He was a baby on 9/11. Now he’s one of the last casualties of America’s longest war

[superadmin]

NEW YORK - After Lance Corporal Rylee McCollum, 20, landed in Afghanistan with his Marine unit, his father, Jim, began checking his phone for a little green dot. Mr McCollum had not been able to talk with his son, but the green dot next to Rylee’s name on a messaging app meant that he was online. That he was still OK.

When news came that a suicide bomber killed 13 US service members outside the airport in Kabul on Thursday (Aug 26), Mr McCollum checked again for the dot. His son was on his first overseas deployment, had gotten married recently, and was about to become a father. Mr McCollum messaged his son: “Hey man, you good?” But the green dot was gone.

“In my heart yesterday afternoon, I knew,” Mr McCollum said.


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