Search icon

News

15th Sep 2021

Wife of Marine killed in Kabul gives birth and names daughter after her father

Danny Jones

Rylee McCollum was killed in the suicide bombing at Kabul Airport, just three weeks before he was due to become a dad

The wife of the US Marine that was killed in the Kabul Airport attack just a couple of weeks ago has given birth to their daughter and has named her after her late father.

Jiennah ‘Gigi’ Crayton was just weeks away from her due date when the tragic incident that killed 60 people, including 13 US servicemen, occurred. Now, after bringing her daughter into the world sadly without her father, she has named her Levi Rylee Rose in his honour.

As announced in a Facebook post by grandmother Jill, Levi (full name Levi Rylee Rose McCollum) arrived at 2:18 a.m. Monday, September 13, at Camp Pendleton Naval Hospital in Southern California.

As reported in the New York Post, Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) paid tribute to Levi’s father on the Senate floor the day she was born, saying he “demonstrated the best of our nation.

“His child will never know Rylee. Yet his child will always know that Rylee McCollum was an American hero. Her father was a hero.”

There have been plenty of tributes following the death of the 20-year-old Marine and his fellow servicemen; a GoFundMe was also set up for his widow and daughter, which has now raised over $900,000.

Related links