(Radio Iowa) – A ceremony was held in Delaware yesterday (Wednesday) as the bodies of two Iowa soldiers who were killed Saturday in Syria were returned to American soil. Sergeant Nate Howard of Marshalltown and Sergeant Edgar Torres-Tovar of Des Moines were among the 18-hundred Iowa National Guard soldiers who deployed to the Middle East in May. Iowa Senator Joni Ernst, who retired from the Iowa National Guard in 2015, flew to Germany to accompany the soldiers’ remains back to the United States.

“Members of congress typically don’t go over, but many of the people I’ve served with are serving right now in the Middle East and it was just really important that I make sure everything go well and they didn’t need to worry,” Ernst said. “I wanted the families to know that their loved ones would be cared for on their journey back to the United States.” Ernst says a handful of Iowa National Guard soldiers had accompanied the bodies of Howard and Torres-Tovar from the battlefield to Germany. Two of those soldiers were on the flight from Germany to Delaware. Sergeant Howard’s brother, who’s also been serving in the Middle East, was also on the flight to Dover Air Force Base.

President Trump, Gov. Reynolds, Iowa National Guard leadership and other officials observe the dignified transfer of Sergeants Nate Howard and Edgar Torres-Tovar at Dover Air Force Base on Dec. 17, 2025. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Master Sgt. Zach Sheely)

“He knelt down by that transfer case and wept,” Ernst said, her voice breaking with emotion. “It’s just really hard.” During yesterday’s (Wednesday’s) ceremony in Delaware, Governor Reynolds, Senator Ernst and other Iowa elected officials stood on the tarmac alongside military officials and President Trump — facing the seating area for the soldiers’ families. Ernst says watching the flag draped coffins carried off the plane was heartbreaking. “That’s when it really hits you,” Ernst said. “And I think for all of us it was a very moving and meaningful moment.”

Delaware Senator Chris Coons attends every one of the ceremonies when soldiers’ remains are flown from overseas to the Dover Air Force Base. He told Ernst yesterday (Wednesday) that it’s because often there are no elected officials present. “He said, ‘The entire time I’ve been in the senate, I’ve done this and I have never seen a group like this,'” Ernst said. “Everyone showed up. Iowa shows up. We were there for our fallen. They are our sons and we are going to take care of them and we are going to take care of their families.”

Congressman Zach Nunn of Ankeny, who served 20 years in the Air Force, was also on the tarmac for the ceremony.  “The incredible courage and heroism of young people who have stood up to defend this country and, in this case, given their all, so that their battle buddies and the home front can be safer pierced the air of being out there,” Nunn said. Nunn also visited with the families of the two Iowa soldiers. “They were so proud of the sons that they had raised, their boyfriend they had, the husband they had and that this was something they had given their life for both for their family,” Nunn said, “but because it was something bigger than themselves.”

Nunn, a colonel in the Air Force Reserve, is also a former active-duty officer in the Iowa National Guard.  “Both of these young men — they’re going to leave a gap in their community and their family,” Nunn said, “but they’re also going to leave just a really important chapter in their family’s life of what they sacrificed for those who stayed behind: our family, our friends, our community here in Iowa.” Ernst is encouraging Iowans to line the streets and salute the funeral processions for the two slain soldiers. “As we’re approaching the holiday season it’s going to be very difficult for these families. They will have a hole that wasn’t there before and so they just need to know we take their service very seriously and we appreciate their sacrifice.”

Senator Chuck Grassley, Congressman Randy Feenstra and Congresswoman Ashley Hinson also attended yesterday’s (Wednesday’s) ceremony. Feenstra says it was a solemn and deeply moving experience. Hinson says words cannot fully capture the weight of the moment or the depth of gratitude Iowans owe the slain soldiers and their families.