Charity foundations, street names, and a mural are among the tributes to the fallen
Most of them were based at Camp Pendleton, but they came from all over America, from small towns and suburbs. And that’s where the sorrow and the pride linger, one year later.killed in the Kabul airport bombing are being remembered with memorials of various kinds — charity foundations, renamed streets, a mural — in places like Rancho Cucamonga, Berlin Heights, Ohio, and Lawrence, Mass. From sea to shining sea.
Anger came, too, fingers pointed at military commanders and at President Joe Biden, who had promised a “safe and orderly” exit after inheriting from his predecessor an agreement that the U.S. would leave Afghanistan. Many of the family members regularly seek graveside solace, hoping for comfort in the knowledge that their loved ones died while part of an effort that helped some 125,000 people escape Afghanistan as the government there collapsed.in March as she visited Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery, where her son Jared Schmitz, is buried.
In phone calls and text messages to relatives back home, some of the Marines talked about the desperation they saw in the faces of those trying to flee. They said they believed they were making a difference. In the weeks that followed, somber tributes unfolded from coast to coast. “They were part of the bravest, most capable, and the most selfless military on the face of the Earth,” Biden said. “And they were part of, simply, what I call the backbone of America. They’re the spine of America, the best the country has to offer.”
Elected officials in several of the Marines’ hometowns passed resolutions honoring them. Flags flew at half-staff for a while. GoFundMe drives collected donations for the families.