Ryan Knauss’ family first learned Friday morning that the 23-year-old U.S. Army sergeant was one of 13 U.S. soldiers killed in the suicide bombing at Kabul airport, according to the grandmother paternal of the young man. The news was “quite a shock,” Evelena Knauss told The Daily Beast. “They made us think they were 12 Marines and one Navy, and we knew our grandson was in the army. So we were praying for the families of the Marines, not knowing that our grandson was one of those who lost his life. … You just don’t think it will be yours, I’m sure you’ve heard it before. ”
Knauss, who grew up in Tennessee, joined the military from high school and had already made a nine-month tour of Afghanistan, his grandmother explained. “And then it was deployed again on that mission,” he said. “I had just completed a course in psychological operations … Taking pretty impressive steps in the army. Very bright and very committed. Driven … Young.”
“It was a very sad day for us. It shouldn’t have happened that way. “