Army
Iowa National Guard soldiers killed in Syria arrive home; funeral arrangements announced
Stars and Stripes
December 24, 2025
The remains of two Iowa National Guard soldiers killed in action in Syria arrived at Des Moines International Airport on Wednesday and will be escorted home for their funeral services this weekend.
The Iowa National Guard on Tuesday announced funeral arrangements for Staff Sgt. William Nathaniel Howard and Staff Sgt. Edgar Brian Torres-Tovar.
Howard will be honored with visitation and funeral services on Saturday in Marshalltown, Iowa. The service will be recorded and available to view on the Mitchell Family Funeral Home website. Information on service details and arrangements can be found on the funeral home’s website.
Torres-Tovar will be honored with a visitation on Sunday followed by funeral services and burial on Monday in Des Moines. Information on service details and arrangements are available at Hamilton’s Southtown Funeral Home website.
These services are open to the public; however, the families have respectfully requested no media coverage. There will be no livestream of these ceremonies.
“The Iowa National Guard extends its deepest condolences to the families, friends and fellow soldiers of Staff Sgt. Howard and Sgt. Torres-Tovar,” said in a service news release. “We are grateful for their selfless service and sacrifice in defense of our nation.”
Howard and Torres-Tovar were posthumously promoted to Staff Sergeant after they were killed on Dec. 13 in an attack by a lone gunman during a joint U.S.-Syrian field tour near the city of Palmyra. The gunman also killed a civilian interpreter and injured three other members of the state’s National Guard and three members of Syria’s security forces.
Howard, Torres-Tovar and the wounded were all members of the 1st Squadron, 113th Cavalry Regiment, which is part of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry Division.