Iowa soldier Declan Coady was one of the first U.S. soldiers killed in the nation’s war in Iran, and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said the country will “avenge” his loss.
Coady, a 20-year-old Army Reservist from West Des Moines, and three other soldiers assigned to the 103rd Sustainment Command, based out of Des Moines, were killed in an Iranian drone strike at Shuaiba Port in Kuwait on March 1. Hegseth said in a news conference early morning Wednesday, March 4, that the U.S. military will avenge their deaths.
Two other U.S. soldiers were killed in the strike. However, neither Hegseth nor Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff who accompanied him Wednesday, identified the other fallen because notification procedures for their families were still underway.
“And sadly, as we projected, a few [drones] got through and killed six of our best, who will hopefully arrive home soon,” Hegseth said.
US will set terms of war in Iran, Hegseth says
In his over 10‑minute opening address, Hegseth argued that U.S. and Israeli strikes that killed some of the country’s top leadership and oblitered weapons facilities had left Iran’s military demoralized and its forces unable to “mount a coordinated and sustained offensive.”
Toward the end, he turned his attention to how he believes the media has been portraying the Operation “Epic Fury.”
“But when a few drones get through, or tragic things happen. It’s front page news,” Hegseth said. “I get it, the press only wants to make the president look bad, but try for once to report the reality: The terms of this war will be set by us at every step.”
Who was Declan Coady?
The West Des Moines native had served in the U.S. Army Reserve since 2023 as an Information Technologies Specialist after graduating from Valley High School. Coady was posthumously promoted to sergeant.
He joined the Army Reserves while studying information systems, cybersecurity and computer science at Drake University, where he was a sophomore.
Coady, who would have turned 21 on May 5, loved gaming, going to the gym and camping and hiking with his family.
He could have been exempt from deployment because he was in ROTC, but still deployed to Kuwait, leaving in August 2025. His father said he was looking into active duty after his deployment. “That’s how much he loved it,” he said.
A GoFundMe has been set up to support his family.
“Declan was more than a soldier — he was a son, a family member, a friend, and a light in the lives of those who knew him,” the GoFundMe’s description reads. “He served his country with honor, courage, and dedication, embodying the very best of what it means to wear the uniform.”
Des Moines Register reporters Kevin Baskins and Kyle Werner contributed to this report.
Cooper Worth is a service/trending reporter for the Des Moines Register. Reach him at cworth@gannett.com or follow him on X @CooperAWorth.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: ‘We will avenge them,’ Pete Hegseth says of soldiers killed in Kuwait
Reporting by Cooper Worth, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
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