Biden pays respects to US troops killed in Kabul blast; Indian-Americans hold candle light vigils across country

In what might be dubbed one of the most somber moments of Joe Biden’s tenure, the President and First Lady on Sunday received the mortal remains of the 13 soldiers killed recently in Afghanistan. The Bidens met privately with the families of the victims before joining them for the “dignified transfer” of the fallen troops while at Dover Air Force Base.

While this is the first time that Biden attended the tragic ceremony as President, his three most recent predecessors as presidents have all attended the dignified transfers for troops killed in the nearly 20-year Afghanistan war. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin, Joint Chiefs Chairman Mark Milley and other senior military officials were also in attendance.

As the President looked on, flag-draped cases carrying 11 service members’ remains were loaded into vans. The remains of two other fallen US service members were being brought home privately at the request of their families. The slain soldiers had been young, ranging in age from 20 to 31. Eleven of the 13 Americans killed were Marines, while one was a Navy sailor and another was in the Army.

The casualties included a 20-year-old Marine from Wyoming who had been expecting his first child in three weeks and a 22-year-old Navy corpsman who in his last FaceTime conversation with his mother assured her that he would stay safe because “my guys got me.” Five were just 20, born not long before the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, that spurred the United States to invade Afghanistan in order to topple al-Qaida and dismantle their Taliban hosts who ruled the country.

President Biden called them heroes in a statement, lauding them for their work in assisting the evacuation efforts. “Their bravery and selflessness has enabled more than 117,000 people at risk to reach safety thus far,” he noted.

Nearly 200 people, including the 13 US troops, were killed last week as twin blasts rocked Kabul Airport. The Islamic State had claimed responsibility for the attack, even as Biden vowed to ‘hunt down’ the attackers and ‘make them pay’. They were incidentally the first US service members to be killed in Afghanistan since February 2020, when the Trump administration reached an agreement with the Taliban.

Meanwhile, Indian Americans held candlelight peace vigils in various cities across the country to mourn the victims. They have also urged the Biden administration to ensure that the perpetrators of the act are brought to justice. On Sunday, a small group of about 20 Indian-Americans had gathered at the reflecting pond in front of the US Capitol for a candlelight vigil for US service members killed in the suicide attack at the Kabul airport.

Candle light vigils were also held in New York, Jersey City, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Houston, Boston, Dallas, Chicago, Ohio Columbus, Connecticut, among others.