A week before she was killed in the Kabul airport terrorist attack, Marine Nicole Gee posted a photo on her Instagram account of her holding a baby at the same airport.
"I love my job,"
wrote Gree, only 23 years old.
The young woman spent her last days of life cradling and comforting Afghan children before their evacuation from Afghanistan, now in the hands of the Taliban.
She was one of 13 US personnel in the Afghan capital who lost their lives when a suicide bomber bombed a crowded checkpoint outside the airport on Thursday.
The terrorist attack also left more than 110 Afghans dead.
Gee's Instagram page shows another photo of her in uniform, holding a rifle alongside a line of people about to board a plane.
"Escorting the evacuees," the young woman wrote.
Gee, from Sacramento, California, was a maintenance technician with the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit from Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.
She had recently been promoted to Sgt.
"I can't quite describe the feeling I get when I force myself back to reality and think about how I'll never see it again," Sgt. Mallory Harrison, who lived with Gee for three years, wrote on Facebook.
"She took her last breath doing what she loved: helping people."
The risky situation on the ground in Afghanistan remains threatening to US personnel who have yet to be evacuated, President Joe Biden said on Saturday, warning that another attack at Kabul airport is "highly likely". "in the next 24 to 36 hours."
On Saturday night, the US embassy in the Afghan capital said that all Americans in and around the airport should vacate the scene immediately, citing a "specific and credible threat."
The US Army is rushing to evacuate the few Americans and Afghan allies fleeing the Taliban who are still in Afghanistan.
The deadline for the United States to complete its military withdrawal is next Tuesday.
There are approximately 350 Americans left in Afghanistan.
A Latina officer between the two murdered women
The Defense Department on Saturday officially identified the 13 service members who were killed while guarding the Kabul airport to evacuate American and Afghan refugees from the Afghan capital, now in the hands of the Taliban.
The Marines who died were Darin T. Hoover, from Utah;
Hunter Lopez from Indio, California;
Daegan W. Page of Omaha;
Humberto A. Sánchez, from Indiana;
David L. Espinoza, from Texas;
Jared M. Schmitz, of Missouri;
Rylee J. McCollum of Wyoming;
Dylan R. Merola, from California;
Kareem M. Nikoui of Norco, of California;
Maxton W. Soviak, from Ohio, and Ryan C. Knauss, from Tennessee.
In addition,
Sergeant Johanny Rosario Pichardo
, of Dominican descent, and one of the two women who are counted among the 13 fatalities
were killed
.
Tribute to Navy Sergeant Johanny Rosario Pichardo.REUTERS
Pichardo, only 25 years old and who lived in Lawrence, Massachusetts, was honored in his city this weekend, among family members, former teachers and people from the community, who lit candles in his name, along with images of the young woman in uniform. .
“We will not allow it to be forgotten,” said Jaime Meléndez, director of veterans services in Lawrence, where Rosario attended high school.
Pichardo had been commended for her unit in May for excellence in a job as a supply chief, a position generally assigned to higher-ranking officers.
"His service was not only crucial in evacuating thousands of women and children (from Afghanistan), but he epitomizes what it means to be a Marine - putting yourself in jeopardy for the protection of American values so that others can enjoy them," he said Marine Corps 1st Lt. John Coppola.
it's a statement.
The US removes 4,200 people from Kabul and asks its citizens not to approach the airport
Aug. 28, 202100: 53
Sonia Guzmán, ambassador of the Dominican Republic to the United States, tweeted that the Caribbean nation was sorry for the loss of the official.
"Peace to your soul!" He tweeted.
Biden and the first lady, Jill, attended a "dignified transfer" event this Sunday to mark the return home of the remains of the dead military.
President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden attend the dignified transfer of the remains of service members who died in a suicide bombing at the Kabul Airport at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware , August 29, 2021.Tom Brenner / Reuters
Dressed in black, the presidential couple arrived early Sunday at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, where they were reunited with relatives of deceased service members.
Addressing the nation earlier, Biden hailed the slain Americans as "the backbone of America" and vowed to exact revenge on those who carried out the attack.
"We will hunt them down and make them pay," he said.