Joe Biden Attends Dignified Transfer After Honoring Service Members Killed in Afghanistan as 'Heroes'
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Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty President Joe Biden
President Joe Biden is paying his respects to the families of the 13 U.S. service members who were killed in Thursday's attack outside the Afghanistan capital airport in Kabul.
On Sunday, the President traveled to Dover, Delaware, where he and First Lady Dr. Jill Biden met with family members and attended a dignified transfer as the remains of the service members arrived in the United States.
During the solemn moment, flag-draped transfer cases were taken from a military cargo plane. Carried out in near silence, at certain points of the service sounds of mourning could be heard coming from the area where family members were standing, per a White House pool report.
At least 169 Afghans also died in the heinous bombing and gun attack, according to the Associated Press.
"The 13 service members that we lost were heroes who made the ultimate sacrifice in service of our highest American ideals and while saving the lives of others," Biden said in a statement on Saturday. "Their bravery and selflessness has enabled more than 117,000 people at risk to reach safety thus far. May God protect our troops and all those standing watch in these dangerous days."
Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty President Joe Biden and First Lady Dr. Jill Biden
Officials believe U.S. forces were targeted in a suicide attack amid ongoing evacuation efforts by extremists with a branch of the Islamic State who oppose both America and the Taliban in Afghanistan.
The dead include 11 Marines, an Army Staff Sergeant, and a Navy Corpsman, all of whom were under the age of 32. One of the confirmed victims, Sergeant Nicole Gee, was photographed just days earlier, holding a baby in her arms at Kabul's Hamid Karzai International Airport.
"I love my job," the 23-year-old from California captioned the snap.
Three of the U.S. service members killed in Afghanistan
Military officials released a full list of U.S. service members who were killed in the bombing on Saturday.
The Marines killed were identified as Staff Sgt. Darin T. Hoover, 31; Cpl. Hunter Lopez, 22; Cpl. Daegan Page, 23; Cpl. Humberto Sanchez, 22; Lance Cpl. Jared Schmitz, 20; Lance Cpl. David Espinoza, 20; Lance Cpl. Rylee McCollum, 20; Lance Cpl. Dylan Merola, 20; Lance Cpl. Kareem Nikoui, 20; Sgt. Nicole Gee, 23; and Sgt. Johanny Rosario Pichardo, 25.
Navy Hospitalman Maxton Soviak, 22, and Army Staff Sgt. Ryan Knauss, 23, were also killed in the attack.
