She had already started counting down the days.
Sgt. 1st Class Nicole Amor was just days away from returning home to her husband and two children when she was killed in a drone strike in Kuwait. She was 39 years old.
Amor was an avid gardener who enjoyed making salsa from the peppers and tomatoes in her garden with her son, a senior in high school. To those who knew her, she was not just a soldier — she was a mother, a wife, and a woman deeply rooted in the simple joys of home life.
Her death is among the most heartbreaking to emerge from a devastating week for the U.S. military. All six service members were assigned to the 103rd Sustainment Command, an Army Reserve sustainment unit out of Iowa, and were serving at a fortified tactical operation center when a projectile broke through air defenses in an attack that came without warning.
Amor enlisted in the National Guard as an automated logistics specialist in 2005, transferred to the Reserve in 2006, and had previously deployed to Kuwait and Iraq in 2019. She was a decorated soldier, earning numerous commendations throughout her two-decade career.
Her husband Joey spoke publicly about the loss. “You don’t go to Kuwait thinking something’s going to happen, and for her to be one of the first — it hurts,” he said.
The five other fallen service members also leave behind families who are now processing an unimaginable grief. Among them was Capt. Cody A. Khork, 35, of Winter Haven, Florida, remembered by family as “the life of the party” with an infectious spirit and deep care for others. Staff Sgt. Noah Tietjens, 42, of Bellevue, Nebraska, was described by fellow soldiers as someone who made everyone around him feel important and who mentored others throughout his career. Maj. Jeffrey O’Brien, 45, of Indianola, Iowa, served in the reserves for 17 years and leaves behind a wife and three children.
Sgt. Declan J. Coady, just 20 years old, was a sophomore at Drake University studying cybersecurity, taking online classes while deployed in Kuwait. He had told his father the week before his death that he had been recommended for a promotion — one he received posthumously.
The Army’s message is clear: these were not faceless soldiers. They were parents, children, students, neighbors, and friends who answered their country’s call — and paid the ultimate price.
They will not be forgotten.
