WALKER, Michigan — A homeowner in Grand Rapids is paying tribute to the 13 fallen soldiers who died in the line of duty at the Kabul Airport on Thursday.
The memorial on Elmridge Drive NW features 13 chairs, each with an American flag draped over it to represent the soldiers.
"What always hit me was what I call the symbolic empty chair," said homeowner Bruce de Wit. "Why don't I put up the 13 lawn chairs and drape them with American flags?"
Bruce said it took him about an hour to put the display together, and that the community reaction has been positive. He said that while setting up the memorial, a woman stopped to tell him about her son in the military, and another commented on social media that her son is in the same unit as the fallen soldiers.
While the memorial has drawn attention to Bruce, he says the focus should be on the lives lost.
"It's really nothing about me," he said. "It's about the display. I want everybody to know that my heart's in it for them...Those guys have a lot of courage to do what they did. And tragically, these 13 didn't make it."
The soldiers were killed in an Islamic State suicide bombing, which also took the lives of more than 160 Afghan citizens. U.S. officials say it was the deadliest day for American forces in Afghanistan since 2011.
"Remember the families who are grieving, pray for the souls of those who died, but remember the families who are grieving and those who have friends and family still out there serving," Bruce said.
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