(Washington, D.C.) U.S. Representative Zach Nunn (IA-03), a Colonel in the U.S. Air Force Reserve, led the U.S. House of Representatives in a moment of silence honoring six U.S. Army Reservists—including two Iowans—killed in an Iranian drone strike on a command center in Kuwait on March 1, 2026.
Nunn told KSOM/KS95 News that he led the moment of silence alongside colleagues representing the hometowns of the six fallen Reservists.
“Well, I think Iowa is still reeling from the loss of six of our own. Right now, six Army reservists who drill out of Des Moines, including two from my district here, Sergeant Declan Coady, posthumously promoted. He’s a 20-year-old young man who was going to Drake University, had a background in cybersecurity. He was working his way through college as a reservist, as an IT troop forward deployed to Kuwait. As well as a senior officer, Major Jeffrey O’Brien from Waukee, Iowa. This is an individual who had years of experience and was helping lead the team, forward deployed also in Kuwait. I am taking time this Saturday to meet the dignified remains transfer of these individuals and their fallen comrades in Dover Air Force Base with the leadership team at the Pentagon and the families before they come back to Iowa for final burial.”
Nunn said he has spent many days on the phone with family members of a number of the forward deployed.
“Let’s not forget we’ve got our own Iowa Guard team forward deployed to the region in U.S. Central Command, nearly 2,000 folks. Just two months ago, we lost two of those soldiers to an attack by a radical extremist group. It was also the Iowa National Guard who took a response strike on that in Operation Hawkeye Strike that decapitated that threat. These are Iowans at every front helping to defend our nation. I’m also looking at what we can do for our families who still have loved ones deployed, whether in the active duty, the reserve, or the Guard, to make sure that they have all the resources they need. And most recently, I spent a lot of time on the phone with the Secretary of the Army’s team. I spoke directly to the Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, as well as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Kane, about ensuring we had expedited evacuation for the nine wounded Iowans at Fort Des Moines here to get them out of the region and to recovery and assessment centers in Germany. This has been a top-tier priority. And I feel like this is my mission, not only as a guy who is still in the reserves myself, but as somebody who has flown combat operations in this region to deter Iran repeatedly. I know how hard it is for the families back home who are waiting for answers, who are waiting for loved ones who have been injured, and who are waiting to receive the remains of loved ones who have lost their lives. That’s why I’m making this my personal mission to make sure these families get all the information they can and that we get these injured back home to America so they can be with their families.”
The fallen soldiers served with the 103rd Sustainment Command of the Army Reserve, headquartered at Fort Des Moines. They were deployed to Kuwait, providing logistics and sustainment support for U.S. forces operating across the Middle East as part of Operation Epic Fury. The fallen servicemembers are Sergeant Declan Coady, Major Jeffrey O’Brien, Chief Warrant Officer 3 Robert Marzan, Sergeant First Class Nicole Amor, Sergeant First Class Noah Tietjens, and Captain Cody Khork.
