Iowa Guard Releases Names of 2 "Red Bull" Soldiers Killed in Syria

Sgt. William Nathaniel “Nate” Howard and Sgt. Edgar Brian Torres-Tovar

In an Iowa National Guard press release issued the morning of Dec. 15, 2024 via social media, the Iowa National Guard has officially released the names of two Iowa National Guard soldiers killed in a single-gunman ambush near Palmyra, Syria on Sat., Dec. 13, 2025. A U.S. civilian interpreter was also killed.

The soldiers killed and injured in the attack were all members of Iowa National Guard’s 1st Squadron, 113th Infantry Regiment.

Approximately 250 members of that unit are currently deployed to Syria, as part of a 1,800-soldier deployment of Iowa’s 2nd Brigade Combat Team (B.C.T.), 34th Infantry “Red Bull” Division (2-34th BCT) to Operation Inherent Resolve across Syria, Iraq, and Kuwait.

According to the release, the Iowa soldiers killed were:

• Sgt. William Nathaniel “Nate” Howard, 29, of Marshalltown, Iowa
• Sgt. Edgar Brian Torres-Tovar, 25, of Des Moines, Iowa

According to a December 14 social media post by Howard’s parents, Jeffrey and Misty Bunn, via the Meskwaki Nation Police Department Facebook account, the family of the U.S. civilian interpreter killed in the ambush asked them to include the name of their deceased, Ayad Sakat. Jeffrey Bunn is the police chief at the tribal law enforcement entity located in Tama, Iowa.

Alad Sakat, via Jeffrey Bunn

Three other Iowa citizen-soldiers were also injured in the attack. Two were evacuated and are in stable condition, according to the December 15 release. One soldier was treated locally. 

According to news reports, the gunman was a member of Syrian internal defense forces, who was in the process of being transferred due to suspicions of being affiliated with Islamic State groups.

If so, the Dec. 13, 2025 attack painfully echoes the last time a deployed Iowa National Guard was killed in combat:

On Jul. 9, 2011, Sgt. 1st Class Terryl L. Pasker, 39, of Cedar Rapids was when an Afghan National Directorate of Security (N.D.S.) trooper opened fire on Pasker's vehicle while it was stopped at a traffic control point in Panjshir Province, Afghanistan. Also killed in the attack was civilian law enforcement advisor Paul Protzenko, 46, a retired Connecticut state trooper and resident of Enfield, Mass.

In a Dec. 14, 2025 interview reacting to the recent attack in Syria, Iowa veteran Todd Eipperle reflected on his own experiences in the 2011. According to the KCCI-TV interview:

“[...] Eipperle also described how an attack overseas triggers a complex and emotional process back home — from lockdowns on base to delayed notifications for families.

‘When something like this happens, everything changes,’ he said. ‘The notification process, the waiting, the uncertainty — I remember my wife going through that. Seeing this unfold again brings all of that back.’

For Eipperle, the news has meant sleepless nights and constant checking for updates, hoping not to recognize another familiar name. He says the National Guard is a large organization, but one that feels deeply personal.

‘It’s a big family, but it’s also a small family,’ he said. ‘There’s always a connection somewhere.’ [...]”

2 Iowa Soldiers Killed, 3 Injured in Syria Ambush Dec. 13, 2025

ARCHIVE PHOTO: Coalition troops with Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTF-OIR) provide security for a multinational diplomatic delegation, including French air force Brig. Gen. François Tricot, CJ9 director with CJTF-OIR, as they prepare to depart Al-Hol camp amid low light and dust during sunset in northeast Syria, Oct. 14, 2025. The visit was part of ongoing global coalition efforts to raise awareness among countries with citizens in Al-Hol camp, which houses a population displaced by ISIS, and communicate these conditions to national authorities, while underscoring the camp’s humanitarian and security challenges, the continued need for funding, coordinated action, and support for repatriation and returns. French air force photo by 2nd Lt. Lena Adam

Leaders at the Iowa National Guard’s 2nd Brigade Combat Team (B.C.T.), 34th Infantry “Red Bull” Division (2-34th BCT) currently deployed to Southwest Asia cancelled a planned public “town-hall” videoconference via Facebook with just 4 hours before its scheduled 11 a.m. Central Daylight Time launch Sat., Dec. 13, 2025.

Hours later, Iowa government officials confirmed international news reports that two Iowa citizen-soldiers and one U.S. civilian—an interpreter assisting the Iowans—had been killed in an enemy attack in Syria Sat., Dec. 13, 2025. (Syria is 8-hours ahead of Central Daylight Time.) Three additional Iowa soldiers were wounded, and evacuated for medical treatment.

The incident reportedly occurred when a single gunman attacked during a Key-Leader Engagement (KLE) meeting either conducted or protected by the Iowa soldiers.

Coincidentally and heart-breakingly, December 13 is also the traditional birthday of the U.S. National Guard, complete with cake-cutting ceremonies.

