Did a photo circulating online show the servicemen killed in Afghanistan in August 2021? No, that's not true: The men shown in this photo were killed in a military plane crash in Mississippi in 2017.
The claim was in a Facebook post (archived here) published on August 27, 2021. It reads:
FRIDAY AUGUST 27TH 2K21NEVER FORGET...........A Salute to our Fallen Warriors........R. I. P.
This is what the post looked like on Facebook at the time of writing:
(Source: Facebook screenshot taken on Sat Aug 28 17:31:42 2021 UTC)
The photo of these men appears to have been lifted from Associated Press reporting about a military plane that crashed in Mississippi in 2017. Lead Stories found a version on the website for WSAV-TV, an NBC-affiliated TV station in Savannah, Georgia. The two images side by side shows their striking similarities:
The identities of the 13 servicemembers killed was reported by the Washington Post on August 28, 2021. According to their reporting they were:
- Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Rylee McCollum, 20, Jackson, Wyoming
- Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Jared Schmitz, 20, of Wentzville, Missouri
- Marine Corps Lance Cpl. David Espinoza, 20, of Rio Bravo, Texas
- Navy Hospital Corpsman Max Soviak, 22, of Berlin Heights, Ohio
- Marine Corps Cpl. Hunter Lopez, 22, of Indio, California
- Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Kareem Nikoui, 20, of Norco, California
- Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Taylor Hoover, 31, of Utah
- Marine Corps Cpl. Daegan William-Tyeler Page, 23, of Omaha
- Army Staff Sgt. Ryan Knauss, 23, of Knoxville, Tennessee
- Marine Corps Sgt. Johanny Rosario, 25, Lawrence, Massachusetts
- Marine Corps Cpl. Humberto Sanchez, 22, Logansport, Indiana
- Marine Corps Sgt. Nicole Gee, 23, of Roseville, California
- Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Dylan R. Merola, 20, of Rancho Cucamonga, California
