MILITARY FACES COLLEGE FOOTBALL Veterans with PTSD ‘Nevermind’ baby, Return to normalcy could get service dogs now grown, sues wrapped in change from VA under new law Nirvana over photo for 2021 season Page 4 Page 17 Page 24 Army athlete wins 1st swimming medal for US at Paralympics ›› Page 4 stripes.com Volume 80 Edition 95 ©SS 2021 CONTINGENCY EDITION FRIDAY,AUGUST 27, 2021 Free to Deployed Areas AFGHANISTAN WAKIL KOHSAR, AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES/TNS Medical and hospital staff bring an injured man on a stretcher for treatment after two blasts outside Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Thursday. US troops killed in Kabul Pentagon confirms service members among those who died in attacks at airport BY CAITLIN DOORNBOS Kirby did not say how many troops were heinous attack.” tweeted earlier Thursday. Stars and Stripes killed, though Fox News reported 12 dead The service members killed were the The explosion was followed by reports of U.S. service members were killed Thurs- including 11 Marines and one Navy medic. first combat-related deaths to happen in Af- gunfire, the State Department said in a se- day in two explosions outside the airport in “We can confirm that a number of U.S. ghanistan since Feb. 8, 2020, when Sgt. 1st curity alert. The gate is one of three en- Kabul, where U.S. and coalition forces have service members were killed in today’s Class Antonio Rodriguez was killed in Nan- trances to the airport where crowds of peo- been evacuating tens of thousands of Amer- complex attack at Kabul airport. A number garhar province, according to the Army. ple had been gathered since last week to vie icans and Afghans since the Taliban took of others are being treated for wounds,” The first explosion happened near the for evacuation flights. control of the country nearly two weeks ago, Kirby said in a statement. “We also know airport’s Abbey gate and caused “a number Pentagon chief spokesman John Kirby said. that a number of Afghans fell victim to this of U.S. and civilian casualties,” Kirby SEE KABUL ON PAGE 5 PAGE 2 • STARS AND STRIPES • Friday, August 27, 2021 BUSINESS/WEATHER Delta will make unvaccinated workers pay charge EXCHANGE RATES Military rates South Korea (Won) 1170.96 Associated Press protection to unvaccinated work- “This surcharge will be neces- Switzerland (Franc) .9186 Euro costs (Aug. 27) $1.15 Thailand (Baht) 32.79 Delta Air Lines will charge em- ers who contract COVID-19 on sary to address the financial risk Dollar buys (Aug. 27) 0.8281 Turkey (NewLira) 8.3961 British pound (Aug. 27) $1.34 ployees on the company health Sept. 30, and will require unvacci- the decision to not vaccinate is Japanese yen (Aug. 27) 107.00 (Military exchange rates are those available plan $200 a month if they fail to get nated workers to be tested weekly creating for our company,” Bas- South Korean won (Aug. 27) 1137.00 to customers at military banking facilities in the Commercial rates country of issuance for Japan, South Korea, Ger­ vaccinated against COVID-19, a beginning Sept. 12, although Delta tian said in a memo to employees. many, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Bahrain(Dinar) .3770 For nonlocal currency exchange rates (i.e., pur­ policy the airline’s top executive will cover the cost. They will have Bastian said that 75% of Delta Britain (Pound) 1.3716 chasing British pounds in Germany), check with Canada (Dollar) 1.2622 your local military banking facility. Commercial says is necessary because the av- to wear masks in all indoor compa- employees are vaccinated, up China(Yuan) 6.4837 rates are interbank rates provided for reference Denmark (Krone) 6.3271 erage hospital stay for the virus ny settings. from 72% in mid-July. He said the Egypt (Pound) 15.7347 when buying currency. All figures are foreign costs the airline $40,000. Delta stopped short of matching aggressiveness of the leading Euro .8509 currencies to one dollar, except for the British Hong Kong (Dollar) 7.7879 pound, which is represented in dollars­to­ CEO Ed Bastian said that all United Airlines, which will re- strain of the virus “means we need Hungary (Forint) 296.60 pound, and the euro, which is dollars­to­euro.) Israel (Shekel) 3.2233 employees who have been hospi- quire employees to be vaccinated to get many more of our people Japan (Yen) 110.17 INTEREST RATES talized for the virus in recent starting Sept. 27 or face termina- vaccinated, and as close to 100% as Kuwait(Dinar) .3011 Norway (Krone) 8.8142 Prime rate 3.25 weeks were not fully vaccinated. tion. However, the $200 monthly possible.” Philippines (Peso) 49.98 Interest Rates Discount rate 0.75 Poland (Zloty) 3.89 Federal funds market rate 0.09 The airline said Wednesday surcharge, which starts in Novem- Delta and United already re- Saudi Arabia (Riyal) 3.7503 3­month bill 0.06 