Pentagon names North Carolina sergeant as third soldier killed in Iran’s weekend strikes

Published July 21, 2026 11:06am ET



The Pentagon on Tuesday identified the third soldier killed as part of the Iran war over the weekend as a sergeant from North Carolina

Sgt. Michael Emmanuel Swinton, 30, of Fayetteville, was killed while dismantling a downed Iranian one-way attack drone on Sunday at Erbil Air Base in Iraq, according to the War Department. Swinton was an active-duty soldier who was supporting overseas operations at the Erbil base, a key hub for U.S. forces in Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan region.

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