Five years after a suicide bombing at Abbey Gate took the lives of 13 American service members during the final days of the evacuation from Afghanistan, veterans, military families and community members gathered in Folsom Wednesday morning to remember the fallen, stand with those who survived and recognize families whose lives were forever changed.
The local 13 Souls Run/Walk took place Aug. 26 in Historic Folsom, where participants gathered near Gold Lake Drive and Leidesdorff Street before setting out on a 1.3-mile route in remembrance of the 13 U.S. service members killed on Aug. 26, 2021, at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul.
The attack, carried out by an ISIS-K suicide bomber amid the massive evacuation following the Taliban’s return to power, killed 13 American service members, wounded 18 others and claimed the lives of scores of Afghan civilians who were attempting to flee the country.
Wednesday’s gathering carried an especially personal connection to Folsom and the greater Sacramento region. Among those participating and speaking was Folsom resident Tiffany Andrews, whose son, retired U.S. Marine Sgt. Tyler Vargas-Andrews, survived the Abbey Gate bombing but suffered catastrophic, life-changing injuries. Family members of U.S. Marine Sgt. Nicole L. Gee, the Roseville native who was among the 13 service members killed in the attack, also joined the Folsom remembrance, along with members of the Nicole Gee Foundation.
Together, their stories represented both sides of what the 13 Souls Run seeks to remember — those who never came home and those who survived but carried the consequences of that day home with them.
The 13 Souls Run was born from the heartbreak of the bombing as a way to reflect, remember and honor the service members who made the ultimate sacrifice while recognizing the courage and resilience of those who survived. Participants walk or run 1.3 miles, a distance symbolically representing the 13 Americans lost at Abbey Gate.
Team Red, White & Blue helped organize Wednesday’s local gathering. During her remarks before the walk, Andrews thanked the organization for helping bring the community together and spoke about the role connection can play in the lives of veterans.
“Team RWB understands that health and wellness, connection, and service can help veterans and communities move forward together,” Andrews said. “Today is a powerful example of that mission.”
She also recognized U.S. Army veteran Nick Busse, other dignitaries attending the event and members of the Nicole Gee Foundation who joined the remembrance.
For Andrews, however, the anniversary is intensely personal. She is a Silver Star mother, a designation for the parent of a service member who was catastrophically wounded or became critically ill in the line of duty. Her son was standing watch at Abbey Gate when the suicide bomber detonated.
Vargas-Andrews was a Marine sniper serving during the Kabul evacuation. He survived the blast but suffered devastating injuries, losing his right arm and left leg and sustaining severe internal injuries. He was placed in a medically induced coma and subsequently faced numerous surgeries, extensive rehabilitation and the long process of rebuilding his life after the attack.
Andrews put the magnitude of that journey into personal terms as she addressed those gathered Wednesday morning.
“My son, retired U.S. Marine Sergeant Tyler Vargas-Andrews, stood watch at Abbey Gate that day,” Andrews said. “He survived the blast, but lost his right arm and left leg and sustained devastating internal injuries. He fought through a medically induced coma, countless surgeries, and the work of building an entirely remade life.”
For Vargas-Andrews and his family, the consequences of Aug. 26, 2021, extended far beyond the initial blast, emergency medical treatment and surgeries. His recovery became a years-long process involving rehabilitation and adaptation to a dramatically changed everyday life.
Andrews spoke about that often unseen side of what happens to wounded service members and their families long after the immediate danger has passed.
“The effects of that day did not end when the immediate danger passed,” she said. “When a bomb explodes, the impact reaches far beyond the battlefield. It follows wounded warriors into hospital rooms, rehabilitation, homes, relationships, and every ordinary moment that must be learned again.”
For the families of wounded service members, Andrews said, that journey is shared.
“Families become caregivers,” she said. “Parents learn to live with fear, hope, exhaustion, and gratitude all at once.”
Some of those wounds, she noted, can be seen. Others cannot.
