By Jack Phillips
The two U.S. military members killed over the past weekend in central Syria were Iowa Army National Guardsmen, authorities confirmed.
The two soldiers and one American civilian were killed, and three were wounded in an ISIS terrorist attack on Dec. 13.
The guardsmen were identified as Sgt. Edgar Brian Torres Tovar, 25, of Des Moines, Iowa, and Sgt. William Nathaniel Howard, 29, of the Iowa Army National Guard based in Marshalltown, Iowa. U.S. officials have not yet disclosed the name of the American civilian.
“Their mission was in support of ongoing counter-ISIS [and] counter-terrorism operations in the region. Our hearts are with their families, loved ones and the Iowa National Guard during this time of profound sorrow,” Gen. Steven Nordhaus, head of the National Guard Bureau, said in a statement.
“We honor their courage and sacrifice, and we will never forget them or their service. We are also thinking of and praying for the families of the civilian interpreter who was killed, and the three other Guardsmen who were wounded. May God place his healing hand upon them.”
Meskwaki Nation Police Department Chief Jeffrey Bunn wrote on social media that the community lost “two of our Iowa Army National Guard soldiers” in the Syria attack, and said that he was the father of one of them.
“Our son Nate was one of the Soldiers that paid the ultimate sacrifice for all of us, to keep us all safer. He loved what he was doing and would be the first in and last out, no one left behind,” Bunn wrote on Facebook, referring to Howard.
Over the weekend, President Donald Trump pledged that the military would retaliate against ISIS, a foreign terrorist organization that took over areas across Syria and Iraq in the 2010s before a U.S.-led coalition pushed the group out. Several thousand American soldiers are still stationed in Syria to combat ISIS.
“This was an ISIS attack against the U.S., and Syria, in a very dangerous part of Syria, that is not fully controlled by them,” he said in a social media post.
Trump told reporters at the White House on Dec. 13 that Syria’s new president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, was “devastated by what happened” and stressed that Syria was fighting alongside U.S. troops. Trump, in his post, said al-Sharaa was “extremely angry and disturbed by this attack.”
U.S. Central Command said the ambush was carried out by a lone ISIS member. Trump said the three wounded soldiers “seem to be doing pretty well.” The U.S. military said the gunman was killed in the attack, which wounded members of Syria’s security forces as well.
Al-Sharaa took over Syria after the collapse of longtime Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad’s regime last year. The attack against American forces was the first of its kind since Assad’s departure.
“There will be very serious retaliation,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth wrote in a post on X, “Let it be known, if you target Americans—anywhere in the world—you will spend the rest of your brief, anxious life knowing the United States will hunt you, find you, and ruthlessly kill you.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
