‘I’m good’: Army reservist Declan Coady reassured family hours before Iranian strike killed him

DES MOINES, IOWA: A 20-year-old US Army reservist killed in an Iranian drone strike in Kuwait spent his final hours sending messages home to reassure his family that he was safe, moments before the attack that took his life.

The Iranian drone that hit a command center at the Port of Shuaiba in Kuwait killed six American soldiers, including Declan Coady, a college student from West Des Moines, Iowa.

Father recalls final messages before silence

Coady was the youngest of the fallen soldiers identified by the DOW after enlisting in the Army Reserve in 2023 as an Army information technology specialist.

In an emotional interview, his father, Andrew Coady, said the family learned about the casualties shortly after waking up Sunday morning, but did not believe Declan was involved because he had spoken to his brother in Italy earlier in the morning.

"Declan just was checking in with him, and the reason being is Declan is nine hours ahead of us," Andrew said. "He was two hours ahead of his brother, so he called his brother. Declan had been sending us updates every one to two hours, like, 'Hey, everything's still good. I'm good.' Which goes to show you, you know, he was thinking about us. Like, 'Don't worry about me' and so forth."

Based on the information the family received, Andrew said Declan's operation center was likely hit shortly after he got off the phone with his brother.

Father reminisces conversation with son

Andrew reminisced about a conversation with his son, during which Declan told him his previous jobs did not compare to the love he had for service.

"But one thing he did say is that, 'You know, I haven't had a lot of jobs, but I've had jobs in the civilian world. And I've been over here for six months, and I work 12-plus hour days. I work six to seven days a week,'" Andrew said. "And he goes, ‘I love it.’"

His father explained that Declan could have continued attending nearby Drake University, where he was studying information systems, cybersecurity, and computer science, and was commissioned as an officer after graduating from the Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC).

"He kind of planned it out, that he was adamant, like, 'I'm gonna go with my unit,'" Andrew said.

"At the time, my wife had sent another message to him … and we didn't hear back," Andrew said. 

Friends and family described Coady as dedicated to military service and eager to build a future both in uniform and in the tech world.