US Army Sgt. Benjamin N. Pennington.

US Army Sgt. Benjamin N. Pennington.
US ARMY/AFP/Getty Images

A US soldier died after sustaining injuries during an attack last week in Saudi Arabia, the military said, bringing the number of American troops killed in the Iran war to seven.

The military on Monday identified the service member as Army Sgt. Benjamin N. Pennington, 26, of Glendale, Kentucky. Pennington, who was injured at Prince Sultan Air Base, was assigned to 1st Space Battalion, 1st Space Brigade, a unit within Army Space and Missile Defense Command.

“Last night, a U.S. service member passed away from injuries received during the Iranian regime’s initial attacks across the Middle East,” US Central Command said Sunday on X. “The service member was seriously wounded at the scene of an attack on U.S. troops in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on March 1.”

The news of the fallen service member came a day after the dignified transfer for the six soldiers who were killed last week in Kuwait. President Donald Trump and other top officials joined the families of those troops at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware as the soldiers were brought home.

That strike, which came without warning, occurred on a makeshift operations center at the civilian port of Shuaiba in Kuwait on March 1. All six soldiers were assigned with the 103rd Sustainment Command, an Army Reserve unit out of Iowa.

The president told ABC on Sunday the meeting with the families of the six troops did not give him pause about the war.

“The parents would be upset if I did that,” he said. “The parents said to me, every one of them, ‘Please sir, win this for my boy,’ and in one case a young woman, as you know. ‘Please, win this for my child.’”

The president has previously said there will likely be more US casualties in the Iran war. Asked Saturday whether he thought he would have to attend more dignified transfers, Trump said, “I’m sure. I hate to … but it’s a part of war.”

In Hardin County, Kentucky, flags are flying at half-staff at county government buildings, grounds and facilities in Pennington’s honor.

Hardin County Judge-Executive Keith Taul said he had known Pennington’s father for decades and the family is “hurting pretty bad right now.”

Pennington “gave the ultimate sacrifice for the country he loved,” Lt. Gen. Sean A. Gainey, commanding general of Army Space and Missile Defense Command, said in a statement. “That makes him nothing less than a hero, and he will always be remembered that way.”

Pennington enlisted in the US Army in 2017 and was assigned to the 1st Space Battalion, 1st Space Brigade on June 10, 2025, according to the military’s statement. He received multiple awards over the course of his service and will be posthumously promoted to staff sergeant.

The US Space Command said in a statement, “We mourn a life cut short and extend our heartfelt gratitude and sympathies to the family, friends, and community of Sgt. Pennington as we honor his ultimate sacrifice.”

CENTCOM also announced Sunday in a separate social media post a US National Guard soldier died in a “health-related incident in Kuwait on March 6 during a medical emergency.”

Maj. Sorffly Davius, 46, of Queens, New York, died at Camp Buehring, the Pentagon said. The incident is under investigation. Davius was a New York City police officer since 2014, the department said.