T-R PHOTOS BY ROBERT MAHARRY, TRANSFER OF REMAINS PHOTOS BY THE DES MOINES REGISTER AND THE CEDAR RAPIDS GAZETTE

The community welcomed home its fallen hero on a somber Christmas Eve as the body of Iowa Army National Guard Staff Sgt. William Nathaniel “Nate” Howard, 29, a Class of 2014 Marshalltown High School graduate who was killed in an ISIS terrorist attack while serving in Palmyra, Syria, on Dec. 13, was returned to Iowa. Howard was honored first with a transfer of remains ceremony at the Des Moines International Airport and then a procession from Des Moines north to Ames and east through Nevada, Colo and State Center and, finally, his hometown of Marshalltown.

Thousands of mourners lined up along the route before the procession came into town at the intersection of Highway 30 and Highway 14, and the vehicles passed under a giant American flag displayed by the Marshalltown Fire Department. It then moved west on Iowa Avenue toward Mitchell Funeral Home, which is handling Howard’s services. A visitation is set to begin at 9 a.m. on Saturday at the MHS Roundhouse followed by a funeral service at 10:30 a.m. Following the service, full military honors will be held at the high school with the gun volley occurring outside and flag honors inside the Roundhouse.

The body of Staff Sgt. Edgar Brian Torres-Tovar, 25, of Des Moines was also returned to Iowa on Wednesday. Howard, Torres-Tovar and civilian interpreter Ayad Mansoor Akat of Macomb, Mich. were killed in the attack.