THEY SAY NO ONE WAS HURT. IT HAS NOW BEEN MORE THAN 24 HOURS SINCE WE LEARNED THE NAMES OF THE TWO REMAINING U.S. SOLDIERS KILLED IN SUNDAY’S ATTACK IN KUWAIT. WE LEARNED THE NAMES OF FOUR SOLDIERS TUESDAY, AND SINCE THAT TIME, KCCI HAS WORKED TO LEARN MORE ABOUT EACH OF THE SOLDIERS AND THEIR LEGACIES. YOU SEE THEIR PICTURES ON YOUR SCREEN RIGHT NOW. 45 YEAR OLD MAJOR JEFFREY O’BRIEN, 35 YEAR OLD CAPTAIN CODY KIRK, 54 YEAR OLD CHIEF WARRANT OFFICER THREE ROBERT MARZEN AND 39 YEAR OLD SERGEANT FIRST CLASS NIKOLA MOORE. 42 YEAR OLD SERGEANT FIRST CLASS NOAH JONES AND 20 YEAR-OLD SERGEANT DECLAN CODY. THE SOLDIERS WERE ALL ASSIGNED TO THE ARMY RESERVE, 103RD EXPEDITIONARY SUSTAINMENT COMMAND. THE HEADQUARTERS IS AT FORT DES MOINES ON THE CITY’S SOUTH SIDE. THAT’S WHERE WE FIND KCCI ABIGAIL CROTON LIVE THIS EVENING. ABIGAIL. PEOPLE FROM ALL WALKS OF LIFE ARE FEELING THIS LOSS. ABSOLUTELY. FROM IOWA AND BEYOND. FROM CYBERSECURITY EXPERTS TO SOLDIERS. EVEN EAGLE SCOUTS ARE FEELING THE GRIEF AND LOSS THAT IS IMPACTING ALL OF THE COMMUNITIES THAT KNEW THE SOLDIERS. WE SPOKE WITH A FEW OF THEM TO LEARN WHAT THE SOLDIER’S LASTING LEGACIES WILL BE HERE AT HOME. WE KNOW THEM AS SOLDIERS, MEN AND WOMEN BRAVE ENOUGH TO GIVE THEIR LIVES FOR THEIR COUNTRIES, BUT THEIR IDENTITIES EXTEND FAR BEYOND THEIR SERVICE. LIKE MAJOR JEFFREY O’BRIEN OF WAUKEE, HE’S GOING TO BE REMEMBERED AS A FAMILY GUY. WHILE BRANDON POTTER, CTO OF CYBERSECURITY COMPANY PRO CIRCULAR, ONLY WORKED WITH HIM FOR ABOUT A YEAR. HIS LEGACY OF SERVICE AND HIS LOVE FOR HIS FAMILY LIVES ON. 90% OF OUR CONVERSATIONS, IF NOT 100% OF OUR CONVERSATIONS, INVOLVE DISCUSSIONS ABOUT FAMILY, HIS KIDS, HIS WIFE, WHAT THEY WERE PLANNING TO DO THIS WEEKEND. THE SAME GOES FOR SERGEANT DECLAN CODY. HE LOVED EVERYTHING. HE ALWAYS HAD A SMILE ON HIS FACE. CODY ACCOMPLISHED A LOT IN HIS SHORT 20 YEARS, INCLUDING BECOMING AN EAGLE SCOUT, THE HIGHEST RANK IN BOY SCOUTS. HE HELPED MAKE 12 ADIRONDACK CHAIRS FOR AN ORGANIZATION THAT HELPS HOMELESS CHILDREN IN IOWA. A FIERCE SENSE OF SELFLESSNESS THAT HE CARRIED INTO HIS SERVICE, WHETHER IT WAS AT A SCOUT MEETING LEADING A YOUNGER GROUP OF KIDS TO AT A CAMPOUT, NEEDING SOMETHING COOKED, OR AGAIN, TAKING A SMALL, YOUNGER GROUP OF KIDS ON A HIKE OR WHATEVER. YOU KNOW, I COULD RELY ON DECLAN TO DO THAT TYPE OF STUFF AS WELL AS MY OWN SON. IOWA VETERANS ARE ALSO FEELING THE LOSS. LUKE DICKENS, WHO SERVED IN THE 103RD COMMAND IN THE 90S AND AGAIN IN 2006, SAYS REGARDLESS OF WHETHER THE DECEASED WERE NATIVE IOWANS, ALL OF THE SOLDIERS SPENT SIGNIFICANT TIME IN CENTRAL IOWA. THESE PEOPLE, IF THEY DIDN’T LIVE IN IOWA, THEY SPENT A LOT OF TIME HERE AND THEIR COMMAND WAS OUT OF IOWA, YOU KNOW, AND THE ROOTS IN IOWA GO BACK, WHICH IS WHY HE HOPES IOWA WILL RECOGNIZE THEIR CONTRIBUTIONS. IT HURTS TO KNOW THAT WE LOST SIX SOLDIERS FROM A UNIT IN DES MOINES, IOWA. AND AND I HOPE THEY GET THE RECOGNITION THAT THEY DESERVE AND HONOR THEM FOR WHAT THEY WERE HOMEGROWN HEROES. THERE WERE SEVERAL OTHER SOLDIERS SERVING IN KUWAIT AS PART OF THE 103RD COMMAND THAT WERE INJURED. HOWEVER, AS OF TODAY, ALL NINE OF THEM ARE IN GERMANY RECEIVING MEDICAL CARE IN DES MOINES. ABIGAIL CURTIN, KCCI EIGHT NEWS. IOWA’S NEWS LEADER. THE REMAINS OF THE FALLEN SOLDIERS WILL RETURN TO THE U.S. THIS WEEKEND. THE DIGNIFIED TRANSFER WILL HAPPEN SATURDAY AT DOVER AIR FORCE BASE IN DELAWARE. THAT ANNOUNCEMENT WAS MADE BY IOWA THIRD DISTRICT CONGRESSMAN ZACH NUNN. HE SAYS HE WILL BE THERE. PRESIDENT TRUMP AND GOVERNOR REYNOLDS ALSO PLAN TO ATTEND, AND KCCI PLAN
Dignified transfer of 6 US soldiers killed in action to be held Saturday at Dover Air Force Base
Updated: 10:34 PM CST Mar 5, 2026
