Sorrow and celebration mark Memorial Day for fallen Georgia soldier’s family
SAVANNAH ― For Percell and Francine Moffett, recent days have been marked by celebrations honoring their children, nieces and nephews.
A high school graduation. Two college commencements. A military completion-of-training ceremony. Even a kindergarten bridging.
Monday is the last of those commemorations — the somber one, the one they now observe each year. Memorial Day is the day they remember their eldest child, Breonna, a U.S. Army reservist killed two years ago in a drone strike on a military outpost in Jordan near that nation’s borders with Syria and Iraq.
Moffett was 23 years old and a heavy machinery operator at the logistics base known as Tower 22. She and two others, both Georgians, died in the attack launched by an Iranian-backed militia based in Iraq. Another 47 service members stationed at the outpost were injured in the Jan. 28, 2024 assault.
The strike was a hint of the hostilities to come, which peaked in recent months with the U.S. and Israel launching massive airstrikes against Iran in an effort to topple the country’s government. As of May 21, 13 American service members have been killed and 406 wounded in the conflict. A fragile ceasefire has been in effect since April 8.
Breonna Moffett is never far from her parents’ thoughts. Their home in suburban Savannah is decorated with tributes. Pillows and toys featuring the cartoon character Hello Kitty, Breonna’s favorite, sit on benches and tables. Portraits of Breonna, both photographs and original artwork, hang on the walls. Trifold U.S. flags and other keepsakes from her military service sit atop cabinets.
But Breonna’s spirit is most alive in the memories Percell and Francine share about her. Her discussing hairstyles with her youngest sister, 15 years her junior. Her roughhousing with her dog, Simba, a loving pit bull. Her as an adult banging on the front door when she’d come to visit. Her phone calls from the road en route to Topgolf, her favorite weekend activity.
“Every single thing about her makes me smile,” Francine said. “If you just didn’t feel well, she is still going to be smiling and laughing, and just being loud. She was just so outgoing, it was infectious.”
Outgoing but also driven, particularly in regard to serving her country. The Army brought the Moffetts to Georgia more than two decades ago. Francine was active duty, working as a supply specialist and spent her final five years serving at Hunter Army Airfield on Savannah’s southside.
Breonna was a “military baby” who spent countless hours on the base participating in youth sports and playing with her mother’s work friends. She talked to Francine often about her Army experiences and joined the JROTC program in high school. She achieved the third-highest rank in the program and was respected for her insistence on holding fellow cadets accountable, according to her instructor, 22-year Army veteran Sgt. Chandler Jefferson.
He described her as selfless, a rare character trait in a teenager.
“For her to be as young as she was with so much potential and motivation I knew someday she’d end up as a command sergeant major,” said Jefferson, referencing the highest rank among non-commissioned officers in the Army. “To lose her, it really bugged me.”
Moffett joined the Army Reserves in 2019 soon after graduating from high school. Her parents were not surprised Breonna took a path similar to her mother’s. Francine signed up for the National Guard right out of high school before enlisting in the Army. Being a reservist meant Breonna could both serve her country and pursue a career in healthcare with a focus on people with disabilities.
Her assignment to Tower 22 marked her first deployment. She left for Jordan in August 2023 and her company, the 718th Engineers, was tasked with fortifying the logistics base. Moffett drove bulldozers, road graders and other construction equipment. The drone strike that killed her came early in the morning when she was in her living quarters.
The Memorial Days that have followed have been difficult for the Moffetts. Francine said she was fortunate during her military career not to lose any close colleagues or friends in combat. She’s long respected the holiday’s meaning but treated it largely the same way the civilian population does — a day of rest and relaxation, perhaps capped by a picnic or barbecue.
Breonna’s death changed that perspective. In May 2024, just four months removed from the drone attack, the Moffetts attended a Memorial Day ceremony hosted by Gov. Brian Kemp at the state Capitol. Breonna was honored along with the two other Georgians killed, Kennedy Sanders of Waycross and William Rivers of Carrollton.
After the ceremony, the Moffetts drove to their ancestral home, Bay Springs, Mississippi, where Percell and Francine grew up and eventually fell in love. Breonna is buried there in the cemetery of the New Zion Missionary Baptist Church.
“It was hard because it was still so fresh,” Percell Moffett said. “But it really hasn’t gotten any easier. More subtle maybe, but not easier.”
The travel — Bay Springs is a nine-hour drive — wears on the Moffetts, too. They spent Memorial Day 2025 at home in Savannah. This year, with all the celebrations in the two weeks leading up to Memorial Day, they elected not to make any plans — but didn’t rule out an 11th-hour road trip.
But no matter where they are, Breonna is with them.
“I think about her all the time,” Francine said. “I find myself still expecting she’ll come banging on that door or call me on the phone. We miss her so much.”
About the Author
Adam Van Brimmer is a journalist who covers politics and Coastal Georgia news for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
