DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. — President Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth participated in the solemn duty of witnessing the dignified transfer of two Iowa National Guard members and an American civilian who were killed in Syria.
The two guardsmen, Sgt. William Nathaniel Howard, 29, of Marshalltown, and Sgt. Edgar Brian Torres-Tovar, 25, of Des Moines, were killed Saturday along with Ayad Mansoor Sakat of Michigan, who was working as an interpreter.
They were both members of the 1st Squadron, 113th Cavalry Regiment and have been hailed as heroes by the Iowa National Guard.
The president and Mr. Hegseth saluted all three coffins as they were transferred from the C-17 military aircraft to the vans.
The president met with the families ahead of the dignified transfer.
First lady Melania Trump was scheduled to attend, but was not present with the president on the tarmac. Sens. Chris Coons, Delaware Democrat, and Chuck Grassley, and Joni Ernst, both Iowa Republicans, were among those attending the transfer.
During the quiet, solemn process, transfer cases draped with an American flag with the soldiers’ remains are carried out of the aircraft while family members and officials watch in silence. The cases are carried to a vehicle, which then takes the remains to the mortuary facility at Air Force Mortuary Affairs Operations at the base. The soldiers’ remains are then prepared for their burial.
“The dignified transfer is not a ceremony; rather, it is a solemn movement of the transfer case by a carry team composed of military personnel from the fallen member’s respective service,” Air Force Mortuary Affairs Operations says on its website. “A dignified transfer is conducted for every U.S. military member who dies in the theater of operation while in the service of their country.”
This is the president’s first dignified transfer of his second term. He said during his first term that the transfers are “the toughest thing I have to do” as president.
Mr. Trump has vowed retaliation for the killings by an Islamic State terrorist.
“This was an ISIS attack against the U.S., and Syria, in a very dangerous part of Syria, that is not fully controlled by them,” Mr. Trump wrote on social media after the attack. “The President of Syria, Ahmed al-Sharaa, is extremely angry and disturbed by this attack. There will be very serious retaliation.”
The Pentagon said the attack was carried out by a lone gunman who was then “engaged and killed” by U.S. partner forces.
The president, who had met with interim Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa last month at the White House, said the Syrian leader was “devastated” about the attack.
• Mallory Wilson reported from Washington.
