Sgt. William Jerome Rivers
Male
Verified U.S. Army Reserve Sergeant William Jerome Rivers, 46, of Carrollton, Georgia, was killed on January 28, 2024, in a drone strike on the Tower 22 outpost in northeastern Jordan.
Their Story
Sergeant William Jerome Rivers was a 46-year-old soldier from Carrollton, Georgia. He served in the U.S. Army Reserve, assigned to the 718th Engineer Company, 926th Engineer Battalion, based at Fort Moore, Georgia. Rivers was deployed to provide engineering support for U.S. operations in the Middle East.
On January 28, 2024, a one-way attack drone struck the Tower 22 logistics support base in northeastern Jordan, near the tri-border area with Syria and Iraq. Rivers was killed in the attack alongside two other U.S. Army Reserve soldiers from Georgia. The base supports approximately 350 U.S. Army and Air Force personnel involved in the advise-and-assist mission for Jordan.
The attack occurred amid a series of strikes on U.S. forces in the region by Iranian-backed militias, which had escalated following the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war in October 2023. Tower 22 is a critical logistical hub for the Al-Tanf Garrison in Syria, a remote outpost used for counter-ISIS operations. U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria had faced over 160 attacks in the months preceding the incident.
U.S. President Joe Biden stated the United States would respond to the attack, which he attributed to Iran-backed militant groups operating in Syria and Iraq. The U.S. Department of Defense identified the three soldiers killed. Georgia Governor Brian Kemp ordered flags flown at half-staff in their honor.
Sergeant Rivers was posthumously promoted from Specialist to Sergeant. He was one of three soldiers from the same Georgia-based unit killed in the strike, which was reported as the deadliest single attack on U.S. troops in the region since the 2021 Abbey Gate bombing in Kabul.
Explore Further
Sgt. William Jerome Rivers was killed during US Forces - Iraq & Syria Theater (from January 2020 to November -0001). The conflict concluded in November -0001. See the full roster of those killed in this conflict.
Among those documented in the same conflict: Spc. Kennedy Ladon Sanders, Spc. Breonna Alexsondria Moffett.