The dignified transfer of six U.S. soldiers killed during the ongoing conflict in the Middle East will be held Saturday at Dover Air Force Base, according to an Iowa congressman.The ritual is a transfer of remains of U.S. troops killed during their military service and is one of the most solemn acts for any president. The White House has said Trump will attend.“This Saturday, I will attend the dignified transfer at Dover Air Force Base to honor the brave Americans who were killed in action and stand with their families during this solemn moment,” Rep. Zach Nunn, R-Iowa, said in a statement Thursday.It was part of a statement in which he confirmed that a separate political event featuring Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth would be postponed.Maj. Jeffrey O’Brien, 45, of Indianola, and Sgt. Declan Coady, 20, of West Des Moines, were among six Army Reservists who died. All were assigned to the 103rd Sustainment Command, which provides food, fuel, water and ammunition, transport equipment and supplies.Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds on Thursday lamented the loss of O’Brien and Coady, as well as two Iowa National Guard soldiers who were killed in a December ambush in Syria.“I believe in the mission right now,” Reynolds, a Republican, said during a news conference, her voice breaking at times.“I think it was the right thing to do,” she said, referring to U.S. and Israeli strikes against Iran. “Just look at what Iran has done over the last several years. Hopefully we’re in and out. I believe that’s the goal of this administration.” Reynolds said she has spoken with Coady’s father and O’Brien’s wife.“As you can imagine, they’re heartbroken and as Iowans, we grieve with them,” she said, adding that some injured soldiers have been safely transported to Germany.What is a ‘dignified transfer’?While presidents often attend such events, a dignified transfer is not a formal ceremony. Instead, it is a solemn process meant to ensure dignity, honor and respect for fallen service members.A dignified transfer occurs when the remains of U.S. troops killed while supporting combat operations arrive in the United States, most often at Dover Air Force Base. Each transfer case, draped with an American flag, is carefully carried from the aircraft to an awaiting transport vehicle by a carry team made up of service members from the fallen troops’ branch. A senior-ranking officer presides over the transfer.Once on the ground, the transfer cases are moved individually to waiting vehicles and transported to the mortuary facility at Dover Air Force Base.There, the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System conducts positive identification and prepares the fallen service members for their final resting place.More coverageNearly 15 years of serviceO’Brien was promoted to major in August 2024, according to a Facebook post. He served in the Army Reserve for nearly 15 years, according to his LinkedIn.The signal officer and information systems engineer in the Army Reserve was a manager of defensive cyber operations at an Iowa-based cybersecurity company, according to his LinkedIn. He had a career spanning two decades in information and cybersecurity.O’Brien is survived by a wife and children, according to his aunt, Mary Melchert, who posted on Facebook. Melchert said O’Brien “was the sweetest blue-eyed, blonde farm kid you’d ever know. He is so missed already.”‘He loved being a soldier’Coady had been checking in with his family from Kuwait every hour or two after the U.S. and Israel launched their military campaign against Iran, even as Iran launched retaliatory strikes.When he didn’t respond to messages Sunday, “most of us started to wonder,” Coady’s father, Andrew, told The Associated Press. “Your gut starts to get a feeling.”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,” Andrew Coady said. “He was also one of the most kindest people you would ever meet, and he would do anything and everything for anyone.”Declan Coady, an Eagle Scout, 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.”
