The Pentagon released the names of the three American soldiers killed in an unmanned drone strike on a base in northeastern Jordan on Sunday.
In a news release Monday, the Department of Defense said Sgt. William Jerome Rivers, 46, of Carrollton, Georgia; Spc. Kennedy Ladon Sanders, 24, of Waycross, Georgia, and Spc. Breonna Alexsondria Moffett, 23, of Savannah, Georgia, died January 28, 2024 in Jordan. The attack occurred when “a single-use unmanned aerial system (OWUAS) struck their container shelters,” the Pentagon said.
Sergeant. William Jerome Rivers, Spc. Kennedy Ladon Sanders and Spc. Breonna Alexsondria Moffett died on January 28, 2024 in Jordan. Ministry of Defense
Spc. Moffett's mother, Francine Moffett, released a statement saying, “Breonna was a very smart, beautiful young woman. She loved to laugh, she was out and about, she had lots of friends that she just loved. She was always smiling and just made you smile.” She always knew the military would be a part of her life and she wore her uniform proudly. She loved her siblings so much. She loved telling people she was a drum major in the Marching Knights of Windsor Forest and loved the ROTC. Our hearts and your souls are broken. After her tour, she wanted to come back and volunteer with the ROTC program and serve as a mentor. She just loves helping people.”
Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh told reporters on Monday that the attack appeared to be different from previous attacks because of the location and timing – in living quarters and “fairly early in the morning.”
Click here to view related media.
Click to expand
“People were actually lying in their beds when the drone hit,” she said.
Singh also blamed a militia backed by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps for the drone strike. The US said the groups were active in Syria and Iraq. She said the attack left “footprints” of Kataib Hezbollah, but said a final assessment had not yet been made, adding that U.S. forces would respond “at a time and place of their choosing.”
The department says the attack is under investigation.
Later on Monday, a US official said that the drone used in the attack appeared to be an Iranian drone, a “type of Shahed drone” – which is the type of disposable attack drone that Iran provides to Russia has provided.
How will the US respond to the deadly attack in Jordan?
The attack occurred at an outpost called Tower 22, where about 350 U.S. Army and Air Force personnel are stationed, according to the Defense Department.
U.S. Central Command said Sunday evening that at least 34 had been injured, but on Monday Singh said the number was now over 40. Eight of the wounded soldiers were evacuated – some were in critical condition, but all were stable, a defense official told CBS News.
The killed and injured troops were in their sleeping quarters at the base when the drone strike took place in the early hours of the morning.
The attack is considered the deadliest attack on US soldiers since 13 Americans died in a suicide bombing in Kabul as the US withdrew from Afghanistan in 2021.
Kaia Hubbard, Stefan Becket, Margaret Brennan, David Martin, Nancy Cordes and Christina Ruffini contributed reporting.
More from CBS News
Eleanor Watson