U.S. soldiers killed by Iran were from Texas and Hawaii, military says

U.S. political commentator Avid Jones-DeWeever says the American people are likely to think about Trump’s push for the war in Iran when they vote in November.

WASHINGTON — Two U.S. Army soldiers killed in Jordan while defending against Iranian ballistic missile and drone attacks were identified on Monday -- the first U.S. troop deaths from direct Iranian fire since the opening days of the war.

The Defence Department said in a statement that Tyler James Feehan, 25, of Ewa Beach, Hawaii, and Isabella Gonzales, 19, of Carrollton, Texas, were killed in Jordan in Friday’s attacks.

Feehan, a first lieutenant, will be posthumously promoted to the rank of captain and awarded the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart and the Combat Action Badge. The Army did not provide details about his commendations. He was assigned out of Fort Bragg, N.C., to the 32nd Army Air and Missile Defence Command.

Feehan was just weeks away from getting a Master of Business Administration from Southern Utah University, according to the school. The university will award his degree posthumously.

“Our hearts are with his family, fellow service members, classmates, and all who knew and loved Tyler as we mourn this profound loss together,” the school said in a statement.

Gonzales was a private with the 10th Army Air and Missile Defence Command in Ansbach, Germany. She graduated last year from Hebron High School in Carrollton, near Dallas, school officials said.

“She gave her life in that service, and our district is heartbroken by her loss,” the Lewisville Independent School District said in a statement. “Her decision to serve after graduation speaks volumes of her character.”

The military said Gonzales died on Friday and Feehan died the following day. It did not provide details.

A third service member was reported missing in the attacks that killed Feehan and Gonzales. U.S. Central Command said Sunday that “unidentified remains” have been found and were being examined.

The U.S. military says 17 service members have been killed in the war with Iran.

The deaths reflect the complicated reality that American soldiers don’t need to be on the ground in Iran for there to be lethal risks in a conflict that involves drones, missiles and airplanes. American forces are arrayed across the Middle East, making other nations targets of Iran and its allies as the fighting has escalated after a breakdown in peace talks.

U.S. President Donald Trump has said the war is necessary to stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons. Trump, a Republican, now faces political pressure to bring the war to a close and avoid the kind of prolonged Middle East conflict he had campaigned against.

Drones and missiles are claiming lives on both sides

An American service member was also killed in northern Iraq on Saturday during a “controlled detonation” of unexploded ordnance from a downed Iranian drone, U.S. Central Command said Sunday. A second service member was wounded and was receiving medical treatment for a minor injury.

The military said it was withholding additional information until 24 hours after families had been notified.

Iranian authorities said U.S. strikes in just the past three weeks have killed at least 50 people and wounded more than 500 others, including eight killed in a strike on a bridge Friday.

Both sides have targeted civilian infrastructure relied on by millions of people. Workers on ships, as well as foreign workers and others in Gulf nations, Israel and Lebanon have also died in the conflict.

The first U.S. military fatalities came soon after the war started

Shortly after the U.S. and Israel began the war on Feb. 28, an Iranian drone strike at a civilian port in Kuwait killed six American soldiers. The soldiers were part of a supply and logistics unit based in Iowa who were working at a shipping container-style building that had no defenses.

A seventh soldier died more than a week after being wounded during a March 1 attack by Iran on the Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia.

Later in March, six service members were killed when a KC-135 refueling aircraft supporting U.S. military operations against Iran crashed in Iraq. The aircraft was in “friendly” airspace when an unspecified incident involving another aircraft took place, according to U.S. Central Command.

Last week, the U.S. military said a Navy pilot died in a helicopter crash in the Arabian Sea. The Navy initially described the July 1 crash as an emergency landing and said there was “no indication the emergency was caused by hostile action.” The remaining three sailors aboard the helicopter were rescued.