The Pentagon has identified another North Carolina soldier killed in the growing U.S.-Iran war, as 30-year-old Sgt. Michael Emmanuel Swinton of Fayetteville died while attempting to disarm an Iranian drone in Iraq.
The Pentagon said Swinton was killed Sunday during a controlled detonation at an air base in Irbil, in northern Iraq. Swinton was a husband and father of two children. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 2017 and served with the 55th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 108th Air Defense Artillery Brigade based at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
“Sgt. Swinton was an experienced noncommissioned officer who took great pride in his work and the people around him,” said Brig. Gen. John L. Dawber in a press release. “He answered the call to duty with courage, honor, and selfless dedication.”
The Army announced Swinton will be posthumously awarded the Bronze Star Medal, Purple Heart and Combat Action Badge. He will also be promoted to the rank of staff sergeant.
His death comes as the conflict between the United States and Iran continues to claim American lives overseas.
BREAKING: The Department of War has identified the U.S. service member killed during the controlled detonation of an Iranian one-way attack drone at Erbil Air Base in Iraq.
Sgt. Michael Emmanuel Swinton, 30, of Fayetteville, North Carolina, died July 19 during the operation.… pic.twitter.com/rutVShI1Hw
— Fox News (@FoxNews) July 21, 2026
Last week, two other U.S. Army soldiers were killed in Jordan while defending against Iranian ballistic missile and drone attacks.
Those troops were the first Americans killed by direct Iranian fire since the opening days of the war.
