Who were the three soldiers killed on an American base: Army reservists between 23 and 46 years old

The Defense Department on Monday identified three Army Reserve soldiers who were killed Sunday at a U.S. base in Jordan in what the Biden administration called a drone attack by an Iranian-backed militia. The department said at least one more34 service members were injured in the attack.

Those killed were Sgt. William Jerome Rivers, 46 years old, of Carrollton, Georgia; Specialist Kennedy Ladon Sanders, 24 years old, of Waycross, Georgia; AND sp. Breonna Alexsondria Moffett, 23 years old, from Savannah, Georgia.

The soldiers were assigned to the 718th Engineer Company, based in Fort Moore, Georgia, a team of soldiers trained to deploy on short notice to build roads, landing fields and protective berms for U.S. forces.

“On behalf of the Army Reserve, I share the grief felt by your friends, family and loved ones,” said Lt. Gen. Jody Daniels, chief of the Army Reserve. “Their service and sacrifice will not be forgotten, and we are committed to supporting those left behind as a result of this tragedy.”

In Jordan they were assigned to all three a remote logistics outpost in the desert, called Tower 22, in the north-eastern part of the country, where the borders of Syria, Iraq and Jordan converge. According to the Pentagon’s Central Command, the small facility is home to about 350 U.S. Army and Air Force soldiers.

US troops have long used Jordan, strategically located near Iraq, Israel, the Palestinian West Bank, Saudi Arabia and Syria, as a staging point for operations. Normally there are approximately 3,000 American soldiers stationed in the country.

An often overlooked team

The three who died on Sunday were part of an army unit that often overlooked and whatand delivers supplies, maintains buildings, builds roads and performs other routine work while assumes the risk of operating in hostile territory.

Rivers trained as an electrician, According to Army records, he had served in the Army Reserve for more than a decade and was deployed to Iraq in 2018 during the fight against ISIS militants.

Sanders and Moffett enlisted in the Army Reserve in 2019 and were trained to do so use heavy equipment, such as road graders. Tower 22 was Moffett’s first deployment. Sanders had deployed once before, in 2021, to an American outpost in Djibouti.

The soldiers’ families expressed their grief in social media posts widely shared by friends and family.

“This is one of the saddest days of my life,” Moffett’s mother said in a Facebook post Sunday. “The pain will never go away and my life will change forever. I will never be able to cook your favorite food, we will never be able to talk on the phone, and I will never see you walk through my door again.

The small community of Waycross issued a proclamation honoring Sanders on Monday.

“Kennedy Sanders exemplified the highest ideals of honor, duty and selflessness,” it read. “Their sacrifice reminds us of the profound debt of gratitude we owe to those who selflessly serve our country.”