Pentagon identifies third U.S. soldier killed in Jordan attack

The U.S. military has identified a third service member believed to have been killed in an Iranian attack on Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan as Sgt. Angel S. Rampersad, a 28-year-old soldier from New York.

Rampersad “is believed to have been killed in action on July 17, 2026, during an enemy attack at Muwaffaq Salti Air Base, Jordan,” the Pentagon said in a statement. “The incident is under investigation.”

Her death brings the number of U.S. service members killed since the war began to 18. It also marks another U.S. military death tied to renewed fighting between the United States and Iran, which has included American strikes on Iranian targets and Iranian attacks on U.S. allies, bases and military facilities across the Middle East.

After Friday’s attack in Jordan, U.S. Central Command said two service members had been killed and another was missing. The next day, the command said troops had found unidentified remains and that an examination process was underway. The Pentagon said Rampersad is now believed to be that missing soldier and that her official status has changed from “Duty Status-Whereabouts Unknown” to “believed to be deceased.”

Rampersad was an active-duty soldier supporting overseas operations in Jordan, the Pentagon said. She was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 57th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 52nd Air Defense Artillery Brigade, 10th Army Air & Missile Defense Command, based in Ansbach, Germany.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul paid tribute to Rampersad on X, saying her heart was “with her family, loved ones, and the soldiers who stood beside her as they grieve this unimaginable loss.” Hochul said New York was mourning “the loss of one of our own.”

The Pentagon earlier 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 Defense Department did not provide details on the exact circumstances of their deaths. Feehan had been assigned to an Army missile defense command at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, while Gonzales, like Rampersad, was assigned to the command in Ansbach.

U.S. Central Command said the soldiers were deployed to support Operation Inherent Resolve, the long-running U.S. mission against the Islamic State group that began in 2014. The Jordan deaths were the first known U.S. troop fatalities from direct Iranian fire since the early days of the war. The Guardian reported the attack involved Iranian ballistic missiles and drones.

A fourth U.S. soldier, Sgt. Michael Emmanuel Swinton, 30, was killed Sunday in a separate incident in Erbil, Iraq, during a controlled detonation of an attack drone. The Guardian, citing a military statement and his family, described Swinton as a father from North Carolina who had served for nearly a decade.

President Donald Trump told reporters Sunday that the service members were “out there fighting that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.” He is expected to attend a dignified transfer ceremony Wednesday at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, where the remains of U.S. service members return to American soil in flag-draped caskets.

In Washington, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told lawmakers Tuesday that the Iran war has cost $37.5 billion so far and that the administration needs nearly twice that amount to continue operations in the coming months.

NBC News reported that the U.S. military bombed targets across Iran for an 11th straight night Tuesday, while The Guardian described renewed fighting as being in its 10th day. Iran has launched missiles and drones at U.S. allies and American military facilities in response.

Casualty figures also vary. NBC News, citing Iranian state-affiliated media and a senior judicial official, reported that at least 3,375 people have been killed in Iran since military operations began. The Guardian reported that Iranian authorities say U.S. strikes in the past three weeks have killed at least 50 people and wounded more than 500 others.