'She was almost home': Sgt Nicole M Amor’s husband mourns after wife among 6 dead in Iran strike

MINNESOTA, MINNEAPOLIS: A Minnesota soldier was killed in a drone attack in Kuwait just days before she was set to return home to her family, the US Department of Defense announced Tuesday, March 3.

Sgt 1st Class Nicole M Amor, 39, of White Bear Lake, died Sunday in Port Shuaiba during an unmanned aircraft system strike, cutting short a deployment that was nearing its end. Her husband, Joey Amor, said she was preparing to reunite with him and their two children.

Nicole Amor’s husband spoke to her two hours before the attack

“She was almost home,” Joey Amor said from the family’s Minnesota residence. “You don't go to Kuwait thinking something's going to happen, and for her to be one of the first – it hurts."

Joey Amor said the military moved his wife off base a week before the drone strike, placing her in a shipping container-style building without defensive protections.

“They were dispersing,” he said. “Because they were in fear that the base they were on was going to get attacked and they felt it was safer in smaller groups in separate places.”

He spoke with her for the last time about two hours before the attack. She had been working long shifts, and they had exchanged messages about a fall she took the night before.

“She just never responded in the morning,” he said.

The couple has two children, a high school senior and a fourth-grader. Amor served in the 103rd Sustainment Command in Des Moines, Iowa. She joined the National Guard in 2005 as a logistics specialist and moved to the US Army Reserve in 2006.

She was deployed to Kuwait and Iraq in 2019 and received several military awards, including the Army Commendation Medal, National Defense Medal, and Army Reserve Component Achievement Medal.

Tim Walz says Nicole Amor gave her life for the state and the nation

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz said Amor “answered the call to serve and gave her life for our state and nation.” He added, “Minnesotans are wrapping our arms around her loved ones”

"John and I join countless people across Minnesota in mourning Sgt. First Class Nicole Amor of White Bear Lake, who made the ultimate sacrifice serving our country. Our hearts are with her family, loved ones, and all those in our armed forces," US Senator from Minnesota Amy Klobuchar wrote on X.

At least six Americans died in a strike on a tactical operations center in Kuwait. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the strike was carried out with an Iranian weapon that got past the center’s defenses.

All the soldiers were part of the 103rd Sustainment Command, which handles food, fuel, water, ammunition, and transport supplies. Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll said, “These men and women all bravely volunteered to defend our country, and their sacrifice will never be forgotten.”

Officials told CBS News, on condition of anonymity, that before the attack, there were concerns about using the tactical operations center because it gathered too many troops in one place that was hard to defend. The attack is still under investigation.