U.S. Military Confirms Third Service Member Killed in Jordan Attack, Total Reaches 18

The U.S. military confirmed that Sgt. Angel S. Rampersad, 28, of Ozone Park, New York, is believed to have been killed in Friday’s attack on a base in Jordan. The confirmation brings the total U.S. service member death toll to 18 since the war began.

On Monday the Pentagon identified the two other soldiers killed in the Jordan attack as 1st Lt. Tyler James Feehan, 25, of Ewa Beach, Hawaii, and Pvt. Isabella Gonzales, 19, of Carrollton, Texas. The soldiers died from Iranian ballistic missile and drone strikes, the first U.S.

Troop deaths from direct Iranian fire since the opening days of the war. They had been deployed to support a U.S. mission against the Islamic State group. After the attack, U.S. Central Command announced that two servicemembers were killed and another was missing.

The following day the command said troops found unidentified remains and began an examination process. ” Separately, the Army identified Sgt. Michael Emmanuel Swinton, 30, of North Carolina, as killed Sunday at an air base in Irbil, Iraq, during a controlled detonation of an Iranian drone.

Swinton will receive a Bronze Star, Purple Heart and Combat Action Badge and will be promoted posthumously to staff sergeant. He enlisted in 2017 and was assigned to the 55th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 108th Air Defense Artillery Brigade, out of Fort Bragg, North Carolina. He leaves behind a 6-year-old son and a 4-year-old daughter.

Renewed fighting between the U.S. and Iran is now in its 10th day. Iranian authorities say U.S. strikes in the past three weeks have killed at least 50 people and wounded more than 500 others.