Humberto Sanchez, a Marines corporal from Logansport, was one of 13 U.S. service members killed Thursday in Afghanistan.
Chris Martin, the mayor of the northern Indiana city of 17,500, announced the community had lost one of its own.
“This young man had not yet even turned 30 and still had his entire life ahead of him,” Martin said in a Facebook post Friday night. “Any plans he may have had for his post-military life were given in sacrifice due to the heart he exhibited in putting himself into harm’s way to safeguard the lives of others.”
While Martin did not identify Sanchez, the local school and Indiana members of Congress later did.
Learn more: What to know about U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan
The bombing at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul left 11 Marines, a Navy corpsman and another service member dead while the U.S. and allied forces scrambled to evacuate people from Afghanistan.
Islamic State terror group ISIS-K claimed to be behind the attack, and the U.S. military launched a drone strike Friday after President Joe Biden vowed revenge.
In all, Thursday’s bombing killed at least 160 people and wounded at least 18 other troops.
U.S. Rep. Jim Baird, whose district includes Logansport, and both of Indiana’s U.S. senators remembered Sanchez Friday night.
“He bravely answered the call to serve his nation, and I am both proud of his service and deeply saddened by his loss,” Baird wrote in a Facebook post. “May we never forget Corporal Sanchez’s name or his heroism to a grateful nation.”
In a Facebook post of his own, Sen. Mike Braun called Sanchez “an American hero.”
Sen. Todd Young, who served in the Marines himself, tweeted “we must never forget his bravery and his sacrifice.“
The Logansport Community School Corporation said he was a Logansport High School graduate.
“We will never forget the names of those who paid the ultimate sacrifice,” the school district tweeted.
In a statement published Friday afternoon, before news of Sanchez’s death circulated, Gov. Eric Holcomb asked Hoosiers to remember the soldiers killed in Kabul.
“As a country and as a state we need to be unified in honoring and paying our respects to the ones who paid the ultimate price,” the statement said. Holcomb also directed flags to be flown at half-staff until sunset on Monday
As of Friday night, the governor’s office said it had not yet been officially notified of the Sanchez’s death.
IndyStar editor Ethan May contributed.
Contact Sarah Nelson at sarah.nelson@indystar.com or 317-503-7514.
Credit: Source link
