Monday, May 20, 2024
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Mayra Santos-Febres
Mayra Santos-Febres is a Puerto Rican journalist renowned for her incisive reporting and captivating storytelling. With a keen eye for detail, she illuminates societal issues through her insightful journalism, captivating audiences with her compelling narratives.
The soldiers were returned to American soil shortly before the U.S. military responded to the deadly drone attack that American officials say was carried out by the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group of Iran-backed militias that includes the group Kataib Hezbollah. The U.S. began a wave of retaliatory airstrikes Friday, targeting dozens of sites in Iraq and Syria used by Iran-backed militias.
In a statement Friday evening, Biden warned that the U.S. response will “continue at times and places of our choosing.”
“Let all those who might seek to do us harm know this: If you harm an American, we will respond,” the president said.
Rivers, Moffett and Sanders were assigned to the 926th Engineer Battalion, 926th Engineer Brigade, based at Fort Moore, Ga. Sanders and Moffett were posthumously promoted to sergeant rank.
The deaths were the first U.S. fatalities blamed on Iran-backed militia groups, who for months have been intensifying their attacks on American forces in the region following the onset of the Israel-Hamas war in October. Separately, two Navy SEALs died during a January mission to board an unflagged ship that was carrying illicit Iranian-made weapons to Yemen.
“These service members embodied the very best of our nation: Unwavering in their bravery. Unflinching in their duty. Unbending in their commitment to our country — risking their own safety for the safety of their fellow Americans, and our allies and partners with whom we stand in the fight against terrorism,” Biden said earlier this week. “It is a fight we will not cease.”
Rivers, Sanders and Moffett hailed from different corners of Georgia but were brought together in the same company of Army engineers. Sanders and Moffett, in particular, were close friends who regularly popped in on each other’s phone calls with their families back home.
Moffett had turned 23 years old just nine days before she was killed. She had joined the Army Reserves in 2019, but also worked for a home care provider to cook, clean and run errands for people with disabilities.
Sanders, 24, worked at a pharmacy while studying to become an X-ray technician and coached children’s soccer and basketball. She had volunteered for the deployment because she wanted to see different parts of the world, according to her parents.