The remains of two Iowa National Guard members, killed in a Syrian desert attack, were repatriated to Des Moines on Wednesday, marking a poignant Christmas Eve for their grieving families.
The solemn ceremony saw loved ones approach the caskets of Edgar Brian Torres-Tovar, 25, and William Nathanial Howard, 29, huddling together for comfort and wiping away tears. Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst, and U.S. Rep. Zach Nunn observed alongside senior leaders of the Iowa National Guard.
The two guardsmen, along with a U.S. civilian interpreter, were killed in an ambush on December 13. Their remains were flown back to the U.S. last week, where President Donald Trump paid his respects and met with their families at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware.
On Wednesday, escorted by Howard’s step-brother and two other Iowa National Guard members, the wooden caskets were carefully lowered from an Iowa Air National Guard aircraft that had collected the soldiers’ remains from Delaware.
Mirroring the solemn transfer ritual at Dover, white-gloved Iowa National Guard members carried the caskets. After families spent several minutes mourning their loved ones on the tarmac, each casket was loaded into a hearse, one blue and one black.
Both soldiers were posthumously promoted to staff sergeant and were members of the 1st Squadron, 113th Cavalry Regiment. Their families followed the hearses in a procession to funeral homes in Des Moines and Marshalltown, escorted by the Des Moines Police Department and Iowa State Patrol. Funerals are scheduled for the coming days.
Departing the 132nd Wing at Des Moines International Airport, dozens of people lined the route on the mild December day, waving American flags in a show of respect for the fallen soldiers. Ayad Mansoor Sakat, a U.S. civilian interpreter from Macomb, Michigan, was also killed in the attack and was laid to rest in Michigan over the weekend.
Hundreds of U.S. troops are deployed in eastern Syria as part of a coalition fighting ISIS.
Following the attack, President Donald Trump had pledged “very serious retaliation,” and the administration proceeded with military strikes last week, which Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth described as a “declaration of vengeance” on social media.
Three other Iowa National Guard members were wounded in the attack; one received local treatment, while two others evacuated from Syria for medical care returned to the U.S. on Dec. 20.
