The Department of Defense on Monday identified three Army Reserve soldiers who were killed at a U.S. base in Jordan on Sunday in what the Biden administration said was a drone attack from an Iran-backed militia. The department said at least 34 other service members were wounded in the attack.
Those killed were Sgt. William Jerome Rivers, 46, of Carrollton, Ga.; Specialist Kennedy Ladon Sanders, 24, of Waycross, Ga.; and Specialist Breonna Alexsondria Moffett, 23, of Savannah, Ga.
The soldiers, two of them women, were assigned to the 718th Engineer Company, based at Fort Moore, Ga. — a team of soldiers trained to deploy at short notice to build roads, landing fields and protective earthen berms for U.S. forces.
“On behalf of the Army Reserve, I share in the sorrow felt by their friends, family and loved ones,” said the chief of the Army Reserve, Lt. Gen. Jody Daniels. “Their service and sacrifice will not be forgotten, and we are committed to supporting those left behind in the wake of this tragedy.”
In Jordan, the three were assigned to a remote desert logistics outpost, called Tower 22, in the northeastern part of the country, where the borders of Syria, Iraq and Jordan converge. The small installation hosts about 350 U.S. Army and Air Force troops, according to the Pentagon’s Central Command.
U.S. troops have long used Jordan, strategically located near Iraq, Israel, the Palestinian territory of the West Bank, Saudi Arabia and Syria, as a launch point for operations. About 3,000 American troops are typically stationed in the country.
The three who were killed on Sunday are part of an often overlooked part of the military that delivers supplies, maintains buildings, builds roads and does other routine work while shouldering the risk of operating in hostile territory.
Sergeant Rivers was trained as an electrician, had served in the Army Reserve for more than a decade and had been deployed to Iraq in 2018 during the fight against Islamic State militants, according to Army records.
Specialist Sanders and Specialist Moffett both enlisted in the Army Reserve in 2019 and were trained to operate heavy equipment, such as road graders. Tower 22 was Specialist Moffett’s first deployment. Specialist Sanders had been deployed once before, in 2021, to an American outpost in Djibouti.
Families of the soldiers expressed their grief in social media posts that were widely shared by friends and relatives.
“This is one of the saddest days of my life,” Specialist Moffett’s mother said in a Facebook post Sunday. “The pain will never go away and my life is forever changed. I will never get to cook your favorite food, we will never get to talk on the phone and I will never see you walk through my front door again.”
The small community of Waycross, Ga., issued a proclamation on Monday honoring Specialist Sanders. “Kennedy Sanders exemplified the highest ideals of honor, duty, and selflessness,” it reads. “Her sacrifice reminds us of the profound debt of gratitude we owe to those who selflessly serve our country.”
