Endnotes

1. For more on the RC-135W read "RC-135W Rivet Joint Spy Plane is Flying Orbits Over Kabul", by Joseph Trevithick, The Drive, August 17, 2021.

2. Read why the 82nd is ideal for this mission in "Why the 82nd Airborne is directing airfield security for Afghanistan evacuation", Military Times, August 17, 2021.

3. A Congressman quickly denounced Biden - see "Utter BS: Seth Mouton rebukes Biden's claim that some Afghans 'did not want to leave earlier'", by Nik DeCosta-Klipa, Boston.com, August 17, 2021.

4. CENTCOM released a statement saying that a C-17 that had landed at HKIA on August 16, 2021 to deliver a load of equipment was surrounded by hundreds of Afghan citizens who had breached the airport perimeter. Faced with a rapidly deteriorating situation the C-17 crew decided to depart the airfield as quickly as possible. After the C-17 landed at Al Udeid Air Base, Qater, human remains were discovered in the wheel well of the C-17. An investigation is being conducted by Central Command on the incident.

5. The photo is actually not a U.S. embassy rooftop, but rather a building in downtown Saigon used by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). See "The Real Story Behind the Iconic 'Fall of Saigon' Photo", by Lauren Coontz, Coffee or Die Magazine, August 17, 2021.