Video Trump claims families of slain servicemembers urged him 'finish the job' President Donald Trump shared that the families of the slain U.S. servicemembers have urged him to "finish the job" in Iran.
While delivering an update to the nation on "Operation Epic Fury" on Wednesday night, President Donald Trump said the families of the 13 slain U.S. service members have urged him to "please finish the job" to defeat Iran.
Trump emphasized that "every single one of the people, their loved ones, said, ‘Please, sir, please finish the job.’ Every one of them."
He commended the fallen service members who served in the Army and Air Force.
"We salute them," he said. "And now we must honor them by completing the mission for which they gave their lives."
TRUMP TOUTS MILITARY MIGHT AGAINST IRAN AS ALLIES PUSH FOR DIPLOMACY
President Donald Trump salutes as an Army carry team moves a flag-draped transfer case with the remains of Sgt. Declan Coady, 20, of West Des Moines, Iowa, who was killed in a drone strike at a command center in Kuwait after the U.S. and Israel launched its military campaign against Iran, during a casualty return, Saturday, March 7, 2026, at Dover Air Force Base, Del. (Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP Photo)
Thirteen U.S. service members, ages 20 to 54, have been killed in the Middle East since the Trump administration launched its Iran operation.
Six U.S. Army soldiers were killed in a March 1 Iranian drone strike at a command center in Port Shuaiba, Kuwait. Six others, U.S. Air Force airmen, died in a refueling plane crash on March 12 in Iraq. Another, Army Sgt. Benjamin Pennington, died in an Iranian attack on Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia.
During his Wednesday night address, Trump announced that the "core strategic objectives" of the operation "are nearing completion."
"As we celebrate this progress," Trump said, "we think especially of the 13 American warriors who have laid down their lives in this fight to prevent our children from ever having to face a nuclear Iran."
TRUMP DECLARES IRAN CONFLICT 'NEARING COMPLETION' AS POLL INDICATES AMERICANS' DISAPPROVAL
President Donald Trump arrives to watch as carry teams move the transfer cases with the remains of Iowa National Guard soldiers Sgt. William Nathaniel Howard, 29, of Marshalltown, Iowa, and Sgt. Edgar Brian Torres-Tovar, 25, of Des Moines, Iowa, and civilian interpreter Ayad Mansoor Sakat, who were killed in an attack in Syria, during a casualty return, Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2025 at Dover Air Force Base, Del. (Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP Photo)
Trump has traveled to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware twice since the start of the conflict to honor the fallen service members as their remains were returned to the U.S. in a dignified transfer for burial.
"I wanted to be with those heroes as they returned to American soil," Trump said. "And I was with them and their families, their parents, their wives, their husbands."
Trump touted America’s military might. He said the U.S. is "on track" to complete all of its objectives "very shortly." However, he announced, "We are going to hit them extremely hard over the next 2 to 3 weeks," adding, "We're going to bring them back to the Stone Ages where they belong."
TRUMP CALLS ON WORLD TO BUILD ‘DELAYED COURAGE,’ SEIZE KEY OIL ROUTE FROM IRAN
Two F/A-18 Super Hornets launch from the flight deck of the U.S. Navy Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in support of the Operation Epic Fury attack on Iran from an undisclosed location March 3, 2026. (U.S. Navy/Handout via Reuters)
Despite their losses, Trump emphasized that "every one" of the fallen service members’ families asked him to keep going.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
"Every one of them," he repeated. "And we are going to finish the job, and we're going to finish it very fast. We're getting very close."
Peter Pinedo is a politics writer for Fox News Digital.
