A Camp Pendleton Marine will be recognized during an NFL game Saturday for his actions during the suicide bomb attack at the Kabul Airport in August, according to the event’s sponsor.
Lance Cpl. Jack Zimmerman was at the Abbey Gate on Aug. 26 when the bomb was detonated, killing at least 180 people — 11 U.S. Marines, one soldier and a sailor were among them. Zimmerman was among the scores of people wounded and was awarded the Purple Heart, according to WPS Health Solutions, the Wisconsin-based insurance company that sponsors military recognition events with the Green Bay Packers. The Packers play the Cleveland Browns on Saturday in Green Bay.
Zimmerman, originally from Kingsford, Mich., is described as a lifelong Packers fan and was nominated for recognition by his older brother, according to a news release.
While wounded, Zimmerman helped carry those injured and killed in action. Three of his best friends were among the Marines killed, among them his roommate, Lance Cpl. Rylee McCollum. Zimmerman is assigned to 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, which sustained the most casualties during the attack. Ten of those killed — nine Marines and the sailor — were assigned to 2/1, which deployed to the Kabul airport in August when the city fell to the Taliban as part of a rapid-reaction force in the region.
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