US identifies soldier killed destroying downed Iranian drone in Iraq

Key Points:

• Sgt Michael Emmanuel Swinton, a 30-year-old US Army soldier from Fayetteville, North Carolina, was killed during a controlled detonation of a downed Iranian drone at Erbil airbase in northern Iraq.
• Swinton was supporting overseas contingency operations and died while handling unexploded ordnance from a one-way unmanned aerial system, with another service member sustaining minor injuries.
• This incident raises the total number of US service personnel killed in the ongoing US-Iran conflict to 17 since February, with hundreds more injured amid escalating hostilities.
• Two other soldiers, First Lt Tyler James Feehan and Pvt Isabella Gonzales, were recently identified as having died in Jordan defending against Iranian missile and drone attacks.
• Swinton, an experienced noncommissioned officer assigned to Fort Bragg's air and missile defense command, was remembered by his commanding general for his courage and dedication; his widow expressed profound grief on social media.