(Radio Iowa) – The families of the two Iowa National Guard soldiers who were killed in Syria in December will be in the U.S. House tonight (Tuesday) for President Trump’s State of the Union address. The wife of Staff Sergeant Nate Howard of Marshalltown will be Senator Joni Ernst’s guest. Howard’s mother and step father will be in the gallery, too, as guests of Congresswoman Ashley Hinson. Hinson says these Iowans got the call that no one wants to receive.

“Military families carry a heavy load that many Americans never see,” Hinson said. Hinson says having Howard’s mother Misty Bunn and his stepfather Jeff Bunn in tonight’s (Tuesday’s) audience is a reminder to the nation that freedom is never free. Hinson was among the Iowa officials who were present at the Delaware Air Force Base when the remains of both Iowa soldiers were returned to American soil. “At the dignified transfer at Dover I told the moms of the fallen that we should never have to outlive our children,” Hinson said. “No words can fully capture the weight of that moment and I’m grateful for this chance to honor this family.”

The parents of Staff Sergeant Edgar Torres-Tovar of Des Moines will be seated in the House gallery as the guests of Congressman Zach Nunn. Torres-Tovar and Howard were killed in an ambush in Syria on December 13th.