Seventh US Service Member Killed in Iran War Identified as Sgt. Benjamin Pennington

On a Monday morning ten days into the most significant American military engagement since the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the Pentagon released a terse statement identifying Army Sgt. Benjamin N. Pennington, 26, of Glendale, Kentucky, as the seventh U.S. service member to die in Operation Epic Fury — the U.S. military's codename for the joint campaign with Israel against Iran [1][2]. Pennington, who had been fighting for his life for a week after an Iranian ballistic missile struck Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia on March 1, succumbed to his injuries on March 8 [3].

His death underscores a grim reality: what the Trump administration has cast as a swift, decisive military operation is proving far costlier — in blood, treasure, and geopolitical stability — than its architects publicly predicted.

A Soldier from the Space Brigade

Pennington's story is, in many ways, emblematic of the modern American military. A native of the small Hardin County community of Glendale, he enlisted in the Army in 2017 as a unit supply specialist and had been steadily building a career in uniform [4]. By June 2025, he had been assigned to the 1st Space Battalion, 1st Space Brigade, part of the Army Space and Missile Defense Command at Fort Carson, Colorado — a unit on the cutting edge of the military's growing investment in space-based capabilities [5].

His awards paint a picture of a dedicated soldier: three Army Commendation Medals, two Army Good Conduct Medals, the Korea Defense Service Medal, and the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, among others. The Army announced he would be posthumously promoted to staff sergeant [4].

Lt. Gen. Sean Gainey, commander of Army Space and Missile Defense Command, said in a statement that Pennington "was an outstanding noncommissioned officer" who "embodied the warrior spirit that defines our command" [5]. Colorado Governor Jared Polis ordered flags to half-staff at the state capitol.

But for Pennington's family in rural Kentucky, no posthumous promotion or official commendation can fill the void left by the loss of a 26-year-old son, brother, and soldier in a war that began just days before his death.

The Kuwait Massacre: Six Dead in a Single Strike

Pennington was not the first to fall. That grim distinction belongs to six Army reservists killed on March 1 — barely 24 hours after the first U.S. and Israeli bombs fell on Tehran — when an Iranian drone struck a makeshift tactical operations center at the Port of Shuaiba in Kuwait [6][7].

The dead included Capt. Cody A. Khork, 35, of Winter Haven, Florida; Sgt. 1st Class Noah L. Tietjens, 42, of Bellevue, Nebraska; Sgt. 1st Class Nicole M. Amor, 39, of White Bear Lake, Minnesota — a mother — and Spc. Declan J. Coady, 20, of West Des Moines, Iowa, a college student posthumously promoted to sergeant. Maj. Jeffrey R. O'Brien, 45, of Waukee, Iowa, and Chief Warrant Officer 3 Robert M. Marzan, 54, of Sacramento, California, were also killed [8][9].

Most of the six were assigned to the 103rd Sustainment Command, an Army Reserve unit based in Iowa. CNN reported that several had previously served together in Kuwait years earlier [10]. A Washington Post investigation found the soldiers had been working in a command center with "little protection from overhead strikes," raising immediate questions about force protection failures [11].

"No warning, no siren," CNN's initial report was headlined, describing the devastating speed of the Iranian drone attack on the port facility [6].

President Trump attended the dignified transfer of remains at Dover Air Force Base on March 5, meeting privately with grieving families [12]. "These were incredible people, incredible warriors," Trump told reporters afterward.

How the War Began

The conflict traces back to February 28, 2026, when the United States and Israel launched coordinated strikes against Iran in what Israel codenamed Operation Roaring Lion and the U.S. designated Operation Epic Fury [13]. The stated objectives were the destruction of Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile programs and the elimination of senior Iranian leadership.

The opening salvo was devastating. Using intelligence from the CIA, U.S. and Israeli forces targeted government and military sites across Tehran, Isfahan, Qom, Karaj, and Kermanshah. The strikes killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, along with members of his family, in what was described as a precision attack guided by extensive intelligence gathering [14][15].

The operation came after a turbulent year in the Middle East. In June 2025, a Twelve-Day War between Iran and Israel had killed over 1,200 people and wounded thousands more [16]. Then, in January 2026, Iranian security forces killed thousands of protesters during the largest demonstrations since the Islamic Revolution, with death toll estimates ranging from 3,117 (the Iranian government's figure) to 32,000 (figures cited by President Trump and various Iranian health officials) [16].

By Day 10 of the current campaign, the Israeli military claimed to have achieved "near-complete air superiority," stating it had carried out 2,500 strikes and destroyed 80 percent of Iran's air defense systems [13]. In a dramatic naval engagement, the U.S. submarine USS Charlotte sank the Iranian frigate IRIS Dena in the Indian Ocean — the first ship sunk by a submarine in combat since the Falklands War in 1982 [13].

Iran Strikes Back — and Names a New Leader

Iran's response has been fierce, if asymmetric. Tehran has launched missiles and drones at Israel and at Gulf Arab states hosting U.S. forces, hitting at least 11 American military outposts as well as French and British bases [17]. Saudi Arabia's critical Ras Tanura refinery and export terminal was forced to close. Qatar declared force majeure on its massive gas exports after Iranian drone attacks [18].

