Midwest
Army reservist, 20, killed in Iranian drone strike in Kuwait, spent final hours reassuring family: ‘I’m good’
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Fallen U.S. Army Reserve Sgt. Declan Coady, 20, spent his final hours in Kuwait sending steady updates home to ease his family’s fears amid the war with Iran and before silence replaced his messages and uniformed officers arrived at his parents’ door.
Coady, a Drake University student from Des Moines, Iowa, was one of six Army Reserve soldiers killed Saturday in an Iranian drone attack at the Port of Shuaiba in Kuwait while supporting Operation Epic Fury, according to the Department of War (DOW).
He was the youngest of the fallen soldiers identified by the DOW after enlisting in the Army Reserve in 2023 as an Army information technology specialist.
In an emotional interview, his father, Andrew Coady, said the family learned about the casualties shortly after waking up Sunday morning but did not believe Declan was involved because he had spoken to his brother in Italy earlier in the morning.
Sgt. Declan Coady and five other U.S. Army Reserve soldiers were killed in a drone attack in Kuwait Sunday. (U.S. Army Reserve Command Press Desk)
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“Declan just was checking in with him, and the reason being is Declan is nine hours ahead of us,” Andrew said. “He was two hours ahead of his brother, so he called his brother. Declan had been sending us updates every one to two hours, like, ‘Hey, everything’s still good. I’m good.’ Which goes to show you, you know, he was thinking about us. Like, ‘Don’t worry about me’ and so forth.”
Based on information the family received, Andrew said Declan’s operation center was likely hit shortly after he got off the phone with his brother.
“At the time, my wife had sent another message to him … and we didn’t hear back,” Andrew said. “They may not always be able to respond, but I will say most of us started to [worry]. Your gut starts to get a feeling. We go to bed fairly early, so we got ready Sunday night to go to bed, and we had just turned the lights off and went into the bedroom and the doorbell rang at 8 p.m.”
Andrew Coady and his daughter, Keira, right, talk about his son, Sgt. Declan Coady, 20, of West Des Moines, Iowa, outside their home Tuesday, in West Des Moines, Iowa. (Charlie Neibergall/AP Photo)
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Declan’s unit deployed to Kuwait in September and was due home in May, according to his father.
“There was a request for the role that he could do and fill, that a new unit was coming in and didn’t have so many in that slot, and if he’d be willing to extend nine more months,” Andrew Coady said. “So, we were discussing that, pros and cons. He hadn’t made a decision yet.”
He reminisced about a conversation with his son, during which Declan told him his previous jobs did not compare to the love he had for service.
“But one thing he did say is that, ‘You know, I haven’t had a lot of jobs, but I’ve had jobs in the civilian world. And I’ve been over here for six months, and I work 12-plus hour days. I work six to seven days a week,’” Andrew said. “And he goes, ‘I love it.’”
This photo provided by Andrew Coady shows his son, Declan Coady, posing for a photo on the day of his graduation at the U.S. Army Training Center at Fort Sill, Okla. (Andrew Coady via AP)
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His father explained Declan could have continued attending nearby Drake University, where he was studying information systems, cybersecurity and computer science, and was commissioned as an officer after graduating from the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC).
However, he decided to redeploy with this unit and continue online classes in Kuwait.
“He kind of planned it out, that he was adamant, like, ‘I’m gonna go with my unit,’” Andrew said.
Just a week before the fatal attack, his father said, Declan called him to let him know he was recommended for a promotion from specialist to sergeant, a rank he received posthumously.
The fallen service members were identified as Sgt. 1st Class Noah Tietjens, 42, of Bellevue, Neb.; Sgt. 1st Class Nicole Amor, 39, of White Bear Lake, Minn.; Capt. Cody Khork, 35, of Lakeland, Fla.; and Sgt. Declan Coady, 20, of Des Moines, Iowa. Two additional soldiers killed in the attack have not yet been publicly identified. (U.S. Army Reserve Command Press Desk; Fox News)
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Declan’s sister, Keira Coady, tearfully remembered the day her brother left for Kuwait, showing reporters photos of him with their family’s cat.
“This was the morning before we dropped him off for him to leave,” Keira said. “He was our cat Autumn’s favorite. She’d sit in his room while he would game for hours and beg for attention, and he would give it to her. He’s 20. He was going to be 21 in two months.”
Keira Coady talks about her brother, Sgt. Declan Coady, 20, of West Des Moines, Iowa, outside her home Tuesday in West Des Moines, Iowa. (Charlie Neibergall/AP Photo)
Keira said the shock has not yet subsided, explaining, “I still don’t fully think it’s real.”
“I didn’t think it was real when they told us,” Keira said. “I just remember all of our conversations about what he was gonna do when he came back. And, so, I’ll just be sitting and thinking about it. It’s just, it’s really hard. … I didn’t have the same call this weekend that my dad and like my brother did [with Declan]. I just really wish I got to tell him I love you one more time because he was just so amazing.”
She added her brother was not one to let his emotions show, but she can imagine his fear on the day of the attack.
