A U.S. soldier killed in Iraq during a was a 30-year-old father from North Carolina who had served for nearly a decade, according to a military statement Tuesday and his family.
Sgt. Michael Emmanuel Swinton, of Fayetteville, will receive a Bronze Star, Purple Heart and Combat Action Badge, and will be promoted posthumously to staff sergeant. The Army said it was investigating the circumstances of his death Sunday at an air base in Irbil.
He leaves behind a 6-year-old son and a 4-year-old daughter, his mother said.
鈥淚 will never recover from this, you should be home,鈥� his wife, Mia Gonzalez-Swinton, posted Monday on Facebook. 鈥淲e had so many plans for when you got back, I鈥檓 sick to my stomach.鈥� She said she was notified Sunday that he had been killed.
Two U.S. Army soldiers were also killed in Jordan last week while defending against . They were the first U.S. troop deaths from direct Iranian fire since the opening days of the war.
Swinton鈥檚 mother, Christel Swinton Andujar, told on Tuesday that her son’s family was 鈥渢he center of his world.鈥�
鈥淓very decision he made and every sacrifice he endured was with them in his heart,鈥� she told the television station from her home near Fort Bragg.
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.
鈥淪gt. Swinton was an experienced noncommissioned officer who took great pride in his work and the people around him,鈥� said Brig. Gen. John L. Dawber, commanding general of the Army Air and Missile Defense Command. 鈥淗e answered the call to duty with courage, honor, and selfless dedication.鈥�
is now in its 10th day, with both sides launching barrages of strikes. Iran has attacked U.S. allies in the region, and American soldiers are stationed across the Middle East.
The Defense Department identified as 1st Lt. Tyler James Feehan, 25, of Ewa Beach, Hawaii, and Pvt. Isabella Gonzales, 19, of Carrollton, Texas. They were also with Army Air and Missile Defense Command units.
A third service member was reported missing after the attack. U.S. Central Command, which oversees the Middle East, said 鈥渦nidentified remains鈥� have been found and were being examined.
Iranian authorities say U.S. strikes in just the past three weeks have killed at least 50 people and wounded more than 500 others.
Both sides have targeted civilian infrastructure relied on by millions of people. Workers on ships, as well as foreign workers and others in Gulf nations, Israel and Lebanon have also died in the conflict.
The U.S. State Department said in a new warning to Americans that 鈥淚ran and groups supportive of Iran may target other U.S. interests overseas or at locations associated with the United States and Americans throughout the world.鈥�
U.S. President has said the war is necessary to stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons. Trump, a Republican, now faces political pressure to bring the war to a close and avoid the kind of prolonged Middle East conflict he had campaigned against. The escalation has pushed oil prices higher in recent weeks.
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This story was corrected to show Sgt. Michael Emmanuel Swinton died Sunday, not Saturday, as earlier reported by the military.
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