Iranian Drone Strike at Kuwait Port Killed Six U.S. Soldiers on March 1

An Iranian drone struck a multi-trailer work station at Port of Shuaiba, Kuwait, on March 1, 2026, killing six U.S. soldiers and wounding more than 20 others. @CBSNews reported that Chief Warrant Officer Rodney Bearman, 57, of the Iowa-based 103rd Sustainment Command, suffered shrapnel wounds, a concussion, hearing loss, vision loss, and lung damage.

Sergeant First Class Cory Hicks, 37, sustained severe shrapnel wounds that required multiple emergency surgeries at a Kuwaiti hospital. He was later airlifted to Landstuhl Medical Center in Germany and then to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Maryland.

As of June 2026, Hicks remains in a soldier recovery unit at Walter Reed with a traumatic brain injury and expects to stay at least six more months.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth stated in March that "almost 90%" of the 400 injured American service members had sustained only minor injuries and had returned to duty. An Army spokesperson said a soldier classified as "seriously injured" or "very seriously injured" faces risk of dying from wounds within 72 hours.

The same spokesperson added that soldiers in recovery units are not counted as having returned to duty.

Bearman deployed to Kuwait in September 2025. His unit had relocated weeks earlier from Camp Arifjan to the small tactical outpost at Port of Shuaiba. After the strike, soldiers triaged themselves with makeshift bandages and drove wounded comrades to local hospitals in commandeered civilian vehicles.

Bearman returned to the United States on March 18 and was assigned to a soldier recovery unit at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. On March 26, Republican Sen. Shelley Moore Capito wrote to the Army on Bearman's behalf requesting clarity on the injury classification.