The dignified transfer of six U.S. soldiers killed during the ongoing conflict in the Middle East will be held Saturday at Dover Air Force Base, according to an Iowa congressman.
The ritual is a transfer of remains of U.S. troops killed during their military service and is one of the most solemn acts for any president. The White House has said Trump will attend.
“This Saturday, I will attend the dignified transfer at Dover Air Force Base to honor the brave Americans who were killed in action and stand with their families during this solemn moment,” Rep. Zach Nunn, R-Iowa, said in a statement Thursday.
It was part of a statement in which he confirmed that a separate political event featuring Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth would be postponed.
Maj. Jeffrey O’Brien, 45, of Indianola, and Sgt. Declan Coady, 20, of West Des Moines, were among six Army Reservists who died. All were assigned to the 103rd Sustainment Command, which provides food, fuel, water and ammunition, transport equipment and supplies.
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds on Thursday lamented the loss of O’Brien and Coady, as well as two Iowa National Guard soldiers who were killed in a December ambush in Syria.
“I believe in the mission right now,” Reynolds, a Republican, said during a news conference, her voice breaking at times.
“I think it was the right thing to do,” she said, referring to U.S. and Israeli strikes against Iran. “Just look at what Iran has done over the last several years. Hopefully we’re in and out. I believe that’s the goal of this administration.”
Reynolds said she has spoken with Coady’s father and O’Brien’s wife.
“As you can imagine, they’re heartbroken and as Iowans, we grieve with them,” she said, adding that some injured soldiers have been safely transported to Germany.
What is a ‘dignified transfer’?
While presidents often attend such events, a dignified transfer is not a formal ceremony. Instead, it is a solemn process meant to ensure dignity, honor and respect for fallen service members.
A dignified transfer occurs when the remains of U.S. troops killed while supporting combat operations arrive in the United States, most often at Dover Air Force Base. Each transfer case, draped with an American flag, is carefully carried from the aircraft to an awaiting transport vehicle by a carry team made up of service members from the fallen troops’ branch. A senior-ranking officer presides over the transfer.
Once on the ground, the transfer cases are moved individually to waiting vehicles and transported to the mortuary facility at Dover Air Force Base.
There, the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System conducts positive identification and prepares the fallen service members for their final resting place.
More coverage
Nearly 15 years of service
O’Brien was promoted to major in August 2024, according to a Facebook post. He served in the Army Reserve for nearly 15 years, according to his LinkedIn.
The signal officer and information systems engineer in the Army Reserve was a manager of defensive cyber operations at an Iowa-based cybersecurity company, according to his LinkedIn. He had a career spanning two decades in information and cybersecurity.
O’Brien is survived by a wife and children, according to his aunt, Mary Melchert, who posted on Facebook. Melchert said O’Brien “was the sweetest blue-eyed, blonde farm kid you’d ever know. He is so missed already.”
‘He loved being a soldier’
Coady had been checking in with his family from Kuwait every hour or two after the U.S. and Israel launched their military campaign against Iran, even as Iran launched retaliatory strikes.
When he didn’t respond to messages Sunday, “most of us started to wonder,” Coady’s father, Andrew, told The Associated Press. “Your gut starts to get a feeling.”
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,” Andrew Coady said. “He was also one of the most kindest people you would ever meet, and he would do anything and everything for anyone.”
Declan Coady, an Eagle Scout, 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.”