A bill moving through the Iowa legislature will name a portion of U.S. Highway 30 in honor of one of the two Iowa National Guard soldiers killed in Syria late last year. “Staff Sergeant William Nathaniel Howard Highway” will be a five-mile stretch of Highway 30 that runs through Howard’s hometown of Marshalltown. Representative David Blom (BLAHM) of Marshalltown is sponsoring the bill to make that happen.

Blom and Howard were students in Marshalltown high school at the same time.

Blom’s bill has won unanimous support in the House Veterans Affairs Committee and is expected to gain full approval in the House and Senate before the 2026 legislative session ends. Members of Iowa’s congressional delegation have introduced federal legislation to name the community-based outpatient clinic in Marshalltown the “Staff Sergeant William Nathaniel Howard VA Clinic.” The Iowa National Guard Heroes Commemoration Act also would name the V-A clinic in Des Moines in honor of Staff Sergeant Edgar Torres-Tovar

O. Kay Henderson, Radio Iowa