President Trump travels to Delaware for dignified transfer of Iowa National Guard members killed in Syria

Trump & Hegseth witness dignified transfer

President Trump and Defense Secretary Hegseth attended the dignified transfer for two Iowa National Guard members who were killed. The soldiers were killed in an ambush attack in Syria.

President Donald Trump paid his respects Wednesday to two Iowa National Guard members and a U.S. civilian interpreter who were killed in an attack in the Syrian desert, joining their grieving families as their remains were brought back to the country they served.

Trump met privately with the families at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware before he joined top military officials and other dignitaries on the tarmac for the dignified transfer, a solemn and largely silent ritual honoring U.S. service members killed in action.

The families of all three victims were at Dover for the return of their remains, alongside Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, members of Iowa’s congressional delegation and leaders of the Iowa National Guard.

The slain National Guard members were among hundreds of U.S. troops deployed in eastern Syria as part of a coalition fighting the Islamic State group.

Returning to Joint Base Andrews after the transfer, Trump said it was a "beautiful event for three great people. And they’re now looking down and their parents and wives and all of the people that were there were, I mean, were devastated but great people, great people."

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 said 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.

U.S. President Donald Trump salutes as a U.S. Army carry team moves a flagged-draped transfer case containing the remains of Ayad Mansoor Sakat, a U.S. civilian working as an interpreter at Dover Air Force Base on December 17, 2025 in Dover, Delaware

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Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds' office said 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 

Big picture view:

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. 

Sgt. William Howard (left) and Sgt. Edgar Torres-Tovar (right) died Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025 in Palmyra, Syria. (Iowa National Guard)

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.