Fact check: Post online lists service members killed in 2010, not Marines killed in Kabul
The claim: An image includes the names of Marines who died in a terrorist attack at the Kabul airport
As the country mourns 13 U.S. service members killed in a suicide bombing and gunfire outside the Kabul airport, some on social media claim their lives aren’t being adequately honored.
An image in an Aug. 26 Facebook post lists the names and ages of 11 men, claiming they are the service members killed in the ISIS-K attack. The post was shared more than 1,400 times in one day and has been duplicated numerous times.
“All are Marines that gave their lives this week for you,” text in the image reads. “There is no media for them… not even a mention of their names. Honor THEM by posting this.”
All the men on the list died the same week in Afghanistan. But they were killed in 2010, and two of them were Marines.
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USA TODAY reached out to the Facebook user who shared the post for comment.
Service members killed in 2010
All the men named in the Facebook post were killed in July 2010 in Afghanistan. Two were Marines.
The first two deaths on the list took place in the city of Kandahar on July 13, 2010. Army 1st Lt. Christopher Goeke and Army Staff Sgt. Sheldon Tate were killed when insurgents attacked using rocket-propelled grenades and small-arms fire, according to the Military Times’ "Honor the Fallen" project.
The next day, Army Spc. Jesse Reed, Army Spc. Matthew Johnson and Army Sgt. Zachary Fisher were killed by an improvised explosive device in Laghman province. Army Pfc. Brandon King was also killed that day at Combat Outpost Nolen.
Marine Staff Sgt. Justus Bartelt and Marine Cpl. Dave Santos both died July 16, 2010, in Helmand province. Bartelt and Santos are the only Marines listed in the post.
The day after that, Army Staff Sgt. Matthew Weikert was killed by an IED near Orgun, Afghanistan. Staff Sgt. Brett Linley, a member of the British Army’s Royal Logistics Corps, was also killed July 17, 2010, during a counter-IED operation in Nahri Saraj, Afghanistan, according to the British government.
The final man listed in the post, Army Sgt. Justin Allen, was killed July 18, 2010, in Zhari, Afghanistan, after being shot by insurgents.
Each service member’s death was covered in the news media, as other independent fact-checking organizations have pointed out. The post has circulated on social media nearly every year since 2010.
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On Aug. 28, the Defense Department released the names of all 13 service members killed during the attack in Kabul:
- Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Rylee McCollum, 20, Jackson, Wyoming
- Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Jared M. Schmitz, 20, of St. Charles, Missouri
- Marine Corps Lance Cpl. David L. Espinoza, 20, of Rio Bravo, Texas
- Navy Hospitalman Maxton W. Soviak, 22, of Berlin Heights, Ohio
- Marine Corps Cpl. Hunter Lopez, 22, of Indio, California
- Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Kareem M. Nikoui, 20, of Norco, California
- Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Taylor Hoover, 31, of Daggett County, Utah
- Marine Corps Cpl. Daegan William-Tyeler Page, 23, of Omaha, Nebraska
- U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Ryan Knauss, 23, of Corryton, Tennessee
- Marine Corps Cpl. Humberto A. Sanchez, 22, of Logansport, Indiana
- Marine Corps Sgt. Johanny Rosario Pichardo, 25, of Lawrence, Massachusetts
- Marine Corps Sgt. Nicole L. Gee, 23, of Sacramento, California
- Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Dylan R. Merola, 20, of Rancho Cucamonga, California
Our rating: False
Based on our research, we rate FALSE the claim that an image includes the names of Marines who died in a terrorist attack at the Kabul airport. All the men on the list served and died in 2010. Two of them were Marines, and news media reported their deaths at the time.
Our fact-check sources:
- Military Times, retrieved Aug. 28, Army 1st Lt. Christopher S. Goeke
- Military Times, retrieved Aug. 28, Army Staff Sgt. Sheldon L. Tate
- Military Times, retrieved Aug. 28, Army Spc. Jesse D. Reed
- Military Times, retrieved Aug. 28, Army Spc. Matthew J. Johnson
- Military Times, retrieved Aug. 28, Army Sgt. Zachary M. Fisher
- Military Times, retrieved Aug. 28, Army Pfc. Brandon M. King
- Military Times, retrieved Aug. 28, Marine Staff Sgt. Justus S. Bartelt
- Military Times, retrieved Aug. 28, Marine Cpl. Dave M. Santos
- Military Times, retrieved Aug. 28, Army Staff Sgt. Matthew W. Weikert
- Military Times, retrieved Aug. 28, Army Sgt. Justin B. Allen
- United Kingdom, July 19, 2010, Staff Sergeant Brett George Linley killed in Afghanistan
- Department of Defense, Aug. 14, 2009, Department of Defense (DoD) Personnel Casualty Matters, Policies, and Procedures
- Lead Stories, Sept. 3, 2020, Fact Check: The Media Did NOT Fail To Report The Deaths of 11 Marines In Afghanistan This Week
- Marine Corps Times, May 8, 2017, FACT CHECK: No Marines have died in Afghanistan this year
- Washington Post, Aug. 28, The 13 U.S. service members killed in the Kabul airport attack: What we know so far
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