that it also will stop extending pay ber, may have the same effect. quire new hires to be vaccinated. Singapore (Dollar) 1.3537 30­year bond 1.96 WEATHER OUTLOOK FRIDAY IN THE MIDDLE EAST FRIDAY IN EUROPE SATURDAY IN THE PACIFIC Misawa 78/71 Kabul Seoul 78/65 Baghdad 110/80 Osan Tokyo Kandahar Drawsko 81/65 87/76 Mildenhall/ Pomorskie Busan Lakenheath 62/51 81/77 68/54 Iwakuni Kuwait City 80/75 Bahrain Zagan Sasebo Guam 112/93 96/62 Brussels Ramstein 56/53 82/77 66/51 66/48 87/84 Riyadh Lajes, 109/85 Doha Azores Stuttgart 100/89 73/68 61/53 Pápa Aviano/ 66/55 Vicenza 72/61 Naples 82/69 Okinawa Morón 85/82 93/69 Sigonella Rota 91/68 The weather is provided by the Djibouti 76/66 Souda Bay American Forces Network Weather Center, 100/85 84/76 2nd Weather Squadron at Offutt Air Force Base, Neb. TODAY IN STRIPES American Roundup ...... 13 Comics .........................16 Crossword ................... 16 Faces .......................... 17 Opinion ........................ 15 Sports .................... 18-24 Friday, August 27, 2021 • STARS AND STRIPES • PAGE 3 MILITARY Okinawa governor condemns Marines for tainted water BY MATTHEW M. BURKE tinue to focus on “maintaining high AND MARI HIGA standards of responsible environ- Stars and Stripes mental stewardship.” CAMP FOSTER — The gover- He declined to say if the com- nor of Okinawa prefecture de- mand had received permission manded the Marine Corps stop re- from Japanese authorities to re- leasing potentially contaminated lease the water. water into the public wastewater The Marine Corps has been “ful- system, soon after the Marines ly open and transparent” with started releasing it Thursday. stakeholders about its plan to treat At a news conference in Naha, the contaminated water, Hilton Gov. Denny Tamaki said he said in a subsequent email Thurs- learned the Marines were releas- day to Stars and Stripes. ing the water at about the time it “We are not going to release the was being done. He said the Ma- communication exchange be- rines notified the prefecture and tween the Marine Corps and local Okinawa Defense Bureau by government,” he wrote. email at 9 a.m. that the water, PFOS and PFOA are synthetic which contains low levels of toxic compounds found in aqueous fire- organic compounds, was about to fighting foam, aircraft grease, wa- be released. ter-repellant materials and fluo- “It must have come as a shock rine chemicals. They have been ZACHARY BODNER/U.S. Marine Corps for all stakeholders,” Tamaki said, known to cause increases in body A U.S. Marine Corps F­35B Lightning II stealth fighter prepares to launch from the HMS Queen Elizabeth adding that disposal methods were and organ weight, death in animals on the Pacific Ocean on Aug. 20. supposed to be discussed that day. and tumors. “This is totally unacceptable.” In July, public broadcaster Representatives of the defense NHK reported that the U.S. mili- UK aircraft carrier swaps F-35B stealth ministry and the U.S. military tary wanted to release harmful were scheduled to meet later contaminants into a river on Oki- Thursday to discuss results of July nawa. The Marines responded by fighters with US ship in Pacific exercise wastewater tests and disposal saying it had asked to release the BY ALEX WILSON Tuesday. rently showcasing the agility of methods. treated water into the wastewater Stars and Stripes The operation highlighted a land and carrier-based aviation The water contains spilled fire- system. The HMS Queen Elizabeth re- change in modern warfare, said in the Indo-Pacific demon- fighting foam and is stored in un- Okinawa prefecture asked the cently traded F-35B Lightning II Marine Corps Col. Simon Doran, strates our commitment to the derground tanks at Marine Corps U.S. military to thermally dispose stealth fighters with a U.S. am- U.S. senior national representa- region,” said Commodore Steve Air Station Futenma. The Marine of the contaminants rather than re- phibious assault ship at sea, an- tive to the U.K. strike group. Moorhouse, the strike group Corps treated the water prior to re- lease them into the environment. other first for the U.K. aircraft “The [exercise] underscored commander, said in the Sunday leasing it, but it still contains low The Marine Corps in a July 8 carrier on its first operational our continued effort to shift news release. levels of toxic PFOS and PFOA. statement dismissed that idea and deployment, according to the away from static, built-up air- During a Tuesday night news Once in the wastewater system, pledged to fully coordinate its U.S. Marine Corps. fields toward distributed mari- conference, Moorhouse said In- the water eventually reaches the plans with Okinawan officials pri- The USS America and the time operations,” he said in the do-Pacific exercises differ from ocean, according to a spokesman or to releasing any treated water.