The last soldier to leave Afghanistan the day the U.S. concluded its 20-year war, he identified himself as Major General Chris Donahue, commander of the 82nd U.S. Airborne Division, 18th Airborne Corps. Donahue was one of the field commanders leading the evacuation mission.
General Kenneth F. McKenzie, the commander of the US Central Command, said Monday that the last US plane left Afghanistan on August 30 at 15:29 ET or 23:59 in Kabul.
The Department of Defense communications wing, DVIDs, posted a photo of Donahue boarding a C-17 cargo plane at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan. There was also the company manager Ross Wilson.
Donahue and U.S. forces in Afghanistan, commander of the striker, Rear Admiral Peter Vasely, led the evacuation operation that began on August 14 and evacuated more than 122,000 individuals, including 6,000 U.S. citizens. McKenzie admitted Monday that not everyone who wanted to leave Afghanistan left, but said he was proud of the American troops who, under the leadership of Donahue and Vasely, evacuated so many people.
Twitter / XVIII Airborne Corps
President Biden said he would address Americans on Tuesday about the decision not to extend the U.S. mission after the deadline, though some Americans and Afghans at risk were unable to evacuate.
The U.S. mission in Afghanistan began shortly after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. There were 2,461 U.S. service members killed in the 20-year war, and Thursday was the busiest day. bloody for American troops in a decade when 13 members of the American service died in a ISIS-K suicide bombings.
U.S. forces have “demilitarized,” or rendered useless, the military equipment he left behind, including dozens of military vehicles and aircraft, worth billions of dollars worth of equipment.
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said Monday in a statement that Americans “must remember the citizens we serve and the nation we stand for.”
“For my part, I’m proud of the role we played in this war,” Austin said. “I am proud of the men and women who led me. I am proud of those I served and led. And I am proud of the fearless and resilient families who made what we did possible.”