A Wyoming Farewell for Marine Killed in Afghanistan Bombing

A Wyoming Farewell for Marine Killed in Afghanistan Bombing
A U.S. Marine with the Golf Company, 1st Marines presents Jim McCollum with a folded American flag during memorial services for his son, Lance Cpl. Rylee McCollum at the Gill Ranch in Jackson, Wyo., on Oct. 23, 2021. Bradly J. Boner/Jackson Hole News & Guide via AP
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JACKSON, Wyo.—Dozens of U.S. fellow Marines joined hundreds of Wyoming residents to bid a final farewell at a memorial for Rylee McCollum, one of 13 U.S. servicemen killed in a suicide bombing as they guarded a gate at a chaotic Kabul, Afghanistan airport during the final U.S. evacuation from that country.

Many of the Marines were members of the 20-year-old McCollum’s unit serving in Afghanistan when he was killed on Aug. 26. McCollum, a Marine lance corporal, grew up, went to school, and enlisted for the Corps in the mountain valley area known as Jackson Hole, home to the town of Jackson. He was honored during Saturday’s Jackson service attended by more than 400 people.