Who was Nicole Gee? Slain US Marine cradled baby at Kabul airport before ISIS-K attack
Marine Sgt Nicole Gee had enjoyed the joys of duty just days before she was slain in a suicide bombing near Kabul's Hamid Karzai International Airport on Thursday, August 26, news outlets reported on Sunday, August 29.
MEAWW earlier reported that four out of the 13 US soldiers who were killed in the ISIS-K suicide bombing outside the Kabul airport had been identified, including navy medic Max Soviak and Marines Rylee McCollum, David Lee Espinoza, and Kareem Nikoui. On August 26, Kabul saw its first terrorist incident, allegedly orchestrated by ISIS-K. Two bombs detonated near Hamid Karzai International Airport's Abbey Gate and the Baron Hotel, followed by gunfire. 13 Americans and over 170 Afghans reportedly lost their lives,
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The Pentagon and the Taliban both verified the detonation, with the Taliban claiming to have warned the US of an impending attack. ISIS-K, an affiliate of Islamic terror group has officially claimed responsibility for the suicide bombings, and even released a photo of the alleged bomber. The president of the United States has frequently warned that US servicemen may be in danger, which is why he decided to stop evacuations on August 31 without a delay. But even so, it seems like young Nicole Gee will never come back.
Who was Nicole Gee?
Marine Sgt Nicole Gee, 23, of Sacramento, California, served with the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina as a maintenance technician. Gee shared a photo on Instagram a week ago of herself cradling a baby at that airport. "I love my job," she remarked simply and profoundly. The Department of Defense shared the identical image on August 21.
She describes herself as a "positive mental attitude advocate" on her Instagram feed. California, North Carolina, and "somewhere overseas" are among the destinations stated on her page, USA Today reported. Gee's Instagram profile also has a shot of her on duty with her rifle next to a line of people waiting to board a transport plane earlier this week. She described her assignment as "escorting evacuees onto the bird.”
Sgt. Mallory Harrison, who lived with Gee for three years and referred to her as a "sister forever" and dearest friend, expressed her grief in a letter. "I can't quite describe the feeling I get when I force myself to come back to reality & think about how I'm never going to see her again," Harrison wrote on Facebook. "How her last breath was taken doing what she loved - helping people. ... Then there was an explosion. And just like that, she's gone."
She has been photographed riding a camel in Saudi Arabia, bikini-clad on a Greek island, and having a beer in Spain. One from Kuwait this month showed her grinning with pride at her well-deserved promotion to sergeant, ABC News reported. Harrison said her generation of Marines hears battle stories from veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, but they seem far away during mundane deployments until "the peaceful float you were on turns into... your friends never coming home."
Gee graduated from Roseville's Oakmont High School in 2016 and enlisted in the Marines a year later, according to a Facebook post from the mayor of Roseville, California, who labels her "a hometown hero." Her husband, Jarod Gee, is also an Oakmont alumnus and a Marine, according to the article, USA Today revealed. Gee's car was still parked in a Camp Lejeune parking lot, and Harrison pondered all the Marines who had gone past it while she was away.
"Some of them knew her. Some of them didn't." she said. "They all walked past it. The war stories, the losses, the flag-draped coffins, the KIA bracelets & the heartbreak. It's not so distant anymore." Taking to Facebook, she added: ""Her car is parked in our lot. It’s so mundane. Simple. But it’s there," she began the post. "My very best friend, my person, my sister forever. My other half. We were boots together, Corporals together, & then Sergeants together. Roommates for over 3 years now, from the barracks at MOS school to our house here. We’ve been attached at the hip from the beginning."
Gee's sister Misty Fuoco set up a GoFundMe in her sister's name. "She was such a bright light to everyone she touched. Always focusing on positivity and motivating others to do their best. She was and always will be my greatest inspiration and motivation to be the best version on myself that I can be. I’ve always said she is the absolute light of my life and I would do anything for her, she was my first best friend, my partner in this crazy life, my absolute hero," Fuoco wrote.
"We will forever be changed and forever hurt with her absences but I know she wouldn’t have had it any other way, she absolutely loved the work she was doing in Afghanistan and was excited to tell me more about it once she was back home," she added.
Reminiscing old times, Fuoco wrote: "Family was the most important priority in Nicole’s life, she took every opportunity she was given to see family during times she could take leave. She was a huge part of my family’s daily life, my 2 year old son would ask to FaceTime his “TT Coley” often and it’s hard to wrap my head around the having to explain why we aren’t able to call her anymore. " "She touched so many in her short 23 years of life and I want everyone who wants to be given the opportunity to see her one last time before she is put to rest. She will now be watching over us all," she concluded.