Sgt. William J. Rivers, who was killed Sunday in a drone attack at a base in Jordan, have been posthumously promoted to staff sergeant, the Army announced Feb. 2, 2024. (Army)
WASHINGTON – Sgt. William Jerome Rivers, one of three Army Reserve soldiers killed Sunday in a drone attack in Jordan, has been posthumously promoted to staff sergeant, the service announced Friday.
The Army ordered the promotion of now-Staff Sgt. Rivers “in recognition of his exceptional courage, dedication, and leadership during Operation Inherent Resolve.”
“Though we mourn the tragic loss of Staff Sgt. Rivers, we hope this recognition provides some comfort to this family and shows our commitment to remember his legacy of loyal service,” the service said in a statement.
Rivers was the longest tenured of the three fallen soldiers, enlisting in the service in 2011 as an interior electrician, according to the Army. He served a previous nine-month deployment to Iraq in 2018, also in support of Operation Inherent Resolve, the U.S.-led mission to defeat the Islamic State.
His awards and decorations included the Army Achievement Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Army Service Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon, two Army Reserve Component Overseas Training Ribbons, Armed Forces Reserve Medal with “M” Device and the Inherent Resolve Campaign Medal with Campaign Star.
All three soldiers killed were part-time citizen-soldiers who called Georgia home. Rivers, 46, was from Carrollton, Ga. Kennedy L. Sanders, 24, was from Waycross in south Georgia near the Okefenokee Swamp. Breonna Moffett, 23, was from Savannah.
Sanders and Moffett were posthumously promoted Tuesday to sergeants, the Army said.
The soldiers were killed early Sunday morning when a drone launched by an Iran-backed militia group crashed into their living quarters on the small base known as Tower 22, near Jordan’s borders with Syria and Iraq. The Pentagon and President Joe Biden have vowed to retaliate for their deaths. Biden said Tuesday that he held Iran “responsible in the sense that they’re supplying the weapons to the people who did it.”
The president said he had decided how he will respond to the attack, but few details have been revealed as of Friday.
National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said this week that the potential strike will be a multi-tiered response.
Biden and Austin joined the grieving families on Friday at Dover Air Force Base, Del., to honor the fallen soldiers in a ceremony known as a dignified transfer.
