President Donald Trump steps off Air Force One to attend the return of the remains of two Iowa National Guard members killed in an attack in Syria during a solemn event at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware on Dec. 17, 2025. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP via Getty Images)
"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 reads. "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."
Wednesday's event was the first dignified transfer Trump has attended since returning to office in January.
FOX NEWS POLITICS NEWSLETTER: HEGSETH RESPONDS AFTER TWO US SOLDIERS KILLED IN SYRIA ARE IDENTIFIED
US President Donald Trump and US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth salute as a US Army carry team moves the transfer case containing the remains of US Army Sgt. William Howard, during the dignified transfer of the remains of two Iowa National Guard members killed in an attack in Syria during a ceremony at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware on Dec. 17, 2025. (ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP via Getty Images)
"My wife Misty and I had that visit from Army Commanders you never want to have. Our son Nate was one of the Soldiers that paid the ultimate sacrifice for all of us, to keep us all safer. He loved what he was doing and would be the first in and last out, no one left behind. Please pray for our soldiers all around this cruel world. We will see you again son, until then we have i[t] from here," Bunn wrote.
Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said Saturday that two Army soldiers and one civilian U.S. interpreter were killed, and three were wounded during the attack.
ARMY IDENTIFIES TWO IOWA NATIONAL GUARD SOLDIERS KILLED IN SYRIA
U.S. President Donald Trump and U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth salute as a U.S. Army carry team moves a flagged-draped transfer case containing the remains of Iowa National Guardsman Sgt. William Nathaniel Howard at Dover Air Force Base on Dec. 17, 2025 in Dover, Delaware. Iowa National Guard members Sgt. William Nathaniel Howard and Sgt. Edgar Brian Torres-Tovar and Ayad Mansoor Sakat, a U.S. civilian working as an interpreter, were killed during a recent ambush by an Islamic State (IS) gunman in Syria. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
The service members had been conducting a key leader engagement with local partners in support of ongoing counter-ISIS operations when the attacker opened fire.
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A Pentagon official told Fox News Digital the attack occurred in an area outside the control of interim Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, and that initial assessments indicate it was likely carried out by ISIS.
Fox News' Ashley Carnahan contributed to this report.
Anders Hagstrom is a reporter with Fox News Digital covering national politics and major breaking news events. Send tips to Anders.Hagstrom@Fox.com, or on X: @Hagstrom_Anders.
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