The military's top unit award was approved for some of the mission's participants. On Aug. 26, 2021, a suicide attack in Kabul killed 11 Marines, one Navy corpsman and one soldier, and approximately 170 Afghan civilians. Lance Cpl. Rylee McCollum was killed at age 20 during the 2021 suicide attack in Kabul. The atomic bomb dropped by the United States on Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945, destroyed the city. Maj. Katie Lunning, Military Times' 2023 Airman of the Year, helped saved dozens of lives during the evacuation of Afghanistan as a critical care nurse. The review places significant blame on the Trump administration for its handling of the Afghanistan war and drawdown agreement with the Taliban. Democratic lawmakers say federal agencies need to study the problem before it becomes widespread. For many residents of Camp Lejeune and Jacksonville, North Carolina, the bombing that took place in Beirut on Oct. 23, 1983, touched them personally. In a letter to the force, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin thanked veterans and the Gold Star families of more than 2,400 troops killed in Afghanistan. Air Force Times exclusively spoke with five airmen from the 379th Expeditionary Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron during Operation Allies Refuge. Load More