Hannah Richardson | Lifestyle Editor
On Thursday, Aug. 26, 13 U.S. soldiers were tragically killed in a suicide-bombing attack at Kabul airport in Afghanistan. The following week, one local restaurant decided to honor those fallen heroes with a patriotic display. Trail Boss, located on South Drive, decorated a lone table in red, white and blue, adorned with a folded American flag and a nameplate indicating the space was reserved for the fallen soldiers.
The table was set up like this from Sept. 1-3. Several of the restaurant staff have military ties, including server Elizabeth Carroll and cook Vinnie Bell, both veterans, and Emily Giles, who recently married a soldier. After hearing about the attack that took the lives of those 13 U.S soldiers, Giles had the idea for the table, so the staff made the memorial in their honor. According to Carroll, several customers made positive comments about the display and thanked them for doing it.
A customer, who was a Hurricane Ida evacuee from the south, assisted employee Taylor Garland in folding of the flag. The restaurant is proud to show their patriotism, with staff wearing red on Friday to recognize those deployed.
Those 13 U.S. soldiers that were killed in the attack were:
Marine Corps Lance Cpl. David Espinoza
Marine Corps Sgt. Nicole Gee
Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Darin Taylor Hoover
Army Staff Sgt. Ryan Knauss
Marine Corps Cpl. Hunter Lopez
Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Rylee McCollum
Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Dylan R. Merola
Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Kareem Nikoui
Marine Corps Cpl. Daegan William-Tyeler Page
Marine Corps Sgt. Johanny Rosario
Marine Corps Cpl. Humberto Sanchez
Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Jared Schmitz
Navy Hospital Corpsman Max Soviak