Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd expressed deep sorrow, stating the community is ‘brokenhearted’ over the loss of its soldier in Kuwait.
The Pentagon reported that Marzan was present at the command center when it was struck by a drone attack. According to their statement, he is “believed to be the individual who perished at the scene.” They noted that a medical examiner would confirm the identification.
The names of the other four soldiers were made public by the Pentagon on Tuesday, completing the list of those who sacrificed their lives in service.
The other soldiers identified Tuesday by the Pentagon were: Sgt. Declan Coady, 20, of West Des Moines, Iowa,; Sgt. 1st Class Nicole Amor, 39, of White Bear Lake, Minnesota; Capt. Cody Khork, 35, of Winter Haven, Florida; and Sgt. 1st Class Noah Tietjens, 42, of Bellevue, Nebraska.
“Sadly, there will likely be more, before it ends. That’s the way it is,” President Donald Trump said of the deaths. Trump will attend the dignified transfers of the soldiers when they arrive in the U.S., the White House said Wednesday. The ritual honors service members killed in action.
A mother of two who loved gardening
Amor was just days away from returning to her husband and children.
“She was almost home,” her husband, Joey Amor, said Tuesday. “You don’t go to Kuwait thinking something’s going to happen, and for her to be one of the first — it hurts.”
Amor was an avid gardener who enjoyed making salsa from the peppers and tomatoes she grew with her son, a high school senior. She enjoyed rollerblading and bicycling with her fourth-grade daughter.
A week before the drone attack, Amor was moved off-base to a shipping container-style building that had no defenses, her husband said.
“They were in fear that the base they were on was going to get attacked and they felt it was safer in smaller groups in separate places,” he said.
Childhood friend Natalie Caruso wrote on Facebook that she was “absolutely heartbroken” about Amor’s death.
“Nicole was always up for an adventure and she had such a contagious laugh!” Caruso wrote Wednesday.
‘He loved being a soldier’
Coady recently told his father he had been recommended for a promotion from specialist to sergeant, a rank he received posthumously.
He was among the youngest people in his class, trained to troubleshoot military computer systems, but he impressed his instructors, Andrew Coady said Tuesday.
“He trained hard, he worked hard, his physical fitness was important to him. He loved being a soldier,” Coady said. “He was also one of the most kindest people you would ever meet, and he would do anything and everything for anyone.”
Coady, an Eagle Scout, was close to his family and often called, even if for only a few minutes. He was studying cybersecurity at Drake University in Des Moines, and he wanted to become an officer.
“I still don’t fully think it’s real,” his sister Keira Coady said. “I just remember all of our conversations about what he was going to do when he came back.”
A calling to serve his country
Khork was very patriotic and wanted to serve in the military from childhood, his family said in a statement Tuesday.
He enlisted in the Army Reserve and joined Florida Southern College’s ROTC program.
“That commitment helped shape the course of his life and reflected the deep sense of duty that was always at the core of who he was,” his mother, Donna Burhans; father, James Khork; and stepmother, Stacey Khork; said in a statement.
Khork, who loved history, had a degree in political science.
His family described him as “the life of the party, known for his infectious spirit, generous heart, and deep care for those who served alongside him and for everyone blessed to know him.”
Abbas Jaffer posted Monday on Facebook about his friend of 16 years.
“My best friend, best man, and brother gave his life defending our country overseas,” Jaffer said.
A loving father and husband
Tietjens, who came from a military family, previously served alongside his father in Kuwait. When he returned home in February 2010, he reunited with his overjoyed wife in a local church’s gym.
“I thought he was going to be the last person in, because he hates all this (hoopla),” his wife, Michelle Tietjens, told the Lincoln Journal Star at the time.
Tietjens’ cousin Kaylyn Golike asked for prayers, especially for Tietjens’ 12-year-old son, wife and parents, as they navigate “unimaginable loss.”
“We lost a brave soldier this weekend and many hearts are broken,” Golike wrote on Facebook Tuesday.
Tietjens earned a black belt in Philippine Combatives and Taekwondo and was “an instructor who gave his time, discipline, and leadership to others,” the Philippine Martial Arts Alliance said on Facebook.
Army Staff Sgt. Jeff Coleman said Tietjens was his mentor.
“You could call him day or night,” Coleman told KETV. “He always took the time, you know, he made you feel important.”
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Boone contributed from Boise, Idaho, and Toropin from Washington. Associated Press reporters Sarah Raza in Sioux Falls, South Dakota; Josh Funk and Margery Beck in Omaha, Nebraska; Jeff Martin in Atlanta; and David Fischer in Miami contributed.
