Trump honors 2 U.S. guardsmen, interpreter killed in Syria
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – Two Iowa National Guard soldiers and a U.S. civilian interpreter killed in an attack in eastern Syria were honored on Wednesday as their remains were returned to the United States in a solemn dignified transfer attended by President Donald Trump and senior officials.
The two soldiers — Sgt. Edgar Brian Torres-Tovar, 25, of Des Moines, and Sgt. William Nathaniel Howard, 29, of Marshalltown — were among hundreds of U.S. troops deployed in north and east Syria as part of the U.S.-led Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS.
A U.S. civilian contractor and interpreter, Ayad Mansoor Sakat, 54, from Macomb, Michigan, was also killed.
The attack on Dec. 13 in the Syrian desert near Palmyra was attributed to an Islamic State affiliate, according to U.S. and coalition assessments.
Three other National Guard members and two Syrian troops were wounded in the ambush.
At Dover, military personnel carried the flag-draped transfer cases from the aircraft in a ritual that honors service members who die while serving abroad, a tradition with deep symbolic significance for the U.S. armed forces and grieving families.
Trump met privately with relatives of the deceased before the transfer and stood in respectful silence as the remains were moved.
Torres-Tovar and Howard were hailed by the Iowa National Guard as dedicated soldiers, and Sakat was remembered by his family as a courageous interpreter who served U.S. forces in Iraq before working alongside them again in Syria. He is survived by his wife and four adult children.
The deaths highlight the continuing risks of ISIS in Syria. U.S. officials have condemned the attack and reaffirmed commitments to pursuing extremist threats in the region.