Pentagon Lists Four US Troops Killed During Iran Ceasefire as Separate Casualties

The Pentagon placed four soldiers killed in Jordan and Iraq in July under Overseas Operations Casualties status on Sunday. This step keeps them apart from the 14 additional Operation Epic Fury casualties shown on the department website.

The New York Times reported last week that the Pentagon had lowered the confirmed death count from the conflict after removing the four soldiers from its online records.

The Jerusalem Post verified that the site omitted the four service members, including Private Isabella Gonzales, 19, and Lt. Tyler James Feehan, 25, who died in an Iranian strike in Jordan, along with others wounded since July 1, even after an update on July 20.

Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell attributed the missing entries to a temporary data disruption in a Thursday post on X. He stated that the Department of War had identified temporary data disruptions on the Defense Casualty Analysis System website and that the anomalies were being fixed with the Military Services.

Parnell also charged that the New York Times had colluded with anonymous sources to promote a completely false story.

CBS noted that US defense officials have not briefed reporters on Operation Epic Fury since May and have offered no comment on the categorization of the four soldiers.

Pentagon Wounded US Soldier Numbers Show Discrepancies

The Pentagon website also showed inconsistencies in wounded soldier counts, according to CBS. Last week the site listed 482 soldiers wounded during the conflict with Iran. The figure now stands at 417, with another 207 listed as wounded in Overseas Operations.

The New York Times had claimed that dozens of American soldiers were wounded yet unreported by CENTCOM and that several helicopters sustained damage.

One official told the New York Times that CENTCOM is not required to disclose information on wounded soldiers when they are expected to return to duty quickly and when release could give Iran an advantage in planning future strikes.

A separate source explained that the United States would not release details that could help Iran refine its ballistic missile and drone attacks on Jordan and other Middle East bases. The same logic explains why CENTCOM no longer confirms daily counts of Iranian targets struck.

Shir Perets contributed to this report.