LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) – A marine mother from Lincoln decided to put on Monday’s event because she knows she didn’t have to get a phone call telling her that her son wasn’t coming home.

But, she knows that 13 families, including 1 in Nebraska, got that call recently.

People either stood or were sitting during Monday’s event, but 13 seats with roses in front of them were left open for the 13 service members who died in Kabul last week.

Rene Carson, who created the event, said, “It hit me really hard and it was like we should really do something.”

Carson and her husband, Dean, thought the best way to honor them was with a vigil.

Members of the Veterans’ parade group were out in support and read off all 13 names, including Corporal Page from Omaha, as a sign that they’re gone but never forgotten.

Dean Carson said, “I just wanted to see everyone come out and support all of our service men and women. they all deserve it. they all do a whole lot more than anyone realizes.”

In the nearly 20-year war, Nebraska state senator Tom Brewer served 8 years in Afghanistan on 6 tours.

He was wounded twice, once in 2003 and another time in 2011. Each time he received a purple heart.

State Sen. Tom Brewer said, “To get this close to the end and lose that many doing a mission trying to help folks, it was hard.”

Even though U.S. troops are out of Afghanistan and the country is currently being run by the Taliban, Senator Brewer is hopeful that’ll change over time.

“There’s a generation of Afghans who have experienced what it’s like to be free and I hope that generation is what will give Afghanistan hope for the future,” Sen. Brewer said.

Even with the U.S. evacuating more than 122,000 people from Afghanistan, Sen. Brewer wanted to see more interpreters and people living in the country evacuated before all of the troops left.

Copyright 2021 KOLN. All rights reserved.