Last serving US soldier leaves Afghanistan: Who is major general Chris Donahue?
“The last American soldier to leave Afghanistan: Maj. Gen. Chris Donahue boards a C-17 of the US Air Force on August 30th 2021, ending the US mission in Kabul,” US Department of Defence said in a tweet
Major General Chris Donahue has been identified by the United States Department of Defence as the last serving member of the US military to leave Afghanistan, bringing to an end America's 20-year military presence in that country.
"The last American soldier to leave Afghanistan: Maj. Gen. Chris Donahue boards a C-17 of the US Air Force on August 30th 2021, ending the US mission in Kabul," the Department of Defence said in a tweet.
Donahue is the commanding officer of the 82nd Airborne Division which comes under the Fort Bragg, North Carolina-based 18th Airborne Corps of the US Army.
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According to a report in USA Today, the officer was deployed this month to help secure the Kabul airport as America's self-imposed August 31 deadline to withdraw all its troops from Afghanistan neared.
He graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1992 and was commissioned as a second lieutenant.
The report further notes that Donahue has been deployed 17 times to oversee operations in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, northern Africa and eastern Europe. His career includes a stint in the Pentagon, where he served as a special assistant to chairman of the Joints Chief of Staffs.
The now viral image shared by the Pentagon was taken just as the officer was getting ready to board the departing C-17 aircraft.
