A 20-year-old Marine who was killed in the ISIS-K suicide bombing at Kabul airport was expecting his first child

August 28, 2021

A 20-year-old Marine who was killed in the ISIS-K suicide bombing at Kabul airport was expecting his first child

Rylee McCollum (R) and his friend Eli Stone (L) at Christmas in Stone's house in Jackson, Wyoming, on December 2019..
Regi Stone via AP

Lance Cpl. Rylee McCollum was among the 13 US servicemen killed during an attack in Kabul this week.
The 20-year-old Marine from Wyoming was married and expecting his first child in three weeks.
McCollum's sister said he was a"tough, kind, loving kid who made an impact on everyone he met."
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A 20-year-old US Marine from Wyoming who was expecting his first child was among the 13 US service personnel killed during a bombing attack in Kabul, Afghanistan on Thursday.

Lance Cpl. Rylee McCollum was manning a checkpoint at Hamid Karzai International Airport when the bombing occurred, his sister Roice told the Casper Star-Tribune. He became one of the first American victims to be publicly identified.

The attack, which also killed at least 170 Afghans, was also the highest US death toll in a single incident in the country in 10 years.

McCollum, who was born seven months before 9/11, was "determined to be in (the) infantry," Roice said, according to the Casper Star-Tribune.

"Rylee wanted to be a history teacher and a wrestling coach when he finished serving his country. He's a tough, kind, loving kid who made an impact on everyone he met. His joke and wit brought so much joy," she said.

The 20-year-old got married to his pregnant girlfriend before his deployment in April. He was "so excited" to become a dad, his other sister Cheyenne told East Idaho News.

"He was going to be the best dad. We don't know (the gender of the baby)," Cheyenne said. "They decided to keep it a surprise. We hope it's a boy. I had a baby in 2019, and he just loved her so much."

McCollum's unit had deployed from Jordan to Afghanistan to provide security and help with evacuations, his father told the New York Times.

McCollum's told the paper that two Marines knocked on the door of the family's home at 3:30 am on Friday to deliver the news.

"He was a beautiful soul," he said.

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