'He answered the call to duty': Army honors Sgt. Michael Swinton after fatal incident in Iraq

The U.S. Department of War identified another soldier who was killed due to rising hostilities between Tehran and Washington on Tuesday. The deceased was Sgt. Michael Emmanuel Swinton, 30, of Fayetteville, North Carolina. According to a press release by the department, Swinton was assigned to D Battery, 2nd Battalion, 55th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 108th Air Defense Artillery Brigade, Fort Bragg, North Carolina. He was killed when a controlled detonation of a downed One-Way Unmanned Aerial System occurred on July 19 at the Erbil Air Base in Iraq.

He was the father of a 6-year-old son and a 4-year-old daughter, according to the Boston Globe. Swinton's wife, Mia Gonzalez-Swinton, shared several tributes on Facebook, honoring her late husband. "I didn't think this would be the last time I ever saw you. I have no words," she wrote in a post as she shared an image of Sgt. Swinton holding their daughter. "I'm navigating how to process this, so please bear with me."

Swinton's mother, Christel Swinton Andujar, also paid tribute to her son in a television interview, as per the Globe. "Every decision he made, and every sacrifice he endured, was with them in his heart," she said. The late sergeant will be honored with a Bronze Star, Purple Heart and Combat Action Badge, and will be promoted posthumously to staff sergeant. Brig. Gen. John L. Dawber, commanding general of the Army Air and Missile Defense Command, hailed Swinton's courage and selfless dedication to the country.

"Sgt. Swinton was an experienced noncommissioned officer who took great pride in his work and the people around him. He answered the call to duty with courage, honor, and selfless dedication," he said. The late service member has been honored by members of Congress as well. Sen. Thom Tillis from North Carolina took to X to offer his condolences to Swinton and his family. "Susan and I are deeply saddened by the loss of Sgt. Michael E. Swinton of North Carolina," he wrote.

Swinton's identity was made public by the Department of War a day after it identified two soldiers, who were serving in Jordan, killed by Iran. They were 1st Lt. Tyler James Feehan, 25, of Ewa Beach, Hawaii, and Pvt. Isabella Gonzales, 19, of Carrollton, Texas. Feehan was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 55th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 32nd Army Air and Missile Defense Command, at Fort Bragg, while Gonzales was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 57th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 52nd Air Defense Artillery Brigade, 10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command, in Ansbach, Germany.

Meanwhile, hostilities between Washington and Tehran are far from being over, despite there being a memorandum of understanding to end the war earlier this year. According to the New York Times, President Donald Trump said that Washington could attack an underground Iranian nuclear complex known as Pickaxe Mountain. "We'll be hitting that area very, probably pretty soon, and there's not a thing they can do about it. Normally I wouldn't say that. If I thought they could do something about it, I would never say that. But we'll be hitting that area pretty soon, and very heavily," he said.