The U.S. Army has shared the identities of the two Iowa National Guard troops who were killed on Saturday when an ISIS terrorist opened fire on them in Palmyra, Syria.
Sgt. Edgar Brian Torres Tovar, 25, and Sgt. William Nathaniel Howard, 29, were killed in the attack, as was a third American, a civilian, whose identity has not yet been released. U.S. Central Command said in a statement that the individual who carried out the “ambush” was an ISIS member who was killed in the aftermath.
Tovar and Howard were assigned to the 1st Squadron, 113th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry Division of the Iowa National Guard, based in Boone.
Meskwaki Nation Police Chief Jeffrey Bunn said on Sunday that he and his wife had been informed that their son, Nate Howard, was one of the soldiers who had been killed.
“My wife Misty and I had that visit from Army Commanders you never want to have. Our son Nate was one of the Soldiers that paid the ultimate sacrifice for all of us, to keep us all safer,” Bunn wrote. “He loved what he was doing and would be the first in and last out, no one left behind. Please pray for our Soldiers all around this cruel world. We will see you again son, until then we have [it] from here.”
Three other Iowa National Guard soldiers were wounded in the attack, two of whom were immediately evacuated to a medical facility for treatment. Two members of Syrian security forces were wounded as well.
“It is with a heavy heart that I confirm the loss of two of our own,” said Maj. Gen. Stephen Osborn, adjutant general of the Iowa National Guard. “Our priority right now is supporting the families of our fallen and wounded Soldiers. The entire Iowa National Guard grieves for this terrible loss, and we stand together to support the Soldiers and their families.”
President Donald Trump vowed “serious retaliation” for the attack.
The U.S. maintains a presence of about a thousand military personnel in Syria to maintain the mission of defeating ISIS, a U.S. defense official told the Washington Examiner.
The Pentagon announced in April that it would consolidate U.S. forces, both in numbers and bases in Syria, but did not provide many details. Pentagon chief spokesman Sean Parnell said at the time that this would be a “deliberate and conditions-based process that will bring the U.S. footprint in Syria down to less than 1,000 U.S. forces in the coming months.”
This weekend’s attack is the first time U.S. troops have been killed in Syria since the fall of President Bashar al Assad more than a year ago. The U.S. has maintained its mission to defeat ISIS despite the collapse of the last regime and the rise of the new Syrian president, Ahmed al Sharaa, who met with Trump at the White House last month.
There are roughly 1,800 Iowa National Guard soldiers from the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry Division, deployed to the Middle East in support of the mission to defeat ISIS, which also includes troops stationed in Iraq.
