The Pentagon removed three troops killed in Jordan and one killed in Iraq from the list of casualties related to Operation Epic Fury in the Defense Casualty Analysis System.
Before Thursday, the system listed the total number of U.S. service members killed in the Iran war as 18, accounting for the casualties in Iraq and Jordan, but the total is now reported as 14.
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Sgt. Angel S. Rampersad, 1st Lt. Tyler Feehan, and Pvt. Isabella Gonzales were killed in an Iranian missile attack on July 17 on Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan. Sgt. Michael Emmanuel Swinton was killed while dismantling a downed Iranian one-way attack drone on Sunday at Erbil Air Base in Iraq.
According to the New York Times, which spoke to three military officials, the four were removed from the casualties list because their deaths occurred during a period in which President Donald Trump had declared a ceasefire.
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell blamed “temporary data disruptions” for the lowered figure.
“The Department of War is aware of temporary data disruptions on the Defense Casualty Analysis System (DCAS) website. These site anomalies are currently being resolved in coordination with the Military Services. The Department attempted to explain the anomalies to the New York Times ahead of publication, but given their lack of knowledge in this area, they proceeded to write a non-story that will be fixed imminently. We remain committed to ensuring the utmost accuracy of all casualty reporting,” Parnell said.
Trump included the four service members in the casualty count when discussing the war earlier in the day. In comparing the Iran war to past conflicts, Trump noted that he participated in the dignified transfer of “four great American patriots” killed in Iran.
“It’s 18,” Trump said. “Whereas in Vietnam we lost 200,000.”
Earlier in the week, Trump framed the killing of those in Jordan as avoidable. The president had implied their death would not have happened if there had been “other operators.”
War Secretary Pete Hegseth suggested that Democrats lack the “political courage” to support U.S. troops in a fiery Senate hearing on Tuesday about the department’s $67 billion supplemental budget request.
“Why don’t you give us the money?” Hegseth said during a shouting match at the hearing. “You want to stand up here and talk about the troops? You won’t show any political courage to actually fund our department because you have Trump derangement syndrome and can’t actually commit to anything meaningful.”
There has been little information released from the Department of War about U.S. operations in Iran since the ceasefire agreement between Washington and Tehran fell apart. While service member deaths are legally required to be reported, injuries are not.
TIMELINE: ALL THE INCIDENTS WHERE US TROOPS HAVE BEEN KILLED DURING THE IRAN WAR
U.S. officials told the New York Times that the Pentagon withheld information about three Iranian strikes last week in Jordan that injured dozens of U.S. service members and damaged several helicopters.
According to the Pentagon’s casualty reporting system, roughly 420 troops, mostly in the Army, have been wounded in Iran. Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said nearly 100 U.S. service members have sustained injuries since July 7. He said most were from minor concussions, with 96% of soldiers returning to duty.
