South Florida soldier is among the four Americans killed in Syria suicide bombing
The U.S. Department of Defense announced Friday morning that Army Chief Warrant Officer 2 Jonathan R. Farmer, 37, of Boynton Beach, was among the four Americans killed Wednesday in Manbij, Syria, as a result of wounds sustained from a “suicide improvised explosive device.”
Born in Boynton Beach, Farmer, who later grew up in Palm Beach Gardens, was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne) in Fort Campbell, Kentucky.
According to Lt. Col. Loren Bymer of the U.S. Army Special Operations Command Public Affairs department, Farmer joined the U.S. Army on March 30, 2005, and attended One Station Unit Training at Fort Benning, Georgia, that year.
He graduated in 2007 as a Special Forces Engineer Sergeant and was assigned to the 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne), where he remained throughout his career.
In addition, Farmer was selected to attend the Special Forces Warrant Officer Candidate School, where he earned his commission in 2016. Following graduation, he was selected to serve as an Assistant Detachment Commander, Bymer said.
On Friday, Farmer’s alma mater, The Benjamin School in North Palm Beach, remembered the Class of ‘99 student as “a true warrior” in a post on Twitter after seeing a Palm Beach Post reporter’s tweet.
“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,” the high school’s post read.
The school told WPTV 5 that Farmer was on the basketball team.
A neighbor and longtime friend, Cathy White, told the Post that Farmer “was the kind of person you want to be around, you want your kids to be around.”
Farmer served on six overseas combat tours: twice in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom in October 2007 and January 2009; once in support of Operation New Dawn in August 2010; once in support of Operation Enduring Freedom from January 2012; and twice in support of Operation Inherent Resolve in January 2018 and, again, this month until his death in the attack.
During his nearly 14-year career in the military, Farmer was awarded the Bronze Star Medal with two Oak Leaf Clusters, the Purple Heart, numerous Army commendation and achievement medals, an Afghanistan Campaign Ribbon with one campaign star, an Iraqi Campaign Medal with three campaign stars, a Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal and Terrorism Service Medal, a NATO medal and other honors.
Farmer is survived by his wife, four children, and his parents.
The Pentagon also identified two other of the four Americans who were killed in the suicide bomb attack that was claimed by the Islamic State group in Syria:
Navy Chief Cryptologic Technician (Interpretive) Shannon M. Kent, 35, of upstate New York. Kent was assigned to Cryptologic Warfare Activity 66, based at Fort George G. Meade, Maryland.
And DOD civilian Scott A. Wirtz of St. Louis, Missouri. Wirtz was assigned to the Defense Intelligence Agency as an operations support specialist.
The department hasn’t named the fourth American yet. The incident is under investigation.
The attack was the deadliest assault on U.S. troops in Syria since American forces went into the country in 2015, according to The Associated Press.
This story was originally published January 18, 2019 at 9:01 AM.
