Date uploaded: 2021-08-28 23:28:54
Restaurants and businesses across the country are choosing to reserve a table and 13 beers to honor the service members who died during Thursday's bombing near Kabul's Hamid Karzai International Airport.
Ironwood Cafe in Ohio said the news hit close to home – Maxton "Max" Soviak is a native of Milan, Ohio and was among the fallen.
"My husband, grandfather and many in my family served. So, when I read that one of Ohio's own died, I knew I wanted to make a small gesture to honor Max and the 12 other soldiers," Shannon Vasquez, general manager of the cafe told USA TODAY.
In Ohio, Niko Moulagianis said he felt compelled to do something, too. He called his bar's general manager and told her about reserving an entire table for 13 beers to honor the service members.
"She told me, 'You do realize it's a Friday night right?' I said, 'Yeah, but do you do realize these people are not coming back to the families?'" Moulagianis, owner of Niko's Bar & Gyros told USA TODAY.
Michael Maiorana, co-owner of First Line Brewery in New York has also been displaying 13 beers inside the brewery. Staff refresh the pints throughout the night so the beers remain cold. Maiorana said a portion of the proceeds from this weekend will be donated to military-run charities for fallen service members.
Hannah Nielson, a kitchen manager at AJOBrady's restaurant in Wisconsin, heard from a former employee who left to become a Marine that some men in her unit died in the Kabul attack. Nielson told restaurant owner Bruce Russell they had to do something.
"These families, the sacrifices and those soldiers who died deserve to be seen. So in our small way, we put our 13 beers to honor them, which isn't half of what they deserve. But it's something," Russell told USA TODAY.
#kabulattack #hamidkarzaiinternationalairport #afghanistanwithdrawal
