Biden attends ceremony for fallen 13 troops killed in Afghanistan
President Biden on Sunday attended a solemn ceremony in Delaware to pay respects to the 13 US troops killed in the terror attack near the Kabul airport as their bodies arrived on American soil.
Biden and first lady Jill Biden were at Dover Force Airport for a “dignified transfer” movement, a somber military ritual of receiving the bodies of fallen troops who died in foreign combat.
They also met in private with the families of the fallen troops before they are due to return to Washington.
It was the first time that Biden has traveled to Dover for such a ritual as president, with the families of two of the fallen troops opting out of the public ceremony, according to CNN.
But during the final months of his vice presidency, he attended a dignified transfer for two US soldiers killed in a suicide blast at Bagram Airfield in 2016.
In 2008, while a senator, he attended one at the request of the grieving family for a soldier killed in a car bombing in Iraq.
In a CBS “Face the Nation” interview, Biden that he had to get permission from the Pentagon to attend the transfer.
The 13 troops who were killed in Kabul had been assisting with the evacuation of Americans and Afghans after the swift fall of the country’s government.
Among the casualties were 11 Marines, one Navy sailor and one Army soldier.
The victims ranged in age from 20 to 31, including 23-year-old Marine Sgt. Nicole Gee, who was captured last week in a photo cooing over an Afghan infant.
Since mid-August, the US has evacuated more than 114,400 people from Afghanistan, including 2,900 between Saturday morning and Sunday, the White House said.
With Post wires
