The Department of Defense (DoD) has announced the 13 service members who were supporting Operation Freedom’s Sentinel, and died Aug. 26, 2021, as the result of an enemy attack while supporting non-combatant evacuation operations in Kabul, Afghanistan.
The incident is under investigation.
(Thirteen American service members screening Afghans desperate to fly out of the country died Thursday in a suicide bombing at the Kabul airport in Afghanistan. Courtesy of CBS New York and YouTube. Posted on Aug 27, 2021.)
For the Marine Corps, the deceased are:
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Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Darin T. Hoover, 31, of Salt Lake City, Utah.
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Marine Corps Sgt. Johanny Rosariopichardo, 25, of Lawrence, Massachusetts.
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Marine Corps Sgt. Nicole L. Gee, 23, of Sacramento, California.
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Marine Corps Cpl. Hunter Lopez, 22, of Indio, California.
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Marine Corps Cpl. Daegan W. Page, 23, of Omaha, Nebraska.
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Marine Corps Cpl. Humberto A. Sanchez, 22, of Logansport, Indiana.
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Marine Corps Lance Cpl. David L. Espinoza, 20, of Rio Bravo, Texas.
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Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Jared M. Schmitz, 20, of St. Charles, Missouri.
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Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Rylee J. McCollum, 20, of Jackson, Wyoming.
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Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Dylan R. Merola, 20, of Rancho Cucamonga, California.
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Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Kareem M. Nikoui, 20, of Norco, California.
(Steve Nikoui remembers his son, Lance Cpl. Kareem Nikoui on ‘Tucker Carlson Tonight.’ Courtesy of Fox News and YouTube. Posted on Aug 28, 2021.)
Staff Sergeant Darin T. Hoover, Cpl. Hunter Lopez, Cpl. Daegan W. Page, Cpl. Humberto A. Sanchez, Lance Cpl. Jared M. Schmitz, Lance Cpl. David L. Espinoza, Lance Cpl. Rylee J. McCollum, Lance Cpl. Dylan R. Merola, and Lance Cpl. Kareem M. Nikoui were assigned to 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, California.
Sgt. Nicole L. Gee was assigned to Combat Logistics Battalion 24, 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.
Sgt. Johanny Rosariopichardo was assigned to 5th Marine Expeditionary Brigade, Naval Support Activity Bahrain.
For the Navy, the deceased is:
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Navy Hospitalman Maxton W. Soviak, 22, of Berlin Heights, Ohio.
Hospitalman Maxton W. Soviak was assigned to 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, Camp Pendleton, California.
For the Army, the deceased is:
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Army Staff Sgt. Ryan C. Knauss, 23, of Corryton, Tennessee.
Staff Sgt. Ryan C. Knauss was assigned to 9th PSYOP Battalion, 8th PSYOP Group, Ft. Bragg, North Carolina.
(Former Navy SEAL Jocko Willink says he posted his message to the president on social media because he ‘felt that nobody was making any statements taking ownership of the situation that was happening’ in Afghanistan. Courtesy of Fox News and YouTube. Posted on Aug 24, 2021.)
Fathers of Marines Killed in Kabul Attack Rage Against Biden, Brass
August 29, 2021 – In Breaking News – Fox News
The fathers of two Marines killed in Thursday’s suicide attack at Kabul’s airport have expressed outrage at the U.S. government’s handling of the withdrawal of American forces, with one claiming President Biden “turned his back” on his murdered son.
“They sent my son over there as a paper pusher and then had the Taliban outside providing security,” Steve Nikoui, the father of Kareem Nikoui, told The Daily Beast. “I blame my own military leaders. … Biden turned his back on him. That’s it.”
Steve Nikoui told the website that he was notified of his son’s death by a group of Marines who showed up on his doorstep Thursday evening. The elder Nikoui said he had stayed home from work after hearing the news of Thursday’s attack and had been “glued to the TV” waiting for any word of his son.
Nikoui said the Marines who delivered the dreaded news were “more choked up than me.”
“I was actually trying to console them,” he said. “But at the same time, I just wanted them to get out as soon as possible so that no one from my family came back and saw them. I thought it appropriate that I be able to tell them.”
Before being sent over to Afghanistan, Kareem Nikoui had been stationed at Camp Pendleton, near his family’s Southern California home. Steve Nikoui recalled that his son regularly made trips home on weekends, often bringing “10 or 15 other Marines” with him.
“My wife and I felt very honored that [since] these other boys weren’t around their homes, that we were able to provide some sort of family life for them,” said Nikoui, who added that his son “really loved that [Marine Corps] family. He was devoted. He was going to make a career out of this, and he wanted to go.
“No hesitation for him to be called to duty.”
But Nikoui told Fox News’ “Tucker Carlson Tonight” on Friday that his son “had voiced some worry to the family” about the situation in Afghanistan and admitted that “the way that the Taliban had pretty much infiltrated the whole country so fast, and we were just kind of, it seemed, left to just this one little airport, really concerned me.”
Continue reading… Fathers of Marines killed in Kabul attack rage against Biden, brass
Editor’s note: As the mother of an active duty U.S. Marine, I cannot begin to imagine the heartbreak of the families, loved ones and fellow service members of these brave warfighters who were murdered in this heinous attack.
Our thoughts and prayers are with – and will remain with each of them – alongside the 18+ other service members who lives were at risk, and were wounded while supporting evacuating thousands of people out of Kabul on dozens of military cargo aircraft flights.
Thank you for your service and dedication to the United States of America. Your lives mattered and you will not be forgotten.
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