On March 8, Iranian state media announced that Mojtaba Khamenei, the 56-year-old son of the slain supreme leader, had been appointed as Iran's new supreme leader by the Assembly of Experts [14][19]. The selection of the younger Khamenei — a hardline cleric whose mother, wife, and sister were also killed in the strike that killed his father — was widely interpreted as a defiant message to Washington and Tel Aviv.

"The appointment signals that Iran's clerical establishment intends to double down on resistance rather than capitulate," said Karim Sadjadpour, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment, quoted by NPR [19]. Mojtaba Khamenei had reportedly survived the intense bombing campaign by not being present at the location targeted in the initial strikes.

Jordan, meanwhile, reported being struck by 119 Iranian missiles and drones, injuring 14 people — an alarming expansion of the conflict's geographic footprint [16].

Congress Fails to Assert War Powers

The mounting American casualties have intensified a fierce debate in Washington over the constitutional authority to wage this war. Democrats, joined by a handful of Republican dissenters, forced votes in both chambers of Congress on War Powers Resolutions demanding the withdrawal of U.S. forces from unauthorized hostilities [20][21].

Both efforts failed. In the Senate, the resolution was defeated 47-53, with Senator John Fetterman the lone Democrat voting against the measure and Senator Rand Paul the only Republican supporting it [20]. In the House, a bipartisan resolution led by Representatives Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) fell 212-219, with four Democrats joining most Republicans to sink it [21].

The Council on Foreign Relations noted the votes represented a broader trend of congressional deference on war-making authority [22]. "Congress had the opportunity to assert its constitutional prerogative and chose instead to cede that authority to the executive," the organization's analysis concluded.

The Trump administration has maintained that the president acted within his existing constitutional authority and under prior congressional authorizations. Critics counter that no Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) explicitly covers operations against Iran and that the scale of the campaign — involving tens of thousands of troops and thousands of airstrikes — clearly constitutes a war requiring congressional approval.

The Oil Shock

The economic reverberations have been immediate and severe. Crude oil prices have surged past $100 a barrel for the first time since 2022, with Brent crude spiking more than 30 percent to $119 at one point [23][24]. Iran's threats to attack tankers passing through the Strait of Hormuz — a chokepoint for 20 percent of the world's oil supply — have paralyzed shipping routes and sent shockwaves through global energy markets.

Source: FRED / U.S. Energy Information Administration

Data as of Mar 9, 2026CSV

American consumers are already feeling the pinch. Average U.S. gasoline prices have risen from approximately $3.00 per gallon before the strikes to $3.45 as of March 9, and analysts warn that oil could reach $150 a barrel by month's end if Strait of Hormuz shipping remains disrupted [24][25]. The suspension of operations at Saudi Aramco's Ras Tanura facility — one of the world's largest crude export terminals — has removed roughly a fifth of global crude and natural gas supply from the market [23].

Stock markets have plunged in response. CBS News reported that stock prices are down sharply even as Trump attempted to reassure investors that the operation was "very far ahead of schedule" [26].

Media Coverage Explosion

The war has dominated global news coverage to a degree not seen since the early days of the Ukraine conflict. Analysis of media monitoring data shows coverage of the "Iran war" exploded from negligible levels in mid-February to unprecedented intensity after strikes began on February 28.

Source: GDELT Project

Data as of Mar 9, 2026CSV

Coverage reached its highest levels on March 9 — the same day the Pentagon identified Pennington and Iran named its new supreme leader — suggesting the convergence of American casualties and Iranian leadership succession has created a particularly intense news cycle.

Military Families in the Dark

For the tens of thousands of U.S. military families with loved ones deployed to the Middle East, the war has brought a familiar but no less agonizing uncertainty. Shannon Razsadin, CEO of the Military Family Advisory Network, told PBS there is "a good amount of stress and anxiety from the community just around the unknowns right now" [27].

The fact that the first six casualties were Army reservists — citizen-soldiers who maintain civilian careers while serving — has resonated particularly deeply. Spc. Coady was a 20-year-old college student. Sgt. 1st Class Amor was a mother from suburban Minnesota. Their deaths have put a human face on the costs of a conflict that many Americans did not expect and some did not want.

Protests have erupted in multiple countries, with demonstrators condemning the attacks and calling for an end to foreign intervention [28]. In the United States, reactions have been more mixed. One veteran activist described communities as being "in shock, confused, concerned" — grappling with competing impulses of patriotic support for deployed troops and growing unease about the war's trajectory.

What Comes Next

As Day 10 draws to a close, the fundamental questions remain unresolved. President Trump has insisted the campaign will be "short-term" and is proceeding ahead of schedule [13][26]. But the appointment of a new hardline supreme leader in Tehran suggests Iran has no intention of capitulating. The economic fallout is accelerating. And the toll on American service members continues to mount.

The Pentagon has confirmed that an eighth U.S. soldier has been killed in the Gulf region, though details have not yet been released [16]. If verified, it would mean the American death toll has more than doubled in a matter of days.

For the family of Benjamin Pennington in Glendale, Kentucky, the strategic calculus is irrelevant. Their 26-year-old son — a sergeant assigned to one of the Army's most forward-looking units, a soldier whose career was still just beginning — is gone. He will come home to Kentucky one final time, draped in the flag he served under.

He will not be the last.