WATCH: Marine Shows What Life During Kabul Evacuation Was Really Like
Marines attempt to control crowds at Hamid Karzai International Airport. Screenshot from YouTube.
A new video has surfaced online depicting the chaotic reality of the Kabul evacuation. What appears to be footage shot on a Marine’s helmet-mounted camera reveals the poor conditions troops worked under to help evacuate 124,334 people from Afghanistan.
The video — originally uploaded by a Marine to Instagram, but since deleted — is a montage of service members trying to control unruly crowds at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul. Marines are seen using nonlethal grenades and shotgun rounds at point-blank range to keep the crowd from surging forward. Afghan soldiers are seen butt-stroking people and firing warning shots from a pistol. The video also shows various service members treating casualties and evacuating wounded civilians.
Juxtaposed with the violent crowds are scenes of Marines taking care of infants and a stream of grateful citizens fist-bumping the Americans. The video also depicts Marines relaxing between shifts at the gate and destroying military vehicles and property that were likely abandoned after the evacuation.
The video ends with a tribute to the 13 fallen service members killed Aug. 26, 2021, during a suicide bombing.
Read Next: Last Round: Bars, Restaurants Set Aside 13 Beers as Kabul Tribute
Mac Caltrider is a senior staff writer for Coffee or Die Magazine. He served in the US Marine Corps and is a former police officer. Caltrider earned his bachelor’s degree in history and now reads anything he can get his hands on. He is also the creator of Pipes & Pages, a site intended to increase readership among enlisted troops. Caltrider spends most of his time reading, writing, and waging a one-man war against premature hair loss.
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