Jim McCollum knew before he opened the door why two U.S. Marines were at his home in Jackson, Wyoming.
“It was just the way it looks in the movies,” the grieving father told The Daily Beast. “As soon as I saw them on the porch, I knew they were gone.”
“He,” was his son, Lance Cpl. Rylee McCollum, one of 13 members of the American service killed in the attack on Kabul airport on Thursday. The 20-year-old, newly married and with a baby scheduled for Sept. 22, was on a path to greatness, said Elder McCollum.
“He was the most patriotic kid,” Jim said. “The good of evil and the good side: that guy pushed him. I couldn’t have been more proud.”
The little comfort you can find is knowing that your child died fulfilling your dream of serving.
“He died doing what he loved and with those he cared about, doing the right thing,” Jim said. “He always wanted to be on the right, on the side of justice. He did exactly what he lived his life doing. “
At least 169 Afghans were also killed in the suicide bombing claimed by ISIS-K, and officials warn of the continuing danger amid continued evacuation, including warning people to leave the airport gates “immediately” in last Friday, in a mysterious echo of warnings ahead of Thursday’s explosion. .
The ongoing operation leaves the devastated father worried about the Marines who are still in the war-torn country, now ruled mainly by the Taliban.
“I’ve lost my son, but there are still marines out there,” he said. “We gave them everything they needed and we’re stuck at the airport. I’m afraid to see what happens next and what comes to mind.”
Mr McCollum, who spoke before the United States launched a drone strike against the terrorist group, was upset that there was no immediate retaliation for the attack and suggested that US forces should remove the Afghan presidential palace. instead of letting the Taliban take it: “bomb the damn thing,” he said.
Friday’s drone strike against ISIS-K apparently succeeded in withdrawing one of the planners from the attack that killed Rylee McCollum.
“Early indications are that we killed the target,” said Captain Bill Urban of Central Command.