This picture of Marine Corps Sergeant Nicole Gee at the Kabul Airport has become the epitaph of human tragedy that has unfolded in Afghanistan with swift Taliban takeover and hasty American retreat.
23-year-old Gee was among the 13 US troops killed in the suicide bombing at the Kabul airport.
Gee cradled a baby in her arms and had posted the photo on Instagram where she wrote that she loved her job. The photo was later picked up by the Pentagon and shared on its Twitter account.
She last posted on Instagram on August 22 — a photo showing her armed and watching over a long line of evacuees as they boarded an airplane to flee Kabul at night.
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'Escorting evacuees onto the bird,' Gee wrote with a heart emoji.
They say public memory is short, but this face of Kabul Airport crisis will keep reminding us of the colossal human tragedy that has unfolded in Afghanistan.