Thirteen American service members are dead. Roughly 140 more have been wounded. And the United States is less than two weeks into Operation Epic Fury.
The toll from the U.S. military’s campaign in the Middle East has climbed sharply since the operation’s opening hours on March 1, 2026, when Iranian strikes across the region killed three service members and seriously wounded five others in what the Pentagon initially described as the first casualties of the conflict. Since then, the deaths have come in waves — drone strikes, aerial incidents, and wounds that couldn’t be survived — painting a grim picture of a war that’s still in its earliest, most volatile days.
A Death Toll That Kept Climbing
It started with three. By March 2, the count had reached six killed in action, with identities withheld as families were being notified. Then came the seventh. A service member wounded during the Iranian regime’s initial strikes on March 1 — at Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia — lost his fight a week later. “Last night, a U.S. service member passed away from injuries received during the Iranian regime’s initial attacks across the Middle East,” the Pentagon announced, a statement as sparse as it was devastating.
Among those confirmed dead: Sgt. Benjamin N. Pennington, killed March 8 at Prince Sultan Air Base, and Maj. Jeffrey R. O’Brien, who died March 1 in a drone attack at Port Shuaiba, Kuwait. Their names have been added to a list that military officials say is still being updated as next-of-kin notifications are completed.
Six Airmen Lost in a Single Crash
Then came March 12 — the single deadliest day of the operation so far. All six crew members aboard a KC-135 refueling aircraft were killed when the plane went down in western Iraq. The Department of War confirmed the crash, saying it occurred following an incident involving two aircraft in friendly airspace — a detail that raises uncomfortable questions about what, exactly, went wrong up there.
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine took to social media shortly after, noting that three of the six airmen were from his state, deployed with the Ohio Air National Guard’s 121st Air Refueling Wing. The crash, confirmed by multiple officials, pushed the total American death toll in Operation Epic Fury to 13.
140 Wounded. Eight Severely.
How bad is the overall damage? Bad enough that the Pentagon felt compelled to address it directly at a press briefing last Tuesday. Around 140 U.S. service members have been wounded in the first ten days of the operation, with eight of those injuries described as severe. The figures were disclosed alongside a notably bullish assessment from military leadership. “We’re crushing the enemy in an overwhelming display of technical skill and military force,” a senior official told reporters. “We will not relent until the enemy is totally and decisively defeated.”
That’s the kind of language that sounds good in a briefing room. Still, it’s worth noting that the early days of the campaign have already cost more American lives than many recent operations did in their entirety — and the conflict shows no sign of a near-term resolution.
What Comes Next
The Pentagon hasn’t released a comprehensive accounting of all 13 deaths, and the circumstances surrounding several casualties — particularly the KC-135 crash — remain under investigation. Iranian strikes have been blamed for at least seven of the fatalities, while the aerial incident over western Iraq adds a layer of operational complexity that the military will need to reckon with publicly, and soon.
Thirteen names. Thirteen families. And a war that, by every available measure, is just getting started.
