left behind a wife, Shelly, and a teenage son, Dylan. The three had taken up martial arts together and were constant figures at Martial Arts International in their hometown, Bellevue, Neb. Sergeant Tietjens had become certified as an instructor and dreamed of opening his own studio one day.
Julius Melegrito, the owner of Martial Arts International, said Sergeant Tietjens was calm, confident and soft-spoken, traits of a great teacher.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, Sergeant Tietjens was invaluable in helping the martial arts studio handle social distancing, said Mr. Melegrito’s wife, Faith.
“He has this commanding presence and friendly aura around him,” Ms. Melegrito said. “Since then, whenever we would have events or he would be at the school, I would always feel more calm when he’s around, because I knew he would look at what’s needed and he would take care of it.”
Jonn Coleman, a mentee of Sergeant Tietjens’s at the 443rd Transportation Company out of Elkhorn, Neb., said he owed much of his own military career to Sergeant Tietjens’s coaching.
“He had a great way of inspiring others and leading by helping them instead of just complaining,” Mr. Coleman said.
Sergeant Tietjens was also a doting father, making sure to cheer on Dylan at his black belt ceremony. When Dylan accepted a special award that night, he asked his father to come onstage so he could dedicate it to him.
In Nebraska, flags have been ordered to fly at half-staff in honor of Sergeant Tietjens, said Gov. Jim Pillen. “Noah stepped up to serve and defend the American people from foreign enemies around the world — a sacrifice we must never forget,” Mr. Pillen said in a statement.
Cody A. Khork, 35
From an early age, Capt. Cody A. Khork “felt a calling to serve his country,” his family said in a statement. Captain Khork, a resident of Lakeland, Fla., enlisted as a multiple launch rocket system/fire direction specialist in the National Guard in 2009.
“He was deeply patriotic and took great pride in serving something greater than himself,” the family said.
They added, “He lived with purpose, loved deeply, and served honorably. His legacy will endure in the lives he touched, the example he set, and the love of country and family that defined him.”
Captain Khork was a leader in the R.O.T.C. program at Florida Southern College, his family said. They said he also enjoyed history and had earned a degree in political science.
The Department of Defense said Captain Khork commissioned as a military police officer in the Army Reserve in 2014. He deployed to Saudi Arabia in 2018, Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, in 2021, and Poland in 2024.
He had been honored numerous times over the years for his achievements, earning multiple awards, including the Meritorious Service Medal and Army Commendation Medal.
Nicole M. Amor, 39
Sgt. First Class Nicole M. Amor’s recent deployment to Kuwait, after nearly 20 years in the military, was likely going to be her last, her brother Derek Hoff said on Tuesday.
Sergeant Amor, a resident of White Bear Lake, Minn., seemed to be at a crossroads before she left in August, her brother said. Her 18-year-old son was graduating high school, and she didn’t want to miss more of her 9-year-old daughter’s childhood.
“She knew what she signed up for, and she did it because she had a job and a duty,” said Mr. Hoff, 42, of Eau Claire, Wis.
After joining the National Guard as an automated logistics specialist in 2005, she transferred to the Army Reserve a year later, and then was deployed to Iraq in 2019 and later Kuwait, where her duties revolved around logistics. Mr. Hoff said his sister was close to moving on to her next chapter, possibly retiring from the military to spend more time with her children.
“She just missed them,” Mr. Hoff said. “It was a yearning for her kids.”
Mr. Hoff described his sister as “a spitfire” who did not surprise him when she decided to join the military. Her biggest accomplishment, he said, was becoming a mother and later a surrogate.
Sgt. Declan J. Coady, 20
The Department of Defense said in a statement that Sgt. Declan J. Coady (posthumously promoted from specialist), was a resident of Des Moines, and enlisted in the Army Reserve in 2023 as an Army information technology specialist.
He had been awarded the Army Service Ribbon, National Defense Service Ribbon and the Overseas Service Ribbon.
Sergeant Coady was a sophomore at Drake University in Des Moines, where he was studying information systems, cybersecurity and computer science, according to the school. He was “a well-loved and highly dedicated” student who “had an incredibly bright future ahead of him,” the university said in a statement.
Ann Klein contributed reporting.
Corina Knoll is a Times correspondent focusing on feature stories.
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