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“I can’t help but think, just, he was my little brother, and he was probably really scared even if he didn’t want people to know,” Keira said. “I wish he could have known one more time that we all loved him because he was so amazing and kind. … He was just like the best little brother you could have.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Illinois
Man buys winning $1.3 million jackpot ticket at suburban gas station
OSWEGO, Ill. (WLS) — A Chicago-area man claimed a $1.3 million jackpot prize during an ordinary stop at a local gas station.
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The newly-minted millionaire said he bought the ticket while stopping to buy a drink.
“‘Why not?’” the winner said. “I played a Quick Pick, and it turned out to be a lucky day.”
His ticket matched all five numbers in the Thursday, June 11 evening Lucky Day Lotto drawing. The winning numbers were 1-13-19-27-35.
The ticket was purchased at Oswego BP, located at 2791 US Highway 34.
Overjoyed, he wasted no time sharing the big news with his wife.
“She was thrilled,” he said. “It’s funny-I actually won a $45,000 prize playing this same game 15 years ago when it was called Little Lotto.”
The winner plans to use the prize money to buy a new house and secure his and his wife’s retirement.
For selling the, the Oswego BP will receive a bonus of $13,000.
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Indiana
‘Foul play’ suspected in death investigation on Indiana-Ohio state line, Wayne County officials say
WAYNE COUNTY, Ind. (WISH) — Police are investigating the death of a person who died in the emergency department of Reid Health in Richmond.
Wayne County Coroner Brent Meadows was notified of the death Wednesday evening, according to a media release. Evidence has reportedly indicated that foul play is involved.
Officials believe the incident may have occurred in the area of the Petro Travel Center in New Paris, Ohio, just across the Indiana-Ohio state line.
The coroner’s office said the deceased person has been transported to the Miami Valley Regional Crime Laboratory in Dayton, Ohio, for a forensic autopsy and identification.
The office is still working the locate and identify the victim’s family.
This remains an active investigation.
News 8’s Michaela Springer contributed to this report.
Iowa
New Iowa program aims to remove barriers to family support
Thrive Iowa launches in Warren County and across the state
The new program aims to reduce barriers to families seeking help from local organizations.
Thrive Iowa, a new initiative from the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services, has officially launched in a number of counties across the state with the goal of helping struggling Iowa families connect with local resources and build a network of support in their community.
On June 23, Warren County celebrated its own program site launch as one of eight initial sites. Other counties that are celebrating their own site launches are Cass, Lee, Black Hawk, Webster, Buena Vista, Fayette and Clayton. A site is officially launched once it has enrolled a minimum of 20 participants, Iowa HHS Director of Communications Danielle Sample said in a statement.
The eight sites serve 11 counties in total, with services also available in Henry, Madison, and Van Buren counties, according to the Thrive Iowa website.
What is Thrive Iowa?
The initiative is focused on serving families, such as parents, caretakers, and pregnant individuals, according to the program’s website. To be eligible to receive help from the program, families must be living in Iowa, be a U.S. citizen or legal resident, and have an income at or below 200% of the federal poverty level.
The 2026 federal guidelines consider a family of four to be at the 200% threshold if they make $66,000 or less annually.
The program also outlines 13 core areas of well-being where it offers support. These include housing, recovery, employment, transportation, education, mental health, physical health, safety, dental, financial stability, food, child care and legal assistance.
The overall goal of the program is to reduce barriers to accessing support for families by doing the work of finding the right organization to meet their needs for them. Instead of having to reach out to multiple sources, a family can visit the program’s HopeHub, a case management system, to create a free account and receive a referral. Once referred, the individual is connected with a Thrive Navigator who will create a personalized plan and build local connections to assist the family.
Thrive Iowa is modeled after Restore Hope, an Arkansas-based nonprofit that began in 2015 to reduce the number of individuals in incarceration and the foster care system through community-based approaches. In addition to Iowa, this model is also used in Tennessee and Canada, according to the organization’s website.
The Iowa program plans to expand to other counties in the near future, Sample said. In July, Iowa HHS will begin onboarding more participating organizations and counties, expanding the program to serve 22 counties.
Warren County launch pledges to take families from crisis to careers
At the Warren County launch, the county’s initiative coordinator, Sarah Downard, was joined by Iowa State Rep. Brooke Boden, Ben Segebart, senior pastor at Indianola Freedom Fellowship Church, Sue Wilson, executive director of WeLIFT Job Search Center in Indianola, and Paul Chapman, executive director of Restore Hope.
Downard said the Warren County site is currently serving over 20 families.
To a room of around 75 community members and local organizations at The Hive event venue in Indianola, the five speakers emphasized the importance of the mission behind Thrive Iowa, which is collective impact and helping build strong communities through supporting the families that live there.
The group also invited the whole room to sign the site’s declaration of participation in the program, which stated the goals of the program and a pledge to work together to help take families from crisis to career.
“When families are struggling, we feel the impact everywhere,” Boden said. “We see this in our schools, our health care systems, our workplace, and our communities.”
Isabelle Foland is a communities reporter for the Register. Reach her at ifoland@registermedia.com.
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