(NewsNation) — President Donald Trump on Wednesday met with the families of two Iowa National Guard members and a U.S. civilian who were killed in an attack in the Syrian desert over the weekend and oversaw the dignified transfer of remains.
Trump joined the victims’ families and top administration and military officials to watch the dignified transfer of remains at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware.
The dignified transfer ritual honors U.S. service members killed while serving the country. The transfer isn’t considered a ceremony but a “solemn movement of the transfer case by a carry team composed of military personnel from the fallen member’s respective service,” according to the Air Force Mortuary Affairs website.
Trump, who traveled to Dover several times in his first term, once described it as “the toughest thing I have to do” as president.
The two guardsmen killed in Syria on Saturday were Sgt. Edgar Brian Torres-Tovar, 25, of Des Moines, and Sgt. William Nathaniel Howard, 29, of Marshalltown, according to the U.S. Army. They were among hundreds of U.S. troops deployed in eastern Syria as part of a coalition fighting the Islamic State group.
Torres-Tovar’s and Howard’s families were at Dover for the return of their remains, alongside Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, members of Iowa’s congressional delegation and leaders of the Iowa National Guard. Their remains will be taken to Iowa after the transfer.
Ayad Mansoor Sakat, a U.S. civilian working as an interpreter, was also killed in the attack. Three other members of the Iowa National Guard were injured in the attack. The Pentagon has not identified them.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.