President Trump will travel to Delaware for dignified transfer of Iowa National Guard members killed in Syria
Sgt. William Howard (left) and Sgt. Edgar Torres-Tovar (right) died Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025 in Palmyra, Syria. (Iowa National Guard)
President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump are traveling to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware on Wednesday for the dignified transfer of the two Iowa National Guard members killed in an attack in Palmyra, Syria last weekend.
The backstory:
The attack occurred while the soldiers were conducting a key leader engagement as part of their assigned mission in the ongoing counter-ISIS and counter-terrorism efforts in the region.
The U.S. Army says the two guardsmen, Sgt. Edgar Brian Torres-Tovar, 25, of Des Moines, and Sgt. William Nathaniel Howard, 29, of Marshalltown, and an interpreter, identified Tuesday as Ayad Mansoor Sakat of Macomb, Michigan, were killed. Three additional Iowa National Guard Soldiers were wounded in the attack that occurred while the 1st Squadron, 113th Cavalry Regiment soldiers were conducting a key leader engagement as part of their assigned mission in the ongoing counter-ISIS and counter-terrorism efforts in the region.
Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds' office says in late May, approximately 1,800 Iowa Army National Guard Soldiers from the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry Division, began deploying to the Middle East in support of Operation Inherent Resolve, the U.S. mission to advise, assist, and enable partner forces in the enduring defeat of ISIS.
U.S. Military Dignified Transfer
The dignified transfer ritual at Dover Air Force Base is conducted for every U.S. military member who dies in the theater of operation while in the service of their country.
The dignified transfer is not a ceremony; rather, it is a solemn movement of the transfer case by a carry team composed of military personnel from the fallen member's respective service.
During the process, transfer cases draped with the American flag holding the remains of fallen soldiers are carried from the military aircraft that transported them to Dover to an awaiting vehicle to transport them to the mortuary facility at the base. There, the fallen service members are prepared for their final resting place.
The Source: Information in this article was sourced from The Iowa National Guard, the office of Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds, Dover Air Force Mortuary Affairs, and The Associated Press. This story was reported from Orlando.