The remains of U.S. Marine Sergeant Johanny Rosario Pichardo, one of 13 American servicemembers killed by a terrorist attack at the Kabul airport in Afghanistan last month, returned home to a hero’s welcome in Massachusetts on Sep. 11.
The date also marked the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks on the U.S. by Al Qaeda terrorists in Afghanistan.
The Boston Globe reported:
Rosario Pichardo, 25, was killed when two suicide bombers attacked the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul on Aug. 26. The marine was screening women and children at the airport who were trying to flee following the United States’ withdrawal from Afghanistan when two large bombs detonated, killing 12 other servicemembers and at least 170 Afghans.
A charter plane carrying her remains arrived at Logan International Airport Saturday morning. Her mother, grandmother, and three siblings were present as her flag-draped casket was lowered onto the tarmac. Governor Charlie Baker, Senators Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren, and other state officials paid their respects, followed by a funeral procession to Lawrence.
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Hundreds of people holding American flags lined the streets of Lawrence and other routes along the way as the procession headed to the Farrah Funeral Home on Lawrence Street. The funeral home was not open to the public Saturday, but those wishing to pay their respects may attend a public wake at Veterans Memorial Stadium next to Lawrence High School — where Rosario Pichardo graduated — from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday.
There were numerous photos and videos posted online of tributes to Rosario Pichardo as the procession made its way:
STONEHAM, MA – SEPTEMBER 11: People hold flags while the motorcade carrying fallen Marine Sgt. Johanny Rosario Pichardo passes on I-93 North on September 11, 2021 in Stoneham, Massachusetts. Rosario Pichardo was one of 13 troops killed August 26 in the suicide bomber attack during the evacuation mission at the Kabul airport (Photo by Scott Eisen/Getty Images)
STONEHAM, MA – SEPTEMBER 11: U.S. Marine Ssgt. Alice Ward stands at attention on the side of I-93 North as the hearse carrying fallen Marine Sgt. Johanny Rosario Pichardo passes on September 11, 2021 in Stoneham, Massachusetts. (Photo by Scott Eisen/Getty Images)
As Breitbart News reported previously, Rosario Pichardo was tasked with screening female Afghan refugees at the airport in Kabul, in deference to local Islamic custom preventing women from being screened or searched by male soldiers.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. His recent book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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