A police motorcade Thursday escorted one of the 13 service members killed outside the Kabul airport during the Afghanistan withdrawal last month. Two helicopters also accompanying the hearse as it drives through Northern Virginia. At about 3:15 p.m., the Virginia State Police identified the service member as Army Staff Sgt. Ryan Knauss.
#VSP Motors were honored & humbled to assist today w/the transport of @USArmy Staff Sgt. Ryan Knauss from #TN to @ArlingtonNatl. #RIP
Photo location: I-81 northbound in #Botetourt County. pic.twitter.com/FZ1RvLduNR — VA State Police (@VSPPIO) September 16, 2021
Fairfax County police said the public can show their respects on the overpasses along Interstate 66 east or along the Capital Beltway south of I-66. At about 3:15, Dave Dildine, in the WTOP Traffic Center, said eastbound traffic on I-66 was stopped near Haymarket and Gainesville and the eastbound onramps are also closed. The overpasses were full of people paying respect, he said. “This procession will be moving slowly eastbound down Interstate 66 into Fairfax County over the next half-hour to an hour’s time, eventually moving onto the Outer Loop southbound toward Springfield and then northbound on I-395.” Westbound I-66 is slow as well, and access to the E-ZPass lanes is closed. “That’s probably the route they’ll take,” Dildine said. The motorcade will start in Prince William County and head east along I-66. It will then move south on the Beltway, then head north on I-395 before exiting at King Street.
Today, one of the service members tragically killed in Afghanistan will be traveling through FFXCO. A police motorcade will escort the hearse w/ 2 helicopters above. Anyone who wishes to show their respect is asked to be present on the overpasses along the route: I66E to 495S pic.twitter.com/P8VQTELDZ1
— Fairfax County Police (@FairfaxCountyPD) September 16, 2021
In addition to the 13 service members killed in the Kabul attack, 180 Afghans were killed. The U.S. completed its withdrawal from Afghanistan on Aug. 30, ending America’s longest war. The Pentagon has said it evacuated more than 110,000 people. Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam said toward the end of August that more than 14,000 people evacuated from Afghanistan have arrived in the commonwealth through Dulles International Airport, calling it “one of the largest airlifts in history” and saying “we can all be proud” of Virginia’s “critical role.”