Three of the more than 40 U.S. service members who were injured in the deadly drone attack near the Syrian border Sunday are part of an Army Reserve company assigned to Fort Moore in Columbus.
The military confirmed Wednesday those three injured reservists are part of the 718th Engineer Company but declined to identify them, say where they are originally from or provide details about their condition, citing privacy reasons.
Meanwhile, the bodies of three other soldiers from the same company are expected to arrive at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware Friday. President Joe Biden plans to attend the ceremony.
He called the grieving families to offer solace. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution was with the family of Spc. Kennedy Ladon Sanders, 24, of Waycross, when President Biden called. Sanders has been posthumously promoted to sergeant.
The attack also killed Spc. Breonna Alexsondria Moffett, 23, of Savannah, and Sgt. William Jerome Rivers, 46, of Carrollton. Moffett also was posthumously promoted to sergeant.
The Biden administration on Wednesday attributed the attack to the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group of Iran-backed militias, though Iran has denied involvement, the Associated Press reported.
“We are committed to doing everything we can to support the families that are mourning the loss of their soldiers and also provide them any assistance and resources they need,” said Brig. Gen. Noel Palmer, deputy commanding general of the Army Reserve’s 412th Theater Engineer Command, which includes the 718th.
At the same time, Palmer said, the military is seeking to ensure the fallen soldiers’ “legacy – their courage – is honored. That is one of our priorities right now.”
Credit: Army Reserve
Credit: Army Reserve
Palmer described Moffett as a “life of the party. She was a vibrant and active soldier.” He pointed out that she served as the drum major at her alma mater, Windsor Forest High School in Savannah. That detail, he said, “says a lot about who she was as a person and as a soldier.”
Rivers, Palmer said, served as an interior electrician as part of his unit and “was a dedicated father and husband.” He added that Sanders was a “free spirit and an independent young woman.” Sanders’ family, Palmer said, “has asked that we all remember her service and bravery. I know that is true for all of these soldiers.”
Their unit has a storied history. Established in November 1943 as the 718th Engineer Depot Company, it was activated a month later at Camp White in Oregon before participating in the Rhineland and Central European campaigns during World War II. Activated again at Fort Benning, now called Fort Moore, in 2006, it received a Valorous Unit Award and a Navy Unit Commendation streamer during the war in Iraq.
Like Moffett, Sanders served as a horizontal construction engineer, meaning she was trained to operate heavy equipment that could be used to build and maintain roads.
“Particularly, this time of year over there it can be the rainy season, so there is a lot of maintenance or repair work that needs to be done,” Palmer said. “Support like that is what we see soldiers like those in the 718th doing.”
The 718th, he added, is more than halfway through a nine-month rotation to a logistics support base in northeastern Jordan, where about 350 U.S. Army and Air Force personnel are stationed. Palmer visited that base during a previous deployment to Kuwait.
“I served as a brigade commander over there in 2021 and 2022, performing the same mission with units like the 718th. And we have seen an increase in aggression from Iran and its proxies,” he said. “That is a pretty significant shift in that region. And it is notable that the 718th has been there to experience that.”
While the military is grieving, Palmer said, “we are also committed to the mission. Unfortunately, these tragedies, when they occur, don’t allow us to really stop. The mission continues.”
“I just hope that the communities that are mourning can see this as an opportunity to remember all the soldiers we have who are serving in harm’s way and that they remain committed to them and support them as they face the challenge of deployment.”
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