NJ flying flags at half staff for Staff Sgt. William Jerome Rivers, Philly native killed in Jordan base attack
TRENTON, N.J. (CBS) -- New Jersey is flying flags at half staff Tuesday in honor of U.S. Army Reserve Staff Sgt. William Jerome Rivers, who was killed in a Jan. 28 drone attack at a military outpost in Jordan.
Rivers was one of three American servicemembers killed in the attack along with Spc. Kennedy Ladon Sanders and Spc. Breonna Alexsondria Moffett.
Family who spoke to CBS News Philadelphia's Kerri Corrado said Rivers was a Philadelphia native who graduated from Germantown High School. He has also been listed as a Willingboro, New Jersey resident.
"He loves Philly. He loved Philly. He was a die-hard Eagles fan all the way," Maurice Muhammad, Rivers' cousin, said last week.
Rivers, a husband and father of one, enlisted in the Army Reserve in 2011. He served at Fort Dix, part of Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in New Jersey, and later served in Georgia.
Rivers received several awards and decorations including the Army Achievement Medal, the National Defense Service Medal and the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal.
He was posthumously promoted to Staff Sergeant by the U.S. Army Reserve after his death last month.
U.S. Army officials said the drone hit the logistical support base Tower 22 in northeast Jordan, near its border with Syria. Rivers, Sanders and Moffett were likely sleeping in container housing when the attack occurred.
Pentagon deputy press Secretary Sabrina Singh blamed the drone attack on an Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-backed militia. Iran has denied it was behind the strike.
"Sergeant Rivers was a decorated soldier leaving behind an incredible legacy embodying our American ideals, and his sacrifice serves as a reminder of the great debt we owe our military families. Our hearts go out to the loved ones of Sergeant Rivers, Specialist Sanders, Specialist Moffett, and we are wishing a quick recovery to the dozens of U.S. soldiers who were injured in this heinous attack," New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said in a statement.
The administration blamed the drone strike on the group Islamic Resistance of Iraq, a group of militias backed by Iran.
The United States has responded to the attack with airstrikes on multiple targets in Iraq and Syria associated with IRGC's elite Quds Force and affiliated militias.