Slain Marine who cradled baby at Kabul airport loved her job

Rosario served with the Naval Amphibious Force, Task Force 51/5th Marine Expeditionary Brigade, which praised her work as supply chief this spring.

Sonia Guzmán, the Dominican Republic’s ambassador to the United States, tweeted that the Caribbean nation shares in the loss.

“Peace to your soul!” she tweeted in Spanish.

RYAN KNAUSS, 23

Army Staff Sgt. Ryan Knauss was remembered as a funny man who loved his country and was looking forward to coming home and moving to Washington, D.C., relatives told WATE-TV in Knoxville, Tennessee.

“He was a super-smart hilarious young man,” stepmother Linnae Knauss said.

Knauss had been stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and he was part of the 9th Psychological Operations Battalion, 8th Psychological Operations Group, the Defense Department said.

“A motivated young man who loved his country,” his grandfather, Wayne Knauss, told the TV station. “He was a believer, so we will see him again in God’s heaven.”

HUNTER LOPEZ, 22

Cpl. Hunter Lopez had planned to follow in the footsteps of his parents and embark on a career in law enforcement after his military deployment.

As a teen he had been in the Explorer program at the Riverside County Sheriff's Department in Southern California, where his mother and father serve, and planned to join the force there himself, Sheriff Chad Bianco said.

“We are heartbroken to hear this sad news about Hunter, who chose to follow a life of service, selflessness, courage and sacrifice, like his parents,” Bianco said in a statement.

Lopez's mother is a sheriff's deputy, and his father is a captain.

The union representing Riverside sheriff's officers said there were no words for how deeply Lopez would be missed.

“Hunter was the victim of vicious evil and was killed because he wore a United States Marine uniform with love and pride,” the Riverside Sheriff’s Association said. “Our entire community feels the anguish, and we mourn the death of Hunter, who answered the call to serve, defend and protect our nation.”

DAVID LEE ESPINOZA, 20

Lance Cpl. David Lee Espinoza, a Marine from Laredo, Texas, joined the military after high school, and was being remembered as a hero by his mother.

“He was just brave enough to go do what he wanted and to help out people. That’s who he was, he was just perfect," his mother, Elizabeth Holguin. told the Laredo Morning Times.

In a statement, U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar said Espinoza “embodied the values of America: grit, dedication, service, and valor. When he joined the military after high school, he did so with the intention of protecting our nation and demonstrating his selfless acts of service.”

Cuellar concluded, “The brave never die. Mr. Espinoza is a hero.”