Fallen Army Reserve engineers arrive Friday at Dover Air Force Base

DOVER, Del. — The U.S. Air Force says the bodies of three soldiers killed in a drone attack on their housing at a military base in Jordan on Jan. 28 are to arrive early Friday at Dover Air Force Base, home to mortuary facilities.

Other casualties may be included as part of what the service knows as the "dignified transfer" process, according to an announcement from the Air Force Mortuary Affairs Operations Public Affairs Office on Thursday afternoon.

The three casualties from the Jordan attack include Sgt. William Jerome Rivers, 46, a former Willingboro resident who resided with his family in Carrollton, Georgia. His funeral services will be held in Carrolton, a military spokesperson said Tuesday.

The attack also killed Sgt. Kennedy Ladon Sanders, 24, of Waycross, Georgia, and Sgt. Breonna Alexsondria Moffet, 23, of Savannah. All three were assigned to the 718th Engineer Company, 926th Engineer Battalion, 926th Engineer Brigade, Fort Moore.

Sanders and Moffett have been promoted posthumously for their performances as part of Operation Inherent Resolve. Both enlisted in 2019 as horizontal construction engineers, Army Reserve Command said on Tuesday.

“We mourn the loss of any service member," Carrollton Mayor Betty Cason said Monday. "We are especially saddened by the loss of one of our own, Sgt. Will Rivers, who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country."

According to the Defense Department, the early morning attack was against a logistics support base at Tower 22 of the Jordanian Defense Network. Approximately 350 Army and Air Force personnel are at the base. The three soldiers were killed when a one-way drone hit their container housing units.

Rivers first assignment was at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst with the 990th Engineer Company. He did a nine-month tour in Iraq in 2018 in support of Operation Inherent Resolve and was awarded a campaign medal with star.

Rivers was assigned last year to the 718th Engineer Company at Fort Moore, formerly Fort Benning.

Among other honors, Rivers received the Army Achievement Medal and Army Service Ribbon, the National Defense Service Medal, and the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal.

Joe Smith is a N.E. Philly native transplanted to South Jersey 36 years ago, keeping an eye now on government in South Jersey. He is a former editor and current senior staff writer for The Daily Journal in Vineland, Courier-Post in Cherry Hill, and the Burlington County Times.

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This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Bodies of Army Reservists killed in drone attack reach Dover on Friday