Remembering Humberto Sanchez 3 years after Afghanistan bombing

LOGANSPORT, Ind. – Monday marked three years since 13 U.S. military service members were killed in a suicide bombing in Afghanistan.

Cpl. Humberto “Bert” Sanchez, 22, from Logansport was one of those killed during military and refugee evacuation efforts in Kabul back in 2021. The attack took place during the final days of the U.S. pullout from Afghanistan.

Sanchez’s grave in Logansport has become a bit of a local memorial. On Monday afternoon, it sat covered with flowers, flags and other reminders of his service and sacrifice.

“At moments I feel like it was so long ago,” said Coral Doolittle, Sanchez’s mother.

Doolittle said she still remembers losing her son Bert. What sometimes feels like a distant memory comes rushing right back on certain dates, like Aug. 26.

“When they [memories] click, it’s like I remember that day when they knock on the door,” she described. “I remember when we go over and pick up the body. I remember when we put him here to rest.”

Doolittle said the past three years have had their ups and their downs.

“The pain is really, really fresh,” she said. “I don’t think it’s ever going to go away; we are just going to learn how to live a daily life with the pain and the sadness of not having him around.”

Doolittle said her son’s loss has been equally as hard on those who served alongside him.

“Some of them actually have the guilt,” she described. “Why him and not me?”

Three years later, Bert’s mother said she still feels her community’s support. This past weekend, hundreds gathered for a memorial motorcycle ride through Logansport.

While Doolittle and many others continue to grieve, she urges people to support and remember all veterans, not just the ones who did not get to come home.

“Never forget the ones that pay the ultimate sacrifice,” she said. “But never forget all the veterans that are around us. They need us.”

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