U.S.
A captain, 2 sergeants and a young specialist: Remembering the soldiers lost in Kuwait
Stars and Stripes
March 4, 2026
A composite of images shows the four Army Reserve soldiers who died in Operation Epic Fury on Sunday. From left to right, Capt. Cody Khork, Sgt. 1st Class Noah L. Tietjens, Sgt. 1st Class Nicole Amor and Sgt. Declan J. Coady. (U.S. Army)
The Pentagon on Tuesday identified four Army Reserve soldiers killed in a drone attack in Kuwait, a strike that occurred amid Operation Epic Fury, the United States and Israel’s military campaign against Iran.
The soldiers died Sunday in Port Shuaiba when an unmanned aircraft system struck their location, according to a Defense Department news release. Shuaiba is Kuwait’s primary industrial port.
All four reservists were assigned to the 103rd Sustainment Command (Expeditionary), a logistics unit based in Des Moines, Iowa. The incident remains under investigation.
The soldiers were:
• Capt. Cody A. Khork, 35, of Winter Haven, Fla.
• Sgt. 1st Class Noah L. Tietjens, 42, of Bellevue, Neb.
• Sgt. 1st Class Nicole M. Amor, 39, of White Bear Lake, Minn.
• Sgt. Declan J. Coady, 20, of West Des Moines, Iowa.
Two other soldiers died in the attack, but their names are being withheld until next of kin are notified.
“We honor our fallen Heroes, who served fearlessly and selflessly in defense of our nation,” Lt. Gen. Robert Harter, chief of the Army Reserve and commander of U.S. Army Reserve Command, said in a news release emailed Tuesday to Stars and Stripes. “Their sacrifice, and the sacrifices of their families, will never be forgotten.”
Khork enlisted in the National Guard in 2009 as a multiple launch rocket system and fire direction specialist before commissioning as an Army Reserve military police officer in 2014, according to the Army Reserve. Over the course of his service, he deployed to Saudi Arabia in 2018, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in 2021 and Poland in 2024.
Abbas Jaffer, in a Facebook post Monday, said Khork was the best man at his wedding and called him the “best human being that I’ve ever known.
“I’ve watched him support others and myself through the years when he had nothing to his name and never complained about it,” Jaffer wrote. “That’s just the type of person he was. Words can’t describe how I feel right now.”
Capt. Cody A. Khork, 35, of Winter Haven, Fla. (Facebook)
Tietjens enlisted in the Army Reserve in 2006 as a wheeled vehicle mechanic and had two other deployments to Kuwait, in 2009 and again in 2019, according to the Army Reserve.
Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen ordered flags in the state lowered to half-staff in his honor.
“We are holding the Tietjens family close in our hearts during this unbelievably difficult time and will keep them in our prayers,” Pillen wrote in a statement. “Noah stepped up to serve and defend the American people from foreign enemies around the world — a sacrifice we must never forget.”
Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., also offered condolences, saying she learned “with profound sadness” that one of the state’s residents had been killed during the operation.
Amor enlisted in the National Guard in 2005 as an automated logistics specialist and transferred to the Army Reserve the following year, according to the service. She deployed to Kuwait and Iraq in 2019.
Her husband, Joey Amor, said she was just days away from returning home when she was killed.
“You don’t go to Kuwait thinking something’s going to happen, and for her to be one of the first — it hurts,” he told the Associated Press on Tuesday. “If you needed anything she would just take care of it for you. She’s helped a lot of people through a lot of dark times and brought a lot of light to this world.”
Amor was an avid gardener who used her fresh vegetables to make salsa with her son, a high school senior, according to a Tuesday report by Minnesota Public Radio. She also enjoyed rollerblading and bicycling with her fourth-grade daughter.
This undated photo provided by Joey Amor shows Nicole Amor, left, and Joey Amor smiling for a photo. (Joey Amor/AP)
The youngest of the four soldiers, Coady enlisted in 2023 as an Army information technology specialist and was posthumously promoted from specialist to sergeant, according to the Army Reserve release.
Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said he was “deeply saddened to learn of the passing of these four brave soldiers, including Sgt. Declan Coady, a young man from West Des Moines.”
“These heroes paid the ultimate price to protect against the world’s number one state sponsor of terrorism, Iran, and we will never forget their service and sacrifice,” Grassley wrote in a statement.
This photo provided by Andrew Coady shows his son, Declan Coady, posing for a photo on the day of his graduation at the U.S. Army Training Center at Fort Sill, Okla., in March 2024. (Andrew Coady/AP)
The 103rd Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) provides food, fuel, water and ammunition to deployed forces, along with the transportation of equipment and supplies, according to the command’s website. It oversees 79 subordinate units and more than 7,000 reservists across Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois and Louisiana.
“To the families and teammates of these Cactus Nation Soldiers: you have my deepest sympathy and my respect,” Maj. Gen. Todd Erskine, commander of the 79th Theater Sustainment Command, said in the release.
“Our nation is kept safe by folks like these — brave men and women who put it all on the line every single day. They represent the heart of America. We will remember their names, their service, and their sacrifice.”