The new images show the moment when a decorated American soldier boarded a military cargo plane shortly before midnight on Tuesday in Afghanistan, becoming the last member of the American service to leave. of the country.
The departure of Major General Donahue, commander of the United States. The 82nd Airborne Division of the Army, XVIII Airborne Corps, marked the end of the longest war in the United States that lasted nearly 20 years.
The milestone also “closes the U.S. mission to evacuate U.S. citizens, special visa applicants for Afghan immigrants and vulnerable Afghans,” the U.S. Central Command wrote in a statement accompanying the publication of the image.
Donahue, a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, has had an illustrious military career that began in 1992.
The two-star general has been deployed at least 17 times to support operations in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and elsewhere, according to a profile he made in 2020 on the army’s official website.
Donahue also worked remarkably at the Pentagon, acting as special assistant to the chairman of the joint chief of staff, and received a U.S. Army Fellowship from Harvard University.
The last C-17 plane took off from Hamid Karzai International Airport at 23:59 Kabul time just before the August 31 deadline to withdraw troops from the country.
More than 79,000 civilians had left Kabul airport on U.S. military planes since Aug. 14, including 6,000 Americans and 73,500 Afghans and third-country nationals, according to General Frank McKenzie Jr. United States Central Command.
The number of civilians evacuated rose to more than 123,000 when those who flew members of the U.S.-led coalition were counted.
But as many as 200 U.S. citizens and thousands more Afghan allies have been left behind.