“Some wounds are visible. Others are not. Trauma, grief, and moral injury can isolate even the strongest among us,” Andrews told those gathered.
Despite the injuries and years of recovery that followed Abbey Gate, Andrews said her son has refused to allow what happened that day to determine how he lives the rest of his life.
“Tyler lives by a simple motto: ‘Never a victim,’” she said. “That does not deny pain. It declares that pain will not have the final word.”
She added that his resilience, along with that of other wounded warriors, “calls each of us to live with purpose, gratitude, and compassion.”
Vargas-Andrews’ story would eventually reach far beyond his recovery.
In March 2023, he appeared before the House Foreign Affairs Committee and gave firsthand testimony about the final days of the evacuation and the events surrounding the Abbey Gate attack. Appearing in his personal capacity, Vargas-Andrews described what he and his fellow Marines experienced on the ground in Kabul.
Among the most significant portions of his testimony was his account of his sniper team tracking an individual they believed matched intelligence descriptions of a suspected suicide bomber. Vargas-Andrews testified about efforts to seek authorization as the situation unfolded, testimony that subsequently became part of congressional examinations of the Afghanistan withdrawal and Abbey Gate attack.
His injuries ultimately brought his active Marine Corps career to an end. On June 23, 2023, Vargas-Andrews held his retirement ceremony at the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Triangle, Virginia. The ceremony was presided over by then-Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. David H. Berger and then-Sgt. Maj. of the Marine Corps Troy E. Black.
Five years after the bombing, his mother stood before a gathering in Folsom and spoke not only about what happened to her son, but about the continuing responsibility to support wounded veterans and their families.
Andrews has remained active in the military and veterans community through Team Red, White & Blue, Rolling Hills Blue Star Moms, the Marine Corps League and other veterans organizations. She told those gathered Wednesday that she is the incoming president of Rolling Hills Blue Star Moms, which meets locally at the Veterans Hall.
Her presence underscored a part of the Abbey Gate story that can sometimes be overshadowed by the number 13. Eighteen other American service members were wounded in the bombing, and for survivors such as Vargas-Andrews and their families, Aug. 26, 2021, marked the beginning of an entirely different journey.
Wednesday’s remembrance also carried the story of one of those who did not survive.
For the family of Sgt. Nicole L. Gee, the fifth anniversary marked another chapter in keeping alive the memory of a young Marine whose final mission and compassion became known around the world.
Gee was just 23 when she was killed at Abbey Gate. A Roseville native and 2016 graduate of Oakmont High School, she enlisted in the Marine Corps in 2017. Her husband, Jarod Gee, was also an Oakmont graduate and Marine.
Gee was assigned to Combat Logistics Battalion 24, 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, II Marine Expeditionary Force, based at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. She deployed to Afghanistan as American military personnel undertook the enormous and increasingly dangerous task of evacuating U.S. citizens and Afghan civilians from Kabul.
Gee volunteered to help with the evacuation at Hamid Karzai International Airport. Accounts from fellow Marines described her working tirelessly and sacrificing sleep and rest as she helped women and children make their way through the evacuation process. Those details were later recounted on the floor of Congress as lawmakers honored her life and sacrifice.
It was during that mission that one image would come to define Gee for millions who had never met her.
A photograph showed the young Marine cradling an Afghan infant in her arms during the evacuation. Gee shared the photograph with the simple words, “I love my job.” The image became one of the most recognizable photographs to emerge from the chaotic final days in Afghanistan and a lasting representation of the humanitarian work being carried out by American service members during the evacuation.
Days later, Gee was killed in the Abbey Gate bombing while continuing to assist with the evacuation.
She was laid to rest with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery on Sept. 29, 2021. During the service, her husband received the American flag that had covered her casket.
In the years since, Gee’s name has remained especially visible throughout the region she called home.
