Iowa soldier among six US troops killed at Kuwait’s Shuaiba port

You know that feeling when you pass Shuaiba on the highway and barely give it a second thought? It’s just a port to most of us, trucks and containers and cranes. But this week it became the place where a 20-year-old soldier from Iowa lost his life, and that’s hit me in a way I didn’t expect.

His name was Sgt. Declan J. Coady. His family has now spoken publicly about him for the first time since his death, and honestly, it’s the kind of statement that stays with you.

Coady was one of six American soldiers killed at Shuaiba port in the opening hours of the war with Iran. Shuaiba is a commercial harbour here in Kuwait that also works as a logistics hub, the kind of place where the US military ships tactical vehicles and supplies through on their way into the region. Most people in Kuwait drive past it without a second thought. This week it became the site of a tragedy that’s now making headlines in the United States.

What his family said happened

According to his sister Keira, the family’s last contact attempt was on Sunday, 1 March. He was supposed to check in. He didn’t.

“We heard nothing,” she said in the statement. “Trying to be positive we all assumed he was just in a situation where he couldn’t message back, but we all knew something was wrong.”

That evening, around 8pm, the doorbell rang. Keira says the rest of that night is still a blur, but the family knew straight away what it meant.

Coady died on the way to hospital after being injured in the attack, Keira said. He had enlisted in the Army in 2023 and was posthumously promoted from specialist. He was due to turn 21 on 5 May.

Who was Declan Coady?

Keira’s statement paints the picture of a younger brother the family leaned on. “He was truly a rock in all of our lives and was just the most amazing brother and son my family could have asked for,” she said.

She also spoke about the ache of not getting one more phone call in. “I wish I had called him one more time and told him I loved him,” she said. “I wish that I had been able to be there or trade places with him or anything just so he could have known he was safe and that he didn’t need to be scared… He was supposed to be 21 on May 5. He was just a baby.”

She described trying to call him after hearing the news, half-hoping it was all a mistake. “But there was nothing, not even a voicemail,” she said.

Keira also pointed out something that I think matters beyond her own family’s grief: “It’s hard to say anything because those that don’t know him will just know him as another person that died in combat and their lives will go on. However, for my family, my parents lost a son, and me and my siblings lost a brother.”

Why this matters here in Kuwait

For a lot of us living in Kuwait, the US military presence is just part of the background, convoys on the highway, bases we drive past, news we half-read. This story is a reminder that Shuaiba port, a place many of us know only as a shipping hub, is now tied to a real loss for a family thousands of kilometres away.

It’s also a reminder that the war with Iran, which started recently, is not some distant headline. It began with an attack on a site inside Kuwait’s borders. If you want the wider picture of how this conflict has been escalating, our coverage of the possible MOAB option against Iran lays out some of that context. You can also follow more developments on our Local news hub as this story continues.

Quick answers