The devastating toll of Iran’s counterattack on U.S. service members after President Donald Trump’s surprise strikes on the country is even more severe than previously known.
A deadly attack that killed six U.S. service members has also left dozens of others suffering from traumatic brain injuries, memory loss, and other “urgent” health issues at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, the largest U.S. military hospital abroad, CBS News reported Wednesday.
As of Tuesday night, more than 30 military personnel remained hospitalized at Landstuhl and other military hospitals following the strike on a tactical operations center at the Shuaiba port outside Kuwait City on March 1. The 20 who arrived at Landstuhl on Tuesday have injuries designated “urgent” by the military, according to CBS.
Iran’s counterattack was a “chaotic” rescue scene, sources told CBS. Billowing smoke from the blast hindered rescue efforts inside the operations center, and two of the service members initially missing after the attack were reportedly found under rubble.
More than 100 medical personnel were sent to Landstuhl to assist with the total of roughly 25 soldiers sent there from the Kuwait attack.
Meanwhile, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt admitted only on Monday that about 150 American troops have been wounded in the war with Iran as the conflict enters its 12th day.
“I can’t confirm the exact number. I know it’s within that ballpark, but I would defer you to the Pentagon for a specific number,” she said.
Before that, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth described the strike under different circumstances while addressing the Pentagon last week.
“You have air defenses, and a lot’s coming in, and you hit most of it. Every once in a while, you might have one, unfortunately, we call it a squirter, that makes its way through,” he said. “And in that particular case, it happened to hit a tactical operations center that was fortified, but these are powerful weapons.”
Following Leavitt’s comments on Tuesday, the Pentagon confirmed that about 140 U.S. service members have been injured. But according to spokesman Sean Parnell, “the vast majority of these injuries have been minor, and 108 service members have already returned to duty.”
Trump joining Israel in its decades-long attempt to annihilate the Iranian regime hasn’t solely taken a physical toll, but a financial one, too, according to new figures shared with Congress.
Within the first two days of Trump’s Iran war, the Pentagon used $5.6 billion in advanced munitions.
The six service members killed were all part of the 103rd Sustainment Command. They were Capt. Cody A. Khork, 35; Sgt. 1st Class Noah L. Tietjens, 42; Sgt. 1st Class Nicole M. Amor, 39; Sgt. Declan J. Coady, 20; Maj. Jeffrey R. O’Brien, 45; and Chief Warrant Officer 3 Robert M. Marzan, 54.
Following their deaths on March 1, Trump said, “Sadly, there will likely be more before it ends. That’s the way it is.”
At least one other American was killed in a separate strike in Saudi Arabia. Sgt. Benjamin N. Pennington, 26, of Glendale, Kentucky, served in the 1st Space Battalion, 1st Space Brigade.
Last week, he doubled down in a statement to Time magazine: “…You know, we expect some things. Like I said, some people will die. When you go to war, some people will die.”
The Daily Beast has reached out to the Pentagon for comment.
