T-R PHOTO BY ROBERT MAHARRY Earlier this week, Rep. David Blom (R-Marshalltown) introduced legislation to rename the five-mile stretch of U.S. Highway 30 that runs through Marshalltown after Iowa Army National Guard Staff Sgt. William Nathaniel “Nate” Howard, who was killed in a terrorist attack in Palmyra, Syria, on Dec. 13, 2025.

A five-mile stretch of U.S. Highway 30 that runs through Marshalltown will likely soon be renamed after a fallen native son, Iowa Army National Guard Staff Sgt. William Nathaniel “Nate” Howard, thanks to legislation introduced by Rep. David Blom (R-Marshalltown) at the Statehouse earlier this week.

Though he didn’t personally know Howard, who was killed in a terrorist attack in Palmyra, Syria on Dec. 13 while deployed with the Guard, Blom told the T-R they were both students at Marshalltown High School at the same time, and the bill he presented, House File 2478, passed out of the Veterans Committee with unanimous bipartisan support and will now move to the full House and Senate — where it is labeled as Senate Resolution 101 — for approval before likely heading to the desk of Gov. Kim Reynolds to be officially signed.

“I was talking with people in Des Moines after going to the funeral, and I know, a lot of times, as things wind down, it’s easy to forget and it’s hard on the family when there’s not a way to remember. It feels like people move on, but there’s a hole in your own life and the family still has to deal with that,” Blom said. “So I was able to talk with the family and I brought the idea to see if it was something they’d be interested in, to name that section after Nate, and they talked about it and got back to me right away and said it’s something they wanted.”

While nothing can bring Howard back, Blom feels the tribute is an appropriate way to honor his memory and sacrifice, and his Democratic colleague Ken Croken of Davenport commented that there wasn’t a highway important enough to name after Howard.

“It’s a small thing that we’re gonna do so that when people are driving across Iowa, they’re able to see the memorial sign and pause and think about his sacrifice fighting alongside and defending our allies so that we can have a free and prosperous country and state here in Iowa,” Blom said.

Sen. Kara Warme, who represents Marshalltown in the Iowa Senate, offered her full endorsement for the renaming in a statement shared with the T-R on Thursday.

“Staff Sergeant Howard was a brave and talented soldier who volunteered to serve our state and nation and made the ultimate sacrifice while overseas defending our freedom,” she said. “I applaud Rep. Blom for leading the charge to ensure we have a daily reminder in Marshall County of Staff Sergeant Howard’s bravery and our gratitude to him and his family.”

On Christmas Eve, thousands of mourners gathered along Highway 30 to pay their respects during a procession that brought Howard’s body back from Des Moines to his hometown before his funeral service on Dec. 27. Blom observed from the UAW Local 893 Hall on Iowa Avenue along the route near Mitchell Family Funeral Home, which handled Howard’s services. Howard, who worked at Emerson as a laser engraving specialist, was a member of the union.

“Being there when he came back into town with his family was really difficult, but it was moving to be there,” Blom said. “I didn’t know him personally even though we were going to similar youth group activities at the high school at the same time. We were a couple grades apart, so I didn’t know him personally at school or that way. But to see how much his coworkers were positively impacted by him and being there to support them and seeing how much they cared (was important).”

The first term state representative, a union sheet metal worker himself at Raymon Enterprises in Albion, said he is also championing legislation to put veterans benefit posters in workplaces to help connect them with medical, legal and mental health support.

“I don’t want someone to find out 40 years down the road that help was available. I want them to get connected today, so that’s something that those coworkers of Nate’s had brought forward and is also moving forward in Des Moines,” Blom said.

He anticipates that the bill will garner unanimous support in both the House and Senate, and Blom was encouraged that the Iowa Department of Veterans Affairs has already registered in favor of it. Marshalltown Mayor Mike Ladehoff also told the T-R he fully supports the move.

“SSGT Howard will forever be remembered as a hero and as an example of what all of us should aspire to be as citizens,” Ladehoff said.

At the federal level, U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) has introduced legislation to name the community-based Veterans Affairs outpatient clinic in Marshalltown the “Staff Sergeant William Nathaniel Howard VA Clinic.” Howard, Staff Sgt. Edgar Brian Torres-Tovar of Des Moines and civilian interpreter Ayad Mansoor Akat of Macomb, Mich. were killed in the attack.

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Contact Robert Maharry

at 641-753-6611 ext. 255 or

rmaharry@timesrepublican.com.