One of the three U.S. Army reservists killed in a Jan. 28 drone attack in Jordan is scheduled to be memorialized at a church in Carrollton next week, according to reports from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
William Jerome Rivers, who was posthumously promoted to staff sergeant, will be honored at 10 a.m. Tuesday at Tabernacle Baptist Church. During a private ceremony afterward, he will be interred at Georgia National Cemetery in Canton.
A Philadelphia native who went by “Will,” Rivers, 46, was married with one son and two stepchildren. He enlisted in the Army Reserve in 2011 as an interior electrician. Seven years later, he completed a nine-month rotation in Iraq. Rivers was deployed this year to a logistics support base near the Syrian border as part of the 718th Engineer Company, which is assigned to Fort Moore in Georgia.
His obituary says he “displayed a deep sense of patriotism and a desire to serve his country.”
“William had a gentle demeanor and a fierce and determined personality and was always ready to face life’s challenges with courage and resilience,” his obituary says. “He had an infectious smile, a warm heart, and a genuine ability to make everyone around him feel valued and loved.”
Two other members of the 718th were killed in the drone attack: Breonna Alexsondria Moffett, 23, of Savannah, and Kennedy Ladon Sanders, 24, of Waycross. Both were posthumously promoted to sergeant. More than 40 other U.S. service members were injured in the attack, including three from the 718th.
Sanders will be buried in Oakland Cemetery in her hometown of Waycross on Feb. 17, following her funeral the same day at Ware County Middle School.
The Biden administration has blamed Iranian proxies for the attack, though Iran has denied involvement.
In response to the assault, the Pentagon said it carried out airstrikes on militias affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps at seven locations in Iraq and Syria last week, hitting 85 targets.
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