The parents of Kennedy Ladon Sanders, a U.S. soldier killed Sunday in Jordan, said they "trust" the White House will respond appropriately to the attack by an Iran-backed militia group.
While appearing on Fox News' Fox & Friends on Tuesday, Sanders' mother, Oneida Sanders, spoke about the drone attack that killed their daughter and said: "As a grieving parent, I would not want to see any other parent go through what we're going through right now."
"However the President of the United States decides to respond, it won't change our situation at all," Oneida Sanders said. "We just choose to move forward and continue to pray for those who are still there... whatever is decided, I trust it will be a good decision that keeps everyone in the safest position possible."
On Monday, the U.S. Department of Defense identified the three soldiers killed in the attack as Sergeant William Jerome Rivers of Carrollton, Georgia; Specialist Kennedy Ladon Sanders of Waycross, Georgia; and Specialist Breonna Alexsondria Moffett of Savannah, Georgia.
"The attack occurred in the early morning at the logistics support base located at Tower 22 of the Jordanian Defense Network. Approximately 350 U.S. Army and Air Force personnel are deployed to the base. The three soldiers were killed when a one-way uncrewed aerial system impacted their container housing units," the Department of Defense said.
President Joe Biden and the Department of Defense have vowed to respond to the attacks.
"We know that Iran is behind it. And certainly as we've said before...Iran continues to arm and equip these groups to launch these attacks, and we will certainly hold them responsible," Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said during a press briefing.
Newsweek reached out to the White House via email for comment.
Former President Donald Trump, the front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, responded to the attacks in a post on Truth Social, where he criticized Biden and said: "This brazen attack on the United States is yet another horrific and tragic consequence of Joe Biden's weakness and surrender."
"This terrible day is yet more proof that we need an immediate return to PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH, so that there will be no more chaos, no more destruction, and no more loss of precious American lives. Our Country cannot survive with Joe Biden as Commander in Chief," Trump said, adding that the incident "would NEVER have happened" if he were in office.
Update 1/30/24, 10:30 a.m. ET: This story has been updated with further information.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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Matthew Impelli is a Newsweek staff writer based in New York. His focus is reporting social issues and crime. In ... Read more
