Iowa National Guard soldiers killed in Syria being prepared for final resting place

President Trump, Governor Kim Reynolds and members of Iowa’s congressional delegation took part today in a quiet, somber tribute to two Iowa National Guard soldiers killed last Saturday in Syria.

Twenty-nine-year-old Nate Howard of Marshalltown and 25-year-old Edgar Torres-Tovar of Des Moines, along with a civilian interpreter from Michigan, were killed when an ISIS gunman tried to ambush a meeting of U.S. and Syrian forces.

Their caskets, draped in American flags, were carried from a plane to a waiting vehicle on the tarmac at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware. They were then taken to the Air Force mortuary, where they will be “prepared for their final resting place,” according to a statement from the Iowa National Guard.

The Guard says Howard and Torres-Tovar are being escorted by fellow Iowa National Guard soldiers throughout their journey home.

Reynolds, U.S. Senators Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst and U.S. Representatives Ashley Hinson, Zach Nunn and Randy Feenstra joined military officials and President Trump in saluting as the caskets were carried from the aircraft. Ernst and Nunn are former members of the Iowa National Guard.