{"id":770,"date":"2025-12-15T21:33:36","date_gmt":"2025-12-15T21:33:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/birdstone-n.com\/?p=770"},"modified":"2025-12-15T21:33:40","modified_gmt":"2025-12-15T21:33:40","slug":"syria-attack-victims-were-iowa-national-guardsmen-state-officials-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/birdstone-n.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/15\/syria-attack-victims-were-iowa-national-guardsmen-state-officials-say\/","title":{"rendered":"Syria attack victims were Iowa National Guardsmen, state officials say"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao MvWXB TjIXL aGjvy ebVHC \">The two U.S. soldiers who were\u00a0<a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" dir=\"ltr\" href=\"https:\/\/abcnews.go.com\/International\/us-soldiers-civilian-interpreter-killed-ambush-syria-apparent\/story?id=128376036\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\">killed in an attack in Syria<\/a>\u00a0were members of the Iowa National Guard, state officials said over the weekend.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">On Monday, the soldiers were identified as Sgt. Edgar Brian Torres Tovar, 25, of Des Moines, Iowa, and Sgt. William Nathaniel Howard, 29, of Marshalltown, Iowa.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">&#8220;Our hearts are heavy today, and our prayers and deepest condolences are with the families and loved ones of our soldiers killed in action,\u201d Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds said in\u00a0<a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" dir=\"ltr\" href=\"https:\/\/governor.iowa.gov\/press-release\/2025-12-13\/two-iowa-guard-soldiers-killed-attack-syria-three-others-wounded\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\">a statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">&#8220;I ask that all Iowans stand united in supporting them and lifting them up in prayer during this incredibly difficult time,&#8221; she added. &#8220;Please pray also for the fast and full recovery of our wounded soldiers.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-771 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/birdstone-n.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1111-300x190.avif\" alt=\"\" width=\"638\" height=\"404\" srcset=\"https:\/\/birdstone-n.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1111-300x190.avif 300w, https:\/\/birdstone-n.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1111-1024x649.avif 1024w, https:\/\/birdstone-n.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1111-768x487.avif 768w, https:\/\/birdstone-n.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1111.avif 1500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 638px) 100vw, 638px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">An American civilian was also killed, the office said in a statement, adding that three others were injured in the attack.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The two soldiers who died were attacked while they were &#8220;conducting a key leader engagement as part of their assigned mission in the ongoing counter-ISIS and counter-terrorism efforts in the region,&#8221; the governor&#8217;s office said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">\u201cIt is with a heavy heart that I confirm the loss of two of our own,\u201d said Maj. Gen. Stephen Osborn, adjutant general of the Iowa National Guard, in a statement.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">About 1,800 Iowa Army National Guard soldiers from the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry Division, began deploying to the Middle East in late May 2025, the governor&#8217;s office said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC eTIW sUzSN \">&#8220;Our priority right now is supporting the families of our fallen and wounded Soldiers,&#8221; Osborn added. &#8220;The entire Iowa National Guard grieves for this terrible loss, and we stand together to support the Soldiers and their families.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The two U.S. soldiers who were\u00a0killed in an attack in Syria\u00a0were members of the Iowa National Guard, state officials said over the weekend. On Monday, the soldiers were identified as Sgt. Edgar Brian Torres Tovar, 25, of Des Moines, Iowa, and Sgt. William Nathaniel Howard, 29, of Marshalltown, Iowa. &#8220;Our hearts are heavy today, and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-770","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/birdstone-n.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/770","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/birdstone-n.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/birdstone-n.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/birdstone-n.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/birdstone-n.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=770"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/birdstone-n.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/770\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":772,"href":"https:\/\/birdstone-n.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/770\/revisions\/772"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/birdstone-n.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=770"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/birdstone-n.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=770"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/birdstone-n.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=770"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}