The Navy corpsman who was killed by an ISIS-K suicide bomber outside the Kabul airport in a vicious attack that left scores dead has been identified as a young Ohio man, family said Friday.
Maxton Soviak, a Navy hospital corpsman in his early 20s, was killed in Thursday’s blast while stationed outside Hamid Karzai International Airport, helping to oversee the evacuation of thousands of Americans and Afghan allies, family said.
Soviak’s last Instagram post, written 11 weeks ago, shared a chilling message beside a photo of him decked out in military gear with two other service members.
“It’s kill or be killed,” Soviak wrote in the post.
“definitely trynna be on the kill side.”
A woman who identified herself as Soviak’s older sister, and who goes by Marilyn Soviak on Instagram, penned a heartbreaking post Friday about her brother’s death.
“I’ve never been one for politics and i’m not going to start now. What I will say is that my beautiful, intelligent, beat-to-the-sound of his own drum, annoying, charming baby brother was killed yesterday helping to save lives,” the sister wrote.
“he was a f–king medic. there to help people. and now he is gone and my family will never be the same. there is a large Maxton sized hole that will never be filled,” she wrote alongside a slideshow of images showing the two as children.
“he was just a kid. we are sending kids over there to die. kids with families that now have holes just like ours. i’m not one for praying but damn could those kids over there use some right now. my heart is in pieces and I don’t think they’ll ever fit back right again.”
Soviak hailed from Berlin Heights, Ohio, and graduated in 2017 from Edison High School, where he was on the honor roll and football team, the Sandusky Register reported.
“Max was a good student who was active in sports and other activities throughout his school career. He was well respected and liked by everyone who knew him,” the school said in a statement, adding that news of his death has brought “great sorrow.”
Soviak also previously worked as a lifeguard and a maintenance technician, the outlet reported.
An additional two service members out of the 13 killed have been identified.
Kareem Nikoui, a young Marine from California, and David Lee Espinoza, a 20-year-old Marine from Texas, were also killed in Thursday’s bombing, according to the Daily Beast and the Laredo Police Department.
