Operation Epic Fury, a joint U.S. and Israeli military operation against Iran, commenced at 12:15 a.m. CT on February 28, 2026. The strikes are targeting Iranian command facilities, air defenses, and missile sites.
On March 4th, The Vic Porcelli Show and Mike Ferguson in the Morning honored the American lives that have been lost so far.
The four soldiers identified were Sgt. 1st Class Noah L. Tietjens, Sgt. 1st Class Nicole M. Amor, Sgt. Declan J. Coady and Capt. Cody A. Khork. Two other U.S. service members were also killed, but their identities have not yet been released.
During Vic 4 Vets, Vic Porcelli and Ken Williams honored 4 American soldiers who lost their lives during Operation Epic Fury.
Mike Ferguson in the Morning spoke to Mark Schmitz, father of Jared Schmitz, who died at Abbey Gate, about what it was like when he was notified that his son Jared had been killed in Afghanistan back in 2021.
WATCH A SHORT CLIP:
MARK SCHMITZ:
“When you have a loved one that’s deployed in that region and potentially in harm’s way, you just don’t know if your loved one is one of those numbers. And that part was horrific. I leaned on a bunch of buddies of mine that served as Marines, and they all assured me, you know, he hasn’t called you yet because he’s busy. You know, obviously with everything going on.
With that, I went to bed and eventually fell asleep. Well, it was 2:42 in the morning, and I still to this day have no idea how I heard the knock on the door because our doorbell, ironically, was broken at the time, and they did not knock very loud, but somehow it woke me up and I made my way to the door and I could see through the the glass that there were two figures standing on the other side of the door, and as I approached, I see the medals starting to shine through the door and my heart started to sink.
And at that very moment, I just wanted it to be an injury report, which I guess deep down I knew that they don’t do that. You’ll get notified if your loved one is injured, but not in that way. I kind of stood there in shock, and they didn’t say anything at first. They identified who they were and asked if my wife was home, and I said yes, she was sleeping. Let me get her. And I woke Jacqueline up, which is Jared’s stepmother. She came to the door with me. We had them come inside. We sat down at the dining room table, and that’s when they delivered the terrible news that Jared was one of the thirteen casualties.
And, you know, at that very moment, there’s usually two reactions you get from a parent. One is just obviously utter devastation. And it immediately hits you like you’re getting slammed by a train. And the other is just utter shock. And that’s what I experienced. There was no emotion at first.”
LISTEN TO THE FULL INTERVIEW:
