He was 54 years old, a Sacramento native with more than three decades in uniform, and he died in a drone strike thousands of miles from home. Now Chief Warrant Officer 3 Robert M. Marzan is being remembered as the first Californian killed in the U.S. war against Iran — and, by everyone who knew him, as a man who gave everything to the people around him.
The Department of War confirmed Marzan’s death on March 1, 2026, following an unmanned aircraft system attack in Port Shuaiba, Kuwait, where he was supporting Operation Epic Fury. He was assigned to the 103rd Sustainment Command out of Des Moines, Iowa. He was one of six U.S. Army Reservists killed that day when Iran launched its initial retaliatory strike against a command center in Kuwait — a grim milestone in a conflict that has already reshaped the country’s relationship with military risk.
A Dignified Return
On March 7, a U.S. Army carry team received his remains at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware — the same quiet, flag-draped ritual the country has performed too many times before. The transfer, honored with full military ceremony, marked the official homecoming of a soldier who’d spent over 30 years serving a country he clearly wasn’t done serving.
Marzan graduated from Elk Grove High School and built a life in Sacramento before committing decades to the Army Reserve. He was Filipino American, a husband to Tina, and a father to Felicia, 30. The kind of man, those close to him say, who made everyone around him feel like the most important person in the room. “He would do anything for you,” a family member said, “and family and friends meant the most to him.”
California Mourns
Governor Gavin Newsom and Acting Governor Eleni Kounalakis didn’t wait long to respond. In a joint statement released days after his death, they placed Marzan among the six U.S. service members killed so far in the Iran conflict — a number that, depending on how the next few weeks unfold, may not stay that low for long. “California mourns the loss of Chief Warrant Officer Three Marzan, a courageous Californian whose service to our nation was marked by honor and distinction,” they wrote. “The sacrifices made by military families are immeasurable, and California stands in solidarity with them, united in grief and gratitude.”
It’s the kind of statement that can feel formulaic in the abstract — until you remember there’s a wife and daughter somewhere in Sacramento reading every word of it.
‘A Servant’s Heart’
What does a 30-year soldier look like to the people who love him? Ask his niece. Writing on social media after his death, Fernandez didn’t reach for military language or patriotic abstraction. She went straight to the man himself. “You’re our Hero with a servant’s heart,” she wrote. “You lead with love and bravery, you gave the ultimate sacrifice for our country, an honorable soldier.”
Still, it’s worth sitting with the broader picture. Marzan was 54 years old — not a young recruit, but a seasoned warrant officer with a lifetime of service behind him. He didn’t have to be there. He chose to be. That distinction matters, even if it doesn’t make the loss any easier to absorb.
As the war with Iran continues and the casualty count — however slowly — climbs, Marzan’s name is now permanently part of that ledger. The first Californian. One of six. A man whose family says he led with love.
That’s not a bad epitaph. But it shouldn’t have been written yet.
