Pentagon identifies New York soldier believed killed in Jordan attack
Sgt. Angel S. Rampersad, 28, is believed to be the missing U.S. soldier from an Iranian attack on Muwaffaq Salti Air Base.
By Frankie Delgado · News Reporter
3 min read
The U.S. military has identified Sgt. Angel S. Rampersad of New York as the third American service member believed to have died after an Iranian attack on an air base in Jordan.
Rampersad, 28, is believed to have been killed in action on July 17 during an enemy strike at Muwaffaq Salti Air Base, the Pentagon said in a statement. The department said the incident remains under investigation.
U.S. Central Command initially said two service members had been killed in the attack and one was missing. A day later, the command said troops had recovered unidentified remains and had begun the process of examining them.
The Pentagon said Rampersad is now believed to be the missing soldier. Her status has been changed from “Duty Status-Whereabouts Unknown” to “believed to be deceased,” according to the department.
Rampersad was an active-duty soldier supporting overseas operations in Jordan, the Pentagon said. She was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 57th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 52nd Air Defense Artillery Brigade, 10th Army Air & Missile Defense Command, based in Ansbach, Germany.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul paid tribute to Rampersad on X, saying her heart was with Rampersad’s family, loved ones and fellow soldiers as they mourned. Hochul said New York was grieving “the loss of one of our own.”
Other U.S. deaths tied to the conflict
Rampersad’s death brings the number of U.S. service members killed since the war began to 18, according to NBC News.
The Defense Department previously identified two other soldiers killed by Iranian strikes in Jordan as 1st Lt. Tyler James Feehan, 25, of Hawaii, and Pvt. Isabella Gonzales, 19, of Texas. The Pentagon did not release details about the exact circumstances of their deaths.
Feehan and Gonzales were assigned to Army missile defense commands at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and Ansbach, Germany, respectively, according to the Pentagon. The department said they were serving as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, the long-running mission launched in 2014 to counter ISIS.
NBC News reported that they were the first known U.S. troop deaths from direct Iranian fire since the early days of the conflict.
A fourth service member, Sgt. Michael Emmanuel Swinton, 30, died Sunday in a separate incident in Erbil, Iraq, during a controlled detonation of an attack drone, according to the report.
Conflict keeps widening
The identification of Rampersad came as the U.S. military carried out strikes on targets across Iran for an 11th consecutive night Tuesday, NBC News reported.
Iran has answered by striking U.S. allies in the region, along with American bases and military facilities across the Middle East, according to NBC News.
President Donald Trump told reporters Sunday that U.S. service members were “out there fighting that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.” Trump is expected to attend a dignified transfer ceremony Wednesday at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware for service members returning to the United States in flag-draped caskets.
In Washington on Tuesday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told lawmakers the Iran war has cost $37.5 billion so far, according to NBC News. He said the Trump administration needs nearly twice that amount to continue military operations in the coming months.
At least 3,375 people have been killed in Iran since military operations began, Iran’s state-affiliated news media reported, citing a senior judicial official.
This story draws on original reporting from NBC News.