05/25/2026
1,200,000.
That’s not a marketing number. That’s the estimated number of Americans who have died in uniform since 1775.
Every one of them had a name. A mother. A last letter, text, or phone call home they didn’t know would be the last one.
This year, thirteen more joined that number during Operation Epic Fury. Thirteen families received the knock on the door. Thirteen flags folded and given to their next of kin. Thirteen names every American should know.
• Capt. Cody A. Khork, 35, Winter Haven, Florida (Army Reserve, 103rd Sustainment Command)
• Sgt. 1st Class Noah L. Tietjens, 42, Bellevue, Nebraska (Army Reserve, 103rd Sustainment Command)
• Sgt. 1st Class Nicole M. Amor, 39, White Bear Lake, Minnesota (Army Reserve, 103rd Sustainment Command)
• Sgt. Declan J. Coady, 20, West Des Moines, Iowa (Army Reserve, 103rd Sustainment Command)
• Maj. Jeffrey R. O’Brien, 45, Indianola, Iowa (Army Reserve, 103rd Sustainment Command)
• Chief Warrant Officer 3 Robert M. Marzan, 54, Sacramento, California (Army Reserve, 103rd Sustainment Command)
• Sgt. Benjamin N. Pennington, 26, Glendale, Kentucky (Army, 1st Space Battalion, 1st Space Brigade)
Killed in the KC-135 Stratotanker crash during operations in the region:
• Maj. John A. Klinner, 33, Auburn, Alabama (U.S. Air Force, 6th Air Refueling Wing)
• Capt. Ariana G. Savino, 31, Covington, Washington (U.S. Air Force, 6th Air Refueling Wing)
• Tech. Sgt. Ashley B. Pruitt, 34, Bardstown, Kentucky (U.S. Air Force, 6th Air Refueling Wing)
• Capt. Seth R. Koval, 38, Mooresville, Indiana (U.S. Air Force, 121st Air Refueling Wing)
• Capt. Curtis J. Angst, 30, Wilmington, Ohio (U.S. Air Force, 121st Air Refueling Wing)
• Tech. Sgt. Tyler H. Simmons, 28, Columbus, Ohio (U.S. Air Force, 121st Air Refueling Wing)
Today isn’t about cookouts. It isn’t about mattress sales. It’s about them.
The red on that flag is blood. Real blood. Over a million Americans worth of it.
Let’s remember those who gave the ultimate sacrifice this Memorial Day.
