During the frantic withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, a Marine was killed and her family had to cough up $60,000 to fly her corpse from California to Arlington to be buried.
Nicole Gee, 23 years old, was one of 13 service members killed in a suicide bombing at Kabul Airport in 2021, along with 170 Afghans desperate to flee their country.
One of the 13 Gold Star families who lost their daughter in Afghanistan was forced to pay to ship her body back — until nonprofit stepped in to pay $60,000 to move Marine Corps Sgt Nicole Gee's remains to Arlington National Cemeteryhttps://t.co/4YvFm2Pcs5
— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) July 26, 2023
The early morning August 26 terror attack, for which ISIS took responsibility, occurred during the chaotic evacuation close to the US Embassy.
During a meeting with the 13 families of service members killed in the line of duty last week, Republican lawmaker and Army veteran Cory Mills learned one family had to pay to have their loved one’s body moved.
He stated to transport Marine Gee’s body to its final resting place, her family was required to raise a staggering $60,000. According to Mills, a charitable organization eventually covered the costs of transporting her corpse to Arlington.
It’s pretty sad to hear that when we lost those 13 heroes in Afghanistan… because of this useless President…
This POS administration made the family of Sgt. Nicole Gee pay the bill to transport her body to Arlington.
When this happened, a nonprofit stepped in and raised the…
— Ryan Fournier (@RyanAFournier) July 26, 2023
Gee’s body was first flown to Roseville, California for a ceremony in her birthplace.
However, her family received notice that they would be responsible for transporting her corpse to Arlington National Cemetery, according to Florida Representative Mills.
A nonprofit organization called Honoring Our Fallen, which aids the families of American service members who have died in battle, paid for the family to fly Gee’s remains to Virginia on a private jet.
The office of Mills stated a modification to the National Defense Authorization Act made it possible for the Defense Department to refuse to pay for the transportation of her body.
It states the Secretary of Defense may grant the family of a fallen service member an exemption for the use of commercial aviation travel to move the body of one who died in combat.
Mills argued the Defense Department, not the families of those who have died while serving their country, should be responsible for covering the cost of body transportation.
Gee was one of two female Marines killed in the explosion in Kabul almost two years ago.
