PALM BEACH GARDENS, FLA. (WSVN) - A Green Beret soldier from South Florida was among the four Americans killed in a suicide bomb attack claimed by the Islamic State group in Syria.
According to the Department of Defense, Army Chief Warrant Officer 2 Jonathan R. Farmer, 37, of Boynton Beach was killed by a suicide bomb in Syria on Wednesday.
Two other victims were identified as Navy Chief Cryptologic Technician (Interpretive) Shannon M. Kent, 35, from upstate New York, and a civilian, Scott A. Wirtz, from St. Louis.
The fourth victim has not been identified.
Farmer leaves behind a wife, his four children and his parents.
“He was a friend of two of my sons. They went to high school together,” said family friend Cathy White. “Jonathan is just a sterling person. He’s from a wonderful family.”
Last December, President Donald Trump declared that ISIS was defeated in the area and the U.S. was pulling its troops from the region.
“Clearly, ISIS has not been defeated despite what your president tells you,” said neighbor Ronald Sloop. “This young man is a horrible consequence of what’s going on there.”
The Benjamin School, where Farmer was a student, tweeted about his death, saying:
“It is with tremendously heavy hearts that we share the news that TBS alum Jon Farmer was killed in Syria this week. A true warrior, Jon is fondly remembered as a Buccaneer with a big heart and commitment to service.”
On Friday, the American flag at Farmer’s former school flew at half-staff.
“It was a kick in the stomach,” said Ron Ream, Farmer’s former basketball coach. “He was a kind person. You couldn’t pass Jon without a big smile from him and a ‘Hello, coach.’ A tremendous basketball player. We remember Jon very fondly.”
Ream said Farmer made the all-area team for the [Palm Beach] Post and the Sun-Sentinel.
Farmer’s father is currently headed to Dover, Delaware where he will receive his son’s remains.
“They’re nice people. People you’d like to have as neighbors,” Sloop said, “so to lose their son, it’s so deep in my heart that I’ll be crying myself from it. It’s just terrible, terrible, terrible.”
A local service for Farmer will be held at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Palm Beach Gardens, but his final resting place will be at the Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.
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