Kylie Riney of Farmington has tried to avoid watching much news coverage over the last five years — and especially the past few days, as the Taliban has retaken control in Afghanistan.
“I don't want to see everything that's going on because it does hurt,” said Riney, whose late husband, U.S. Army Sgt. Douglas Riney of Fairview, died in 2016 while serving in Afghanistan.
“It's almost like he was killed for no reason, like it didn't matter (with) the way that it's just being taken over again.”
Sgt. Riney was on his second tour of duty in Afghanistan when he and an Army civilian were shot and killed in an attack by hostile forces near Kabul.
Kyle Riney said Monday that the rapid fall of the U.S.-backed government undermines the sacrifices made by her husband and his fellow soldiers.
“Those guys went over there, gave it their all and they did the best that they could with what they had — and then it was almost like it was just washed away,” she said. “What they gave was literally for nothing, because there's nothing to even show for it anymore.”
Sgt. Riney was based in Fort Hood, Texas, and originally deployed to Afghanistan in July 2014 during Operation Enduring Freedom. He came back to the U.S. the following February, then returned to Afghanistan in June 2016 and was killed four months later. He and Kylie had two children.
“It just it hurts too much to see that he gave his life for something, that then it's turned around and being taken away from what they were able to achieve over there,” she said.
