The fallen marine Rylee McCollum, one of the 13 who died in the Kabul blast, has his firstborn named after him by his wife. His sacrifice was remembered as one of the marines who died believing in helping others, whose deaths could have been preventable.
One of the fathers will never come home to see their loved ones while they grieve and ask why they died. Compared to the former US administration that kept men in uniform safer.
The sacrifice of the 13 was accorded military recognition, but many decry their unnecessary loss due to the administration's alleged missteps, which has not been accountable for this incident.
The day 13, good soldiers were forsaken.
Rylee McCollum, 20, was a casualty as the ISIS-K sent a suicide bomber to the airport in the last hours of the deadline on August 26. At this time, his pregnant wife, Jiennah Crayton, Gigi, had no idea of the events to come, reported the Daily Mail.
She later gave birth to his child, a baby girl named Levi Rylee Rose, in remembrance of her late father. Gigi celebrated the birth of Levi with a Facebook post that expressed her joy at the child coming despite the loss of her dad on that dark day.
Rylee's daughter Levi was born on a Monday at 8 lbs. and 10 ounces. The baby was with a pillow of her dad in military dress. But, the child will never see her dad, 'Marine Rylee McCollum' after, he was supposed to be home by October, but that will never happen.
A day after the childbirth, Gigi wrote a poem that described the overwhelming feelings of loss and cited the Mirror UK. She added her dad was watching her.
Afghanistan fell with unwanted consequences
The fallen soldier went to Afghanistan to be part of the ill-fated US pullout, where he died in the horrible blast by an ISIS-K suicide bomber. He was stationed at a checkpoint when he got caught in the powerful explosion, being one of 183 killed in the suicide attack at the Kabul airport.
The marine graduated from Jackson Hole High School, Wyoming, in 2019 and, enlisting in the US Marine Corps, got married to Gigi just in February 2019 on a trip to Las Vegas. When news came of McCollum's death, Jill Miller Crayton, the mother of Gigi, mentioned her daughter is only 20, got widowed, and pregnant was terrible to bear. She was like those who lost a loved one that day.
She never met her son-in-law even before his death in Kabul, though she was happy for what the couple shared in a very short time. Calling the man she never met a missed chance, but Gigi loved the fallen marine who was everything to her. The mother said she wanted to see him in October, and seeing the joy in her daughter with a child on the way was incredible.
Previously, Jill lost her husband at nine weeks pregnant with Gigi's brother, which was 15 years ago, and it happened again. She added the death of Marine Rylee McCollum should not be affected by the Biden administration politics; he deserves better than that for his selfless service to better his memory.