Anger, grief for family members of 13 US troops killed in Afghanistan

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Steve Nikoui had been glued to TV reports on Thursday, desperate for hints his son, Lance Corporal Kareem Nikoui, survived the deadly airport suicide bombing in Afghanistan when three Marines arrived at his door with the worst news possible.

The 20-year-old Marine, who the previous day had sent home a video of himself giving candy to Afghan children, was among 13 US service members killed in the bombing. Others included an expectant father from Wyoming, the son of a California police officer, and a medic from Ohio.

“He was born the same year it started, and ended his life with the end of this war,” Nikoui said from his home in Norco, California, referring to the 2001 start of US military operations in Afghanistan.

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On Saturday the US Defense Department formally released the names of the 13 service members. Four others were aged 20 like Nikoui; as old as the war itself.

Two were women, Marine Corps Sgt. Nicole L. Gee, 23, of Sacramento, California, and Marine Corps Sgt. Johanny Rosario Pichardo, 25, of Lawrence, Massachusetts.

Gee had posted photos from her deployment on social media and just days ago she posted a picture of herself in uniform, holding an infant, with the caption, “I love my job.”

Islamic State militants claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing, carried out during a massive evacuation of US and other foreign nationals as well as some Afghan civilians following the Taliban takeover.

On Friday, Nikoui was waiting for a Marine liaison to come to his house to help with arrangements to fly him and his wife to an Air Force base in Delaware, where their son’s body will arrive in the coming days.

He said he was angry.

“I’m really disappointed in the way that the president has handled this, even more so the way the military has handled it. The commanders on the ground should have recognized this threat and addressed it,” Nikoui said.

Also among the troops killed was Rylee McCollum of Wyoming, a Marine who was married with a baby due in three weeks, his sister, Roice, said in a Facebook post on Friday.

“He wanted to be a marine his whole life and carried around his rifle in his diapers and cowboy boots,” his sister wrote, adding that he wanted to be a history teacher and a wrestling coach upon leaving the military.

Along with wrestling, McCollum played football before graduating from Wyoming’s Jackson Hole High School in 2019.

“Saying that I am grateful for Rylee’s service to our country does not begin to encapsulate the grief and sadness I feel today as a mother and as an American,” State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jillian Balow said in a statement. “My heart and prayers are with Rylee’s family, friends, and the entire Jackson community.”

Regi Stone, whose son Eli enlisted around the same time as McCollum, described him as “smart, strong and courageous” and said he drew comfort when the two hung out together.

“We always knew that Rylee had his back and my son his,” Stone told Reuters, adding that he got to know McCollum during visits for dinner at their house. “He’s a defender. He loved his country and wanted to make a difference.”

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