ST. LOUIS – A St. Louis man has been identified as one of four Americans killed in a suicide bombing Wednesday in Syria.
According to the Department of Defense, Army Chief Warrant Officer 2 Jonathan R. Farmer, 37, of Boynton Beach, Florida; Navy Chief Cryptologic Technician Shannon M. Kent, 35, of upstate New York; and DOD civilian Scott A. Wirtz of St. Louis, Missouri were killed Wednesday in the explosion in Manbij.
All three died “as a result of wounds sustained from a suicide improvised explosive device,” according to the military.
Wirtz, a De Smet High School graduate, was 42.
The fourth American killed in Syria was a contractor supporting the Defense Department, according to a Pentagon spokesman. The Pentagon will not release his name since he was not military.
Kent was a sailor assigned to Cryptologic Warfare Activity 66, based at Fort George G. Meade, Maryland. Farmer served on six overseas combat tours and was a decorated soldier awarded the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart. – READ MORE