Marshalltown mourns loss of local soldier killed in Syria

MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa (KCRG) - Flags are at half staff in Marshalltown, the home of Nathaniel Howard, one of the two Iowa National Guard soldiers who died overseas this weekend.

“He loved what he was doing and would be the first in and last out, no one left behind,” Howard’s stepfather Meskwaki Nation Police Chief Jeffrey Bunn said. “Our son Nate was one of the Soldiers that paid the ultimate sacrifice for all of us, to keep us all safer.”

That sacrifice Bunn talks about is something every soldier has to consider.

“When anybody raises their hand and takes the oath we all plan on coming home, fine and safe. We never plan on having something like this happen,” Kevin Huseboe, director of the Marshalltown VA Office, said.

He plays a big part in honoring the legacy of Marshalltown’s fallen soldiers.

“It takes a village to make sure all the veterans are taken care of all the time,” Huseboe said.

With that sense of respect, he says it’s a loss felt through throughout the entire community.

“A lot of veterans know other veterans,” Huseboe said. “This young man had a lot of ties to a lot of different people in this town.”

While Marshalltown hasn’t lost a veteran in more than a decade, the timing here is something Huseboe says is especially tragic.

”Christmas will never, ever be the same for the family and that’s what’s sad," Huseboe said.