In August 2023, the City of Roseville dedicated Nicole Gee Drive in west Roseville in her honor. Several hundred people attended the ceremony, including Gee’s family, veterans representing every branch of the military and members of the Marine Corps. Her sister, Misty Fuoco, accepted a ceremonial street sign on behalf of the family before relatives made the ceremonial first drive along the newly opened roadway.
Oakmont High School also established the Sgt. Nicole Gee Memorial Scholarship for graduating seniors entering military service. By 2025, nearly 20 scholarships had been awarded through the program. A portion of Interstate 80 through Roseville has also been named in Gee’s honor, further ensuring that her name and sacrifice remain part of the community where she grew up.
Gee and the other 12 service members killed at Abbey Gate were posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 2024. In remarks before the House, Rep. Kevin Kiley cited Gee’s decision to volunteer for the evacuation and accounts of fellow Marines who said she sacrificed sleep and rest as she worked to help as many women and children as possible.
Five years after her death, members of Gee’s family and the Nicole Gee Foundation joined Wednesday’s gathering in Folsom as her name was remembered alongside the other 12 Americans killed that day.
During the ceremony, Andrews read the names of all 13:
Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Darin T. Hoover, Sgt. Johanny Rosario Pichardo, Sgt. Nicole L. Gee, Cpl. Hunter Lopez, Cpl. Daegan W. Page, Cpl. Humberto A. Sanchez, Lance Cpl. David L. Espinoza, Lance Cpl. Jared M. Schmitz, Lance Cpl. Rylee J. McCollum, Lance Cpl. Dylan R. Merola, Lance Cpl. Kareem M. Nikoui, Navy Hospitalman Maxton W. Soviak and Army Staff Sgt. Ryan C. Knauss.
After reading their names, Andrews reminded those gathered that the 13 should not be remembered simply as a casualty figure attached to the Afghanistan withdrawal.
“They were not merely names in a news report or a number in history,” Andrews said. “They were sons and daughters, husbands and wives, brothers and sisters, friends, teammates, and beloved members of families that now carry an immeasurable loss.”
Andrews also spoke about the different designations carried by military families. A Blue Star represents a family with a loved one serving in the military, while a Gold Star represents a family that has lost a loved one in service to the nation. A Silver Star family represents one whose loved one was catastrophically wounded or became critically ill in the line of duty.
Wednesday’s gathering also recognized the Green Star, which Andrews described as a symbol of hope and awareness for military and veteran suicide prevention. She encouraged those in attendance to recognize veterans who may be struggling, speak openly about mental health and offer connection rather than judgment.
“This walk is a reminder that service takes many forms,” Andrews said. “Some serve in uniform. Others serve by standing beside them: by volunteering, raising funds, checking in on a veteran, supporting military families, helping provide adaptive equipment or service dogs, and creating opportunities for veterans to reconnect, move their bodies, and rediscover purpose.”
The Folsom walk was free to participate in, while supporters could also donate or register through the 13 Souls Run organization to receive a participation package that included a commemorative shirt and medal.
Before the group set out, Andrews offered words that brought together the purpose of Wednesday’s gathering — remembrance for those killed, support for those wounded and a commitment to those still carrying the effects of military service.
“As we walk these 1.3 miles, let every step be an act of remembrance for the 13 who gave their lives,” Andrews said. “Let it be an act of support for the wounded and their families. And let it be a commitment to the veterans among us who may need to know that their community sees them, values them, and will not leave them behind.”
With those words carrying the meaning of the morning, participants set out from the gathering point near Gold Lake Drive and Leidesdorff Street and made their way through Historic Folsom toward Lake Natoma. The group crossed the water on the pedestrian bridge adjacent to the historic Rainbow Bridge before turning back toward Historic Folsom and returning to the starting point to complete the symbolic 1.3-mile distance.
Five years after Abbey Gate, the route through Folsom was short in distance, but the people who gathered carried with them stories stretching from Kabul to communities much closer to home — the family of a Roseville Marine who never returned and the mother of a Folsom resident’s son who survived but came home to an entirely different life. Wednesday, they walked together to carry those stories forward.
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