Washington — President Donald Trump will assume one of the most solemn duties a commander in chief faces on Wednesday when he will witness the dignified transfer of two Iowa National Guard members who were killed in… Attack in the Syrian desert.
This ritual is held at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware, to honor U.S. service members killed in action. Trump, who traveled to Dover several times in his first term, once described it as “the city of Dover.” “The hardest thing I have to do” As president.
The two guards Killed in Syria on Saturday, Sgt. Edgar Brian Torres Tovar, 25, of Des Moines, and Sgt. William Nathaniel Howard, 29, of Marshalltown, according to the U.S. Army. Both were members of the 1st Squadron, 113th Cavalry Regiment. The men were hailed as heroes by the Iowa National Guard.
An American civilian acting as an interpreter, identified as Iyad Mansour Sakat of Macomb, Michigan, was also killed on Tuesday. Three other members of the Iowa National Guard were injured in the attack. The Pentagon did not identify them.
They were among hundreds of American forces deployed in eastern Syria as part of the coalition fighting ISIS.
During the operation in Dover, American flag-draped transport boxes holding the remains of fallen soldiers are moved from a military aircraft to a waiting vehicle. The vehicle then transports them to the base morgue, where fallen service members are prepared for their final rest.
Trump told reporters over the weekend that he was saddened by the deaths of the soldiers and vowed revenge.
Saturday’s attack comes after a rapprochement between the United States and Syria, which led to the former pariah state joining the US-led coalition to fight ISIS.
Trump has had a relationship with Interim Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaathe former leader of an Islamist rebel group that led the overthrow of Former President Bashar al-Assad.
Trump, who met with Sharaa last month at the White House, told reporters on Monday that the attack had nothing to do with the Syrian leader, whom Trump described as “devastated by what happened.”
During his first term, Trump visited Dover in 2017 to honor him A US Navy SEAL was killed during a raid In Yemen in 2019 for two army officers A helicopter crashed in AfghanistanAnd in 2020 for Two army soldiers were killed in Afghanistan When someone wearing an Afghan army uniform opened fire.