A steady stream of planes is leaving Kabul airport, despite at least five rockets fired at the airport. There have been no reports of casualties so far. A civilian vehicle was apparently used as an improvised launch platform for one of those rockets aimed at the airport Monday. The burned-out car appeared to have been modified with six launch tubes. Residents nearby say they heard the bang of a rocket launching and that one hit a nearby building.
President Joe Biden attended the ceremony at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware to honor those killed in Afghanistan. Eleven of those killed were Marines. Five of the fallen were just 20 years old, the same number of years as the war. One was an Army soldier, and one was a Navy corpsman. Their remains—each held in flag-draped cases—were carried from a military cargo plane and onto mortuary vans. They are the first U.S. troops killed in hostile action in Afghanistan since February 2020. That makes it the deadliest day for U.S. troops in Afghanistan in a decade. Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), who made a secret trip to Afghanistan last week to oversee the evacuation effort, said, “This was preventable because we wouldn’t have had to put Marines in this position if we had started the evacuation much earlier.”
Some are asking, was it worth it? Two Gold Star parents give their take. Kirk and Gretchen Catherwood lost their son Alec in an explosion in the rugged mountains of Afghanistan 11 years ago. It was less than 3 weeks into his first deployment to Afghanistan, as a lance corporal in the Marine Corps. He was just 19 years old. The parents are now building free cabins for veterans, hoping that they can help each other heal.
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