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Mourners in California honor 3 Marines killed in Afghanistan

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RIVERSIDE, Calif. (AP) — Mourners in California said prayers and their final goodbyes Saturday to three Marines killed in last month’s bombing in Afghanistan.

Lance Cpl. Kareem Nikoui, Cpl. Hunter Lopez and Sgt. Nicole Gee were among 13 U.S. troops killed in a suicide bombing at Kabul airport, which also claimed the lives of more than 160 Afghans.

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U.S. Marine Corps Lance Corporal Kareem Mae'Lee Grant Nikoui was among 13 service members killed in the Kabul airport bombing on Thursday, Aug. 26, 2021.
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U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Hunter Lopez was among 13 service members killed in the Kabul airport bombing on Thursday, Aug. 26, 2021.
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In this Aug. 20, 2021, image provided by the U.S. Marine Corps, Marines assigned to the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), including Sgt. Nicole Gee calms an infant during an evacuation at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan. Officials said Aug. 28, that Gee of Sacramento, Calif., was one of the Marines killed in Thursday's bombing at the airport. (Sgt. Isaiah Campbell/U.S. Marine Corps via AP)

Both young men were remembered for their last heroic acts: Nikoui pulled three families to safety and went back to the airport to rescue a child when the bomb went off. Lopez was rescuing children from a rioting mob before the blast took his life.

Gee's family said she loved her job and wanted most to “serve her country and serve humanity.”

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