The number of U.S. service members wounded in the Middle East has risen once more as President Donald Trump’s war on Iran drags into its second month.
Since Trump first launched strikes against Iran alongside Israel on Feb. 28, 13 U.S. service members have been killed, and hundreds have been wounded.
On Monday, NewsNation’s Libbey Dean reported that the number of service members wounded during the conflict has increased.
Quoting U.S. Central Command spokesperson, U.S. Navy Capt. Tim Hawkins, Dean revealed the number has jumped by 25 from the end of March, from 348 to 373.
“The vast majority of these injuries have been minor, and 330 have returned to duty,” Hawkins said. “Currently, there are five seriously wounded.”
CBS News reported last month that many of those injured in the war were being treated at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany for conditions such as traumatic brain injuries and memory loss. Many soldiers admitted for hospitalization had injuries that were designated as “urgent.”
The casualties come as the Trump administration, particularly Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, continues to openly thirst for further carnage and a lengthy, drawn-out conflict.
“You know, the only two people that were quite disappointed,” Trump said last month when claiming, once again, that he was close to ending his war with Iran.
“I said, ‘Pete and General Razin Caine, I think this thing is going to be settled very soon,’ and they go, ‘Oh, that’s too bad,’” he continued.
“Pete didn’t want it to be settled.”
Days later, when hosting the first Pentagon Christian worship service conducted since the war began, Hegseth prayed for “overwhelming violence,” telling attendees, “Let every round find its mark against the enemies of righteousness and our great nation.”
“Give them wisdom in every decision, endurance for the trial ahead, unbreakable unity, and overwhelming violence of action against those who deserve no mercy.”
Quoting from the Psalms, he added, “I pursued my enemies and overtook them, and did not turn back till they were consumed.”
Despite repeated claims that he does not want a protracted conflict and attempts to threaten Iran into complying with his demand to open the Strait of Hormuz, Trump has not yet managed to secure an end to the war he initiated in February.
At a Monday press conference, the president declined to answer questions about whether he was winding down his war with Iran or escalating it.
“I can’t tell you,” he told reporters. “I can’t tell you. I don’t know. It depends what they do.”
Iran had rejected a U.S. proposal for a temporary 45-day ceasefire hours earlier, calling instead for a permanent end to the war. The country’s demands included an end to conflicts in the region, lifting sanctions, and creating a safe passage protocol for the Strait of Hormuz.
A senior Iranian official said on Sunday that the Strait of Hormuz would remain closed until the country is “fully compensated” for the damage it has suffered during the war.
Mehdi Tabatabaei, deputy for communications at the Iranian president’s office, also dismissed the president’s expletive-laden Easter Sunday morning tirade as a sign that the U.S. has “resorted to obscenities and nonsense out of sheer desperation and anger.”
