On September 14, an Iranian cruise missile struck a maritime vessel in the Strait of Hormuz. Eight United States Marines — seven enlisted and one officer, members of a battalion landing team — suffered smoke inhalation, possible traumatic brain injuries, and concussion symptoms. All returned to duty.
Their injuries were entered into the Defense Casualty Analysis System roughly ten days after the strike. When reporters asked, the Defense Department confirmed the injuries had been processed through the system. Casualty reporting can lag when symptoms like traumatic brain injury take time to emerge and the database doesn't update in real time.
This is seven months into a shooting war with Iran that began on February 28, 2026. The United States has been enforcing a naval blockade in the region since April — briefly suspended under a June agreement, then reinstated in July. The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps has been launching daily attacks on ships in those waters in an attempt to control the flow of oil. The war has cost 18 American lives and wounded 861 more.
Iran has turned the Strait of Hormuz into a daily combat zone. Its foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, has openly warned of readiness for a "doomsday war." Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has shown no interest in de-escalation. On September 26, President Trump correctly rejected an Iranian blockade proposal, recognizing it for the stalling tactic it was. Iran wants the blockade lifted. The United States is not lifting it.
In March 2026, a KC-135 aircraft crashed in Iraq, killing six crew members. In July, the Jordan attacks killed Tyler James Feehan, 25, of Ewa Beach, Hawaii, and Isabella Gonzales, 19, of Carrollton, Texas. Angel S. Rampersad, 28, of Ozone Park, New York, disappeared after those same attacks and still hasn't been found. On September 18 — four days after the Hormuz missile strike — Captain Bianca C. Wilkerson, 37, of Norfolk, Virginia, died in a non-combat incident. She was posthumously promoted to major.
Those names represent the cost of a war Iran is choosing to continue with no chance of winning.
Iran could end this war tomorrow. It hasn't.
