President Trump paid his respects Wednesday to two Iowa National Guard members and a US 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 US service members killed in action, the AP reports.
The guardsmen killed in Syria on Saturday were Sgt. Edgar Brian Torres-Tovar, 25, of Des Moines, and Sgt. William Nathaniel Howard, 29, of Marshalltown. Both were members of the 1st Squadron, 113th Cavalry Regiment, and have been hailed as heroes by the Iowa National Guard. The families of Torres-Tovar and Howard families were at Dover for the return of their remains, as were Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, members of Iowa's congressional delegation, and leaders of the Iowa National Guard. Ayad Mansoor Sakat, of Macomb, Michigan, a US civilian working as an interpreter, was also killed. Three other Iowa National Guard members were injured in the attack.
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." Trump observed several dignified transfers at Dover in his first term and has said it was "the toughest thing I have to do" as president.
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