The 2-34th BCT is currently deployed throughout Syria, Iraq and Kuwait at a strength of 1,800 soldiers, as part of Operation Inherent Resolve. As part of those missions, units of the 2-34th BCT’s 1st Squadron, 113th Cavalry Regiment (1-113rd Cav.) and others are operating within Syria. The Red Bull units reportedly account for 250 of approximately 900 U.S. troops currently in that country. The U.S. troop presence in Syria has reduced from about 2,000 since January 2025.

The 2-34th BCT town hall cancellation read:

“Due to the ever-changing environment, we will not be able to host our planned Facebook Live Town Hall at this time.

We truly appreciate your understanding and patience. Please know that we are working to reschedule and will be sharing an update very soon.

Thank you for your continued support and we look forward to connecting with you soon.”

During overseas deployments, it is common practice for military units to “go dark” or “River City”—to shut off all public-facing communications for a day or two, so that immediate family members of killed or wounded soldiers can be officially and privately notified. The practice prioritizes face-to-face communications and direct presence of family-support personnel at time of notification.

Official announcements of names of those killed or injured comes later, or at the direction or action of the deceased’s family. Until then, everything else is rumor or gossip. 

(UPDATE: At approximately 11 a.m. Sun., December 14, Jeffrey Bunn announced via Facebook that his son Sgt. William “Nate” Howard was one of the two Iowa soldiers killed: https://www.kcci.com/article/iowa-army-national-guard-soldiers-killed-nate-howard-identified-by-family/69720484)

In a December 13 press release, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds indicated soldiers’ names would be withheld until 24 hours following next-of-kin notifications—a time estimated to be 5 p.m. Central Daylight Time, Sun., Dec. 14, 2025. Maj. Gen. Stephen Osborn, the adjutant general of Iowa, was quoted in the governor’s press release. There was apparently no separate Iowa National Guard press release.

In news reports, U.S. President Donald Trump indicated the attack had been conducted by ISIS, and promised retaliation. The New York Times reports, however, that “The Islamic State has not claimed responsibility for the attack on Saturday, the first killing of Americans in Syria since [former president] Mr. al-Assad was overthrown. The Syrian government has also not said who was behind the killings, even after Mr. Trump’s statement blaming ISIS, and said it had warned American counterparts about potential ISIS attacks on U.S. forces.”

A useful, detailed and non-paywalled Dec. 14, 2025 Associated Press backgrounder regarding U.S. military deployments to Syria is here at this link.

Spooky New ‘Red Bull’ Poem at Rawhead Journal!

A new poem by Global War on Terror (GWOT) writer and U.S. Army veteran Randy “Sherpa” Brown, author of the award-winning 2015 poetry collection “Welcome to FOB Haiku: War Poems from Inside the Wire,” is newly featured in the debut special issue of the literary journal “Rawhead.”

Brown’s poem is titled “at the Motel Mehtar Lam,” and can be accessed FREE on-line.

The on-line journal “Rawhead,’ write the editors, takes its name from “one of many folkloric bogeymen used to frighten children into obedience. In our numerous and varied myths, monsters emerge from cultural shadows, not only as instruments of fear or control, but also as mirrors of our shared humanity.”

The “Rawhead Presents: Bloody Bones” special issue features a seasonal mix of horror, Sci-Fi, Fantasy and other forms of speculative story-telling.

A 20-year retired Iowa Army National Guard veteran with one overseas deployment, Brown embedded with units of 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry “Red Bull” Division (2-34th BCT) as civilian media in Afghanistan, May-June 2011. 

“The poem ‘at the Motel Mehtar-Lam’ was inspired by a night I spent in the rustic guest quarters at Forward Operating Base (“FOB”) Mehtar Lam in Afghanistan’s Laghman Province, May-June 2011, says Brown. “I was laying-over with my old unit, the headquarters of Iowa’s 1-133rd Inf. ‘Ironman’ Battalion. My hooch was located right next to the helipad, and just off that pad was a cordoned-off, above-ground Afghan gravesite.”

“It was just after Osama bin Laden had been killed, and stealthy black-helicopters were everyone’s top-of-mind,” says the poet. “I’m haunted by the sound of muffled chopper blades, but I tell myself I just imagined that they sounded different than usual.”

The artwork accompanying Brown’s poem in “Rawhead” is an image of the snowy mountains surrounding the FOB and the adjacent Afghan town of Mehtar Lam, pop. 144,000. The prolific photographer was then-Staff Sgt. Ryan Matson, a U.S. Army Reserve soldier assigned to the 2-34th BCT’s public affairs section.

After returning to Iowa, Brown helped publish images and words such as Matson’s in “Reporting for Duty: U.S. Citizen-Soldier Journalism from the Afghan Surge, 2010-2011.” In addition to producing other Sci-Fi/Fantasy and war-themed anthologies, including “Giant Robot Poems” and “Things We Carry Still,” Brown most recently edited  “Cryptids, Kaiju & Corn: Poems and Micro-Stories about Modern Midwest Monsters.”