The bodies of two Iowa National Guard soldiers, killed earlier this month in an ambush in Syria, were returned to their home state in a sombre Christmas Eve ceremony.
A Solemn Homecoming on the Tarmac
On Wednesday 24 December, an Iowa Air National Guard aircraft touched down at Des Moines International Airport carrying the remains of Staff Sergeant Edgar Brian Torres-Tovar, 25, and Staff Sergeant William Nathanial Howard, 29. The pair were posthumously promoted following their deaths in the December 13 attack in the Syrian desert, which also claimed the life of a US civilian interpreter.
Fellow guardsmen in white gloves carefully carried the wooden caskets from the aircraft in a dignified transfer ritual. Grieving family members, including loved ones of both soldiers, gathered on the tarmac. They comforted one another and wept as they paid their final respects. Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds, US Senator Joni Ernst, and US Representative Zach Nunn stood alongside senior Iowa National Guard leaders during the poignant event.
Journey Home and Final Procession
The soldiers' remains had been flown back to the United States last week, where President Donald Trump met with their families at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware. For the final leg home, the caskets were escorted by Howard's step-brother and two other Iowa Guard members on the flight from Sioux City to collect them.
After the ceremony in Des Moines, the caskets were placed into hearses—one blue, one black. A procession, escorted by the Des Moines Police Department and Iowa State Patrol, then carried the soldiers to funeral homes in Des Moines and Marshalltown. Their families followed behind. Funerals are scheduled to take place in the coming days.
On the route from the airport, dozens of Iowans lined the streets on the unseasonably mild December day, holding American flags to honour the fallen servicemen.
Aftermath of the Attack and Ongoing Mission
The attack on December 13 wounded three other Iowa National Guard members. Two were evacuated from Syria for medical treatment and returned to the US on December 20, while a third was treated locally. The civilian interpreter killed, Ayad Mansoor Sakat of Macomb, Michigan, was laid to rest in his home state over the weekend.
Both soldiers were members of the 1st Squadron, 113th Cavalry Regiment. Hundreds of US troops remain deployed in eastern Syria as part of the international coalition against the Islamic State group. Following the ambush, President Trump vowed "very serious retaliation." The US administration subsequently conducted military strikes, which Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth described in a social media post as a "declaration of vengeance."
