He was the last US soldier to board the last flight from Afghanistan, one minute before midnight local time. The photo of Chris Donahue, commander of the legendary 82nd Airborne Division, in camouflage suit, rifle in hand and quick pace, is destined to make history. The image of a war that lasted twenty years. The ghostly photo, green and black, of the general walking towards the plane waiting on the runway of the Hamid Karzai airport was released by the Pentagon a few hours after the mission ended: it was taken with a night vision device by a side window of the C-17 transport plane he was boarding.
A veteran of the 2003-2011 US Iraq War, long-time commander of the Afghanistan Special Operations Task Force, Donahue was sent to Kabul in August to protect the airport. of Kabul. “One of the last things he did was talk to the Taliban commander with whom he coordinated to let him know we were leaving,” said General Frank McKenzie, head of the US central command. Then, once on board, the final message on the chat to his parents: “Job well done, I’m proud of you all.”