Enlarge image
Nicole Gee, August 20, 2021 in Kabul: The US soldier died a few days later in an attack
Photo: Sgt.Isaiah Campbell / dpa
Nicole Gee, 23, is standing in the shade of a house holding a baby.
The child has dark hair and bare feet; it looks into the face of the American soldier in uniform and sturdy gloves; behind her, rifles are leaning against the wall.
In the midst of the military evacuation mission after the Taliban came to power in Afghanistan, Gee exudes calm.
It is the last photo that the soldier posted on her Instagram account, just days before the suicide attack at Kabul airport.
It's been a week since Gee wrote four words next to the uploaded photo: "I love my job."
On Saturday the US Department of Defense announced the names of the soldiers who died in the explosions in Kabul on Thursday.
Gee is among the 13 dead the US Army laments.
Dozens of civilians died in the process.
"Taken the time to comfort"
More than 120,000 Instagram users have now clicked the "Like" heart below the photo.
Some probably because they knew Gee.
Some because they liked and loved them.
However, many will have clicked on it because the photo that Gee posted was so unlikely to be touching.
On the one hand, it stands for the suffering of Afghan children that this crisis brings with it.
For the horror of stolen perspectives.
But it also stands for trying to help in the moment of chaos.
The New York Times (NYT) writes: "It shows how, even in the midst of the turmoil, many have taken the time to comfort and encourage families at the airport."
more on the subject
Now the Taliban have to fight IS: The new terror in AfghanistanBy Christoph Reuter
That was exactly Sergeant Nicole Gee's job.
She was on duty at Kabul airport to help women and children who made it through the gates and wanted to get into one of the machines that would take them out of the country.
In the days of the military evacuation mission, members of the US Army led tens of thousands of people "through chaotic and dangerous barbed wire barriers," as the "NYT" describes it.
Nothing more is known about the fate of the baby.
It is not clear whether his mother was also around or whether it was one of the children whom desperate Afghans passed the US soldiers over walls.
Among the 13 dead US Marines was a second woman: the 25-year-old US soldier Johanny Rosario Pichardo.
About her Lieutenant John Coppola said: “Your work was not only crucial in evacuating thousands of women and children.
It is also the epitome of what it means to be a
Marine
: It means putting yourself in danger to protect American values so that others can enjoy them. "
Among men
Nicole Gee believed in her work, says her brother-in-law Gabriel Fuoco according to the »NYT«.
“If she did something, then she did it.” She was never intimidated by working in the male-dominated military.
"In a way, she was a pioneer," says Fuoco.
more on the subject
Attack in Afghanistan: "It was so close that I couldn't even see people drop dead" By Thore Schröder
At the beginning of the Afghanistan war in 2001, women in the US army were not allowed to take on any tasks at the gates of the airport, says Kate Germano, US lieutenant colonel in retirement.
That is different today.
Women now made up nine percent of the United States Marine Corps.
According to Germano, that's still a small fraction compared to other areas of the military.
But every year there are more women at the front.
In her training as a soldier, Sergeant Gee, who was married to a soldier, is said to have excelled, according to the report in the New York Times.
She graduated as one of the best and was promoted to sergeant on a mission in Kuwait - probably earlier than is often the case.
Family and friends describe her as "lively, confident, smart and strong".
more on the subject
Despair at the airport: Baby handed over to US soldiers over the wall in Kabul
Her brother-in-law Fuoco describes her as friendly, kind and affectionate.
And if you look at her photo, which is now going around the world, it is not difficult to believe it.
In the picture it seems as if Gee is giving this strange child a moment of security.
As if she wanted to tell him without words: breathe calmly, little one, everything will be fine.
And that in a situation that was commented around the world as "hectic", "unpredictable" and "terrible".
According to Fuoco, Gee is said to have had personal plans for the time after the Afghanistan mission: She is said to have talked about starting a family.
jus