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Gold Star mother worries for people in Afghanistan under Taliban rule

Scoti Domeij fears many Afghan families will see her same fate
Gold Star mother worries for people in Afghanistan under Taliban rule
Posted at 9:47 PM, Sep 23, 2021
and last updated 2021-09-24 13:24:48-04

COLORADO SPRINGS — Scoti Domeij knows the pain of losing a child.

"He's the most deployed soldier in American history to be killed in action," said Domeij.

Her son, Army Ranger Sergeant First Class Kristoffer Domeij, was killed in Afghanistan in 2011.

"He was the Army's first Evaluator JTAC (Joint Tactical Air Controller)," she said.

She told me about the moment she found out her son was gone.

"It was about midnight and I hear this banging on my door," said Domeij. "I'm single. I'm not going to open my door. They wouldn't quit banging. It was insistent. It did not stop for 20 minutes. So, then I thought I'm going to call the cops. But I thought my cell phone was in the front room and I'd have to walk past the front door and they could see me. So, then I peaked out and I noticed uniforms, and then I got mad. I thought, 'Why are the cops here I haven't done anything?'. Then I went down the stairs, opened the door, and I knew. I said, 'Is my son dead?' and they came in. They said, 'May we come in ma'am?' So as we are walking up the steps I said, 'Is my son dead?' Of course, I knew my son was dead. I felt sorry for them for delivering the news because they still had two more people to inform that night."

Her deep Christian faith helped to carry her through the dark days and nights since then.

"I also believe what the Bible says: two days belong to God, the day we are born and the day we die. God chose his death date. We've had some conversations about that. It was way too short but because of my faith I accept that."

She accepts that and spends little time asking why.

"Even if God told me why I still am going to grieve and mourn and feel the pain for the rest of my life," she said. "Why is like this vortex. It takes you deeper and deeper into the darkness and I thought nope not gonna allow that.

Now as she watches the images on her television screen, she's worried the families in Afghanistan now back under Taliban rule will know her same pain.

"I am bonded in grief to all the people in Iraq and Afghanistan when ISIS did their thing," she said. "My son's death was a violent death but many of those children and wives will see that violent death so I'm grieving for them."

Grieving for them but also grieving for the man who killed her 29-year-old son.

Sgt. Domeij was going after one of the most prolific IED makers when he was killed by an IED.

"(The IED maker) was basically blowing up 200 people a month," Domeij said.

"I really wanted to beg the generals to let me fly to Afghanistan and share my faith with him," she said. "Of course, I knew they'd never let me do that. Then, a year later, I found out he had been killed and I felt ill because he has a family. He didn't know another way in life...even if they are enemy they have families that grieve for them."

Sgt. Domeij left behind a wife and two young children. Part of his story and his mother's interviews are shared in a documentary called "Here Am I, Send Me." You can watch that documentary on Youtube here.