Land

Ryan Knauss, Last American Killed in Afghanistan, Honored at Fort Bragg

May 27, 2022Jenna Biter
ryan knauss

US Army Staff Sgt. Ryan Knauss was assigned to the 9th Psychological Operations Battalion, 8th Psychological Operations Group, Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Photo courtesy of the 8th Psychological Operations Group (Airborne).

Ryan and Alena Knauss bought a home near Fort Bragg in Pinebluff, North Carolina, in late 2019.


His grandfather, Wayne Knauss, told Coffee or Die Magazine last year that the young couple had quickly made it their own.


“They fixed it up,” the elder Knauss said. “It had a garden. It had a little chicken house that had some chickens there and a little hothouse for the wintertime for some plants to grow. They were working on the house, making it nicer. We were really proud of the way they work. They were moving along really nice — just an ideal, lovely young couple.”


ryan knauss memorial
Ryan Knauss and his wife, Alena. Ryan Knauss was among the 13 US service members killed Aug. 26, 2021, in a suicide bombing at Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport. Photo courtesy of Facebook.

But in the summer of 2021, Knauss rushed to Kabul, Afghanistan, as one of the secretive soldiers in the Army’s 9th Psychological Operations Battalion. There, he was one of 13 Americans killed by a suicide bomber at the Abbey Gate of Hamid Karzai International Airport.


US Army Special Operations Command held a ceremony Thursday, May 26, to install Knauss’ name on the command’s Memorial Wall of Honor on Fort Bragg. Knauss’ family, other Gold Star families, and fellow soldiers were present to see his name join those of almost 1,200 other special operations soldiers killed in the last 60 years. USASOC commander Lt. Gen. Jonathan P. Braga oversaw the ceremony, which the command holds each year in conjunction with Memorial Day to add the names of fallen soldiers.


While the 12 other service members killed in the Kabul blast — 11 Marines and one Navy sailor — died at the scene of the attack, Knauss was found alive and rushed into surgery, where he died, making him the last American service member killed in Afghanistan.


Knauss’ name was the only one added this year.


ryan knauss memorial
Tennessee residents line the roads for the procession of fallen Staff Sgt. Ryan Knauss in Coryville, Tennessee. Screenshot from Department of Defense video.

Knauss, 23, was serving as a psychological operations specialist in the 9th Psychological Operations Battalion, 8th Psychological Operations Group, when the suicide bomber struck on Aug. 26, 2021. Knauss enlisted in the US Army in 2016 and deployed to Afghanistan for nine months during 2017 and 2018 as a paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne Division before joining the secretive psychological operations community.


“Today marks the first Memorial Day since we closed our last chapter after two decades of service and sacrifice to the nation in Afghanistan,” Braga said.


In an interview with NPR, Knauss’ widow, Alena, remembered the Tennessee native as a selfless soldier.  


“He never saw anything else for himself,” she told NPR. “He was one of those people that, anything he wanted to do, he could have done. He was brilliant. But he just wanted to serve his country. It’s all he wanted. He thought that was the best way he could help people.”


Read Next: ‘The Ship Is Going to the Surface’ — Bad Navigation, Poor Leadership Led to Submarine Crash



Jenna Biter
Jenna Biter

Jenna Biter is a staff writer at Coffee or Die Magazine. She has a master’s degree in national security and is a Russian language student. When she’s not writing, Jenna can be found reading classics, running, or learning new things, like the constellations in the night sky. Her husband is on active duty in the US military. Know a good story about national security or the military? Email Jenna.

More from Coffee or Die Magazine
Humor
Dear Jack: I'm Retiring From The Military — Help!

In this installment of “Dear Jack,” Marine veteran Jack Mandaville helps a career service member figure out life after retirement.

March 31, 2023Jack Mandaville
navy chaplains suicide prevention
Military
US Navy Deploys More Chaplains For Suicide Prevention

Growing mental health distress in the ranks carries such grave implications that the U.S. chief of n...

March 31, 2023Associated Press
ukraine lessons learned
Opinion & Essay
Nolan Peterson: Lessons From Russia's Invasion of Ukraine

After living in and reporting from Ukraine the last nine years, conflict journalist Nolan Peterson h...

March 30, 2023Nolan Peterson
black hawk crash kentucky
Military
9 Killed In Army Black Hawk Helicopter Crash In Kentucky

Nondice Thurman, a spokesperson for Fort Campbell, said Thursday morning that the deaths happened the previous night in southwestern Kentucky during a routine training mission.

March 30, 2023Associated Press
richard stayskal act military medical malpractice
Military
DOD Denies Most Stayskal Act Malpractice Claims

Master Sgt. Richard Stayskal was diagnosed with lung cancer long after military doctors missed a tum...

March 29, 2023Maggie BenZvi
ukrainian wounded soldiers
Intel
‘On Tour In Hell’: Wounded Ukrainian Soldiers Evacuated

With bandaged heads and splinted limbs, the wounded soldiers are stretchered into the waiting medica...

March 27, 2023Associated Press
US oil mission
Military
US Launches Airstrikes in Syria After Drone Kills US Worker

While it’s not the first time the U.S. and Iran have traded airstrikes in Syria, the attack and the ...

March 24, 2023Associated Press
The Gift jason dunham
Entertainment
‘The Gift’ Explores the Life and Legacy of Medal of Honor Recipient Jason Dunham

"The Gift" tells the story of the first Marine to receive the Medal of Honor after the Vietnam War. ...

March 24, 2023Mac Caltrider
  • About Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Careers
Contact Us
  • Request a Correction
  • Write for Us
  • General Inquiries
© 2023 Coffee or Die Magazine. All Rights Reserved