The third U.S. soldier killed in an Iranian strike on a base in Jordan has been identified as a 28-year-old New York resident, while a separate service member who died in Iraq has been named as a 30-year-old father of two.
Sgt. Angel S. Rampersad, 28, of Ozone Park, was among three American service members killed Friday when Iranian forces attacked Muwaffaq Salti Air Base, the Pentagon said Tuesday.
Rampersad had initially been listed as missing in action, but officials now say she is “believed to be deceased.” First Lieutenant Tyler James Feehan, 25, and Private Isabella Gonzales, 19, were also killed in the attack.
Rampersad served in the same unit as Gonzales: the 10th Army Air & Missile Defense Command, which is based in Ansbach, Germany.
Separately, the U.S. soldier killed in Iraq over the weekend during the controlled detonation of an Iranian drone was identified Tuesday as Sgt. Michael Emmanuel Swinton, a North Carolina father who had served in the Army for nearly 10 years.
Swinton, 30, will be posthumously awarded the Bronze Star, Purple Heart and Combat Action Badge, and will also be promoted to staff sergeant. The Army said it is still investigating the circumstances surrounding his death Sunday at an air base in Irbil.
His mother said Swinton leaves behind two young children: a 6-year-old son and a 4-year-old daughter.
“I will never recover from this,” his wife, Mia Gonzalez-Swinton, wrote Monday on Facebook. “We had so many plans for when you got back, I’m sick to my stomach.” She said she was informed Sunday that her husband had been killed.
Sgt. Michael Emmanuel Swinton, a 30-year-old father from North Carolina, was killed in Iraq during a controlled detonation of an Iranian drone
Private Isabella Gonzales, 19, and First Lieutenant Tyler James Feehan, 25, were also killed when Iranian forces attacked the Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan on Friday
‘His legacy will live on through the countless lives he touched, the laughter he shared, the strength he gave others, and the unconditional love he poured into his family,’ she said via text message. ‘He will forever be missed, forever honored, and forever our hero.’
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Swinton enlisted in the Army in 2017 and was assigned to the 55th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 108th Air Defense Artillery Brigade, out of Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
He lived in Spring Lake, a popular off-base location for Fort Bragg families, according to pubic records. The military gave his hometown as Fayetteville, another nearby community.
‘Sgt. Swinton was an experienced noncommissioned officer who took great pride in his work and the people around him,’ said Brig. Gen. John L. Dawber, commanding general of the Army Air and Missile Defense Command. ‘He answered the call to duty with courage, honor, and selfless dedication.’
A total of 18 US servicemembers have been killed since the war against Iran began in late February.
Despite a brief ceasefire, hostilities were re-enflamed last week after Iranian forces fired on a commercial ship traversing the Strait of Hormuz, through which one-fifth of the world’s oil supply passes.
The US fired back at Iran in the aftermath, and the renewed strikes between the two countries have now continued for an 11th straight night on Tuesday as Iran kept up its attacks against US allies in the region and once again struck a tanker in the strait, forcing the crew to abandon the ship.
As day broke in the Middle East, sirens in Bahrain and Kuwait warned residents of incoming projectiles.
An Iranian missile was launched on Tuesday
US Central Command said on Tuesday it had conducted precision strikes targeting Iranian military capabilities the night before
At the same time, Iran-backed Yemen’s Houthi rebels declared a naval blockade of Saudi Arabia, threatening the flow of global oil supplies and trade.
With the Strait of Hormuz blocked up, the kingdom has been relying on a pipeline to the Red Sea to get millions of barrels of oil out to market.
A news agency in Yemen that is run by the Houthis, SABA, said Tuesday that six ships in the Red Sea were forced to reroute after they received warnings from the rebel group.
Three Houthi officials told the Associated Press the group warned international shipping companies on Monday to avoid transiting through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the gateway to the Red Sea on the opposite side of the Arabian Peninsula from the Strait of Hormuz.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated.
