ATLANTA — Georgia military families are in mourning, with both tears and pride, after three Army Reserve soldiers based in Fort Moore in Columbus were killed at their U.S. base in Jordan during a drone attack over the weekend.
The Pentagon said the group claiming responsibility is backed by Iran. President Joe Biden said the U.S. will respond.
Two of the soldiers were close friends with each other, and their parents were dazed and heartbroken.
“I’m just taking it really moment by moment,” Oneida Sanders, the mother of Army Reserve Specialist Kennedy Sanders of Waycross, said. “We have been surrounded by nothing but support from the time we heard the news. Having everybody around to keep us busy and occupied has been a good distraction.”
Oneida and Shawn Sanders spoke of their pride for their daughter, and for their daughter's close friend, Specialist Breonna Moffett of Savannah, and for Sergeant William Jerome Rivers of Carrollton, who served with them.
All three were killed during the drone strike aimed at their quarters in Jordan.
Shawn Sanders said Monday that if he could speak with his daughter now, “I would say I'm proud of her. I mean, I would always let her know that I was proud of her service. I was proud of her being a young lady, a young woman, and the choices she had made so far. And we were looking forward to years and years of just being together.”
Kennedy Sanders was 24 years old and volunteered for the Army Reserves in 2019. She met Breonna Moffett, who was a year younger, in basic training, and they became close friends — serving and then dying together.
Breonna’s mother, Francine Moffett, said Monday that she last spoke with Breonna this past Thursday when she called her to make sure she had received the care package she had sent her.
“Because she wanted her strawberry shortcake and her sunflower seeds, and her real estate book because she was studying to become a realtor, as well,” Francine said. “She always had a smile on her face. She always loved her friends. She always loved her family. She always just commanded attention. And she just loved life. She was definitely going to re-enlist and do one more tour because she wanted to become a sergeant. And she wanted to become a realtor part-time.”
Oneida Sanders said Kennedy Sanders called her this past Saturday to tell her she was planning to buy a motorcycle.
“Which she knew that I would be strictly against it," she said. "Her friends were all laughing in the background when she told me, and you know, even though she was 24 years old, I told her that she was strictly prohibited from getting a motorcycle. So that was the last time that we talked.”
Francine Moffett said Breonna always wanted to join the military, enlisting right after she graduated from high school.
“She was in ROTC throughout high school,” Francine said.
She was determined to follow in her mother's footsteps.
“I was in the military," Francine said. "And since I was the first female in the family to join the military, she was so excited to become the second female in the family to join the military.”
Rivers was 46 at the time of the attack and enlisted in the Army Reserves in 2011, earning multiple awards and decorations.
According to the Department of Defense, Rivers enlisted “as an Interior Electrician (12R). He was first assigned to the 990th Engineer Company at Fort McGuire-Dix in N.J. after completing advanced individual training. In 2018, Rivers completed a 9-month rotation to Iraq in support of Operation Inherent Resolve. In 2023, Rivers was assigned to the 718th Engineer Company, 926th Engineer Battalion, 926th Engineer Brigade, Fort Moore, Ga.”
Kennedy Sanders and Breonna Moffett were assigned to the same outfit as Rivers, the 718th Engineer Company, 926th Engineer Battalion, 926th Engineer Brigade, at Fort Moore. The two sets of parents are grieving for Rivers as well as for their daughters, and praying for the soldiers who are still serving in the Mideast.
And they are proud of their daughters beyond words.
"She lived a big life for only 24 years,” Oneida Sanders said. “Live your life like Kennedy. Do what you want to do. Set goals and live life. You never know when the end is here.”