Dover, Delaware (RI) — A ceremony was held in Delaware on Wednesday, as the bodies of two Iowa soldiers who were killed Saturday in Syria were returned to American soil.
Sergeant Nate Howard of Marshalltown and Sergeant Edgar Torres-Tovar of Des Moines were among the 1,800 Iowa National Guard soldiers who deployed to the Middle East in May.
Iowa Senator Joni Ernst, who retired from the Iowa National Guard in 2015, flew to Germany to accompany the soldiers’ remains back to the United States.
Ernst says a handful of Iowa National Guard soldiers had accompanied the bodies of Howard and Torres-Tovar from the battlefield to Germany. Two of those soldiers were on the flight from Germany to Delaware.
Sergeant Howard’s brother, who’s also been serving in the Middle East, was also on the flight to Dover Air Force Base.
During the ceremony in Delaware, Governor Reynolds, Senator Ernst and other Iowa elected officials stood on the tarmac alongside military officials and President Trump, facing the seating area for the soldiers’ families.
Ernst says watching the flag-draped coffins carried off the plane was heartbreaking.
Delaware Senator Chris Coons attends every one of the ceremonies when soldiers’ remains are flown from overseas to the Dover Air Force Base.
He told Ernst on Wednesday that it’s because often there are no elected officials present.
Congressman Zach Nunn of Ankeny, who served 20 years in the Air Force, was also on the tarmac for the ceremony.
Nunn also visited with the families of the two Iowa soldiers.
Nunn, a colonel in the Air Force Reserve, is also a former active-duty officer in the Iowa National Guard.
Ernst is encouraging Iowans to line the streets and salute the funeral processions for the two slain soldiers.
Senator Chuck Grassley, Congressman Randy Feenstra, and Congresswoman Ashley Hinson also attended Wednesday’s ceremony. Feenstra says it was a solemn and deeply moving experience. Hinson says words cannot fully capture the weight of the moment or the depth of gratitude Iowans owe the slain soldiers and their families.
KIWA Staff Photo
