Marine Nicole Gee sent a series of texts to her sister before deploying to Afghanistan telling her not to worry - and saying she hoped the mission would be ‘successful and safe.’
Nicole, 23, was one of 13 service members – and one of two female Marines - who died in a suicide blast at Kabul Airport Thursday alongside 170 desperate Afghans seeking to leave their beleaguered country.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with DailyMail.com, her older sister Misty Fuoco, 25, of Citrus Heights, California, said her sister would text her regularly from Kabul to tell her how ‘amazing’ her job was, and described her as ‘fearless.’
Marine Nicole Gee (left and right) sent a series of texts to her sister before deploying to Afghanistan telling her not to worry - and saying she hoped the mission would be ‘successful and safe'
‘Still, it’s been a little over 24 hours now and it’s still just as hard to understand as it was yesterday morning. You take it one moment at a time, one thought at a time,' Misty said
Her older sister Misty Fuoco, 25, of Citrus Heights, California, said her sister would text her regularly from Kabul to tell her how ‘amazing’ her job was
Misty said: ‘She knew there were risks but she was fearless – nothing would stop her from continuing to help and do what she was doing.
‘She was a big advocate of positive mental health and helping others and she was just absolutely thrilled with the work she was doing in Afghanistan.
‘She and I didn’t get to communicate as much as we did before she was deployed but when she did, she would let me know [she was safe].
‘Her words were, ‘I love it. I’m so amazed by everything here’. She couldn’t wait to tell me more about it. There was so much happiness and passion in what she was doing.’
In a message sent to Misty on August 14, less than two weeks before she was killed, Nicole wrote: ‘Don’t be scared either! There’s a lot in the news lately… But there’s a LOT of Marines and soldiers going to provide security.
‘We’ve been training for this evacuation and it’s actually happening so I’m excited for it. Hopefully it’s successful and safe. I love you!!!’
Misty said: 'She and I didn’t get to communicate as much as we did before she was deployed'
Gee's sister describes a happy childhood that came to an abrupt end when their mother Rebecca died at the age of 46 in 2019
By the time her mother died, Nicole had moved across the country to be with her husband who is stationed Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, North Carolina, and had joined the Marines herself
Misty said Nicole’s last texts were all about her husband of four years Jarod Gee, 25, who is also a Marine and was visiting Citrus Heights when the suicide blast went off
Nicole Gee, 23, of Roseville, California was among those killed in the attack on Thursday in Kabul
But while Nicole was excited about going to Kabul, Misty was more nervous. She said: ‘When we did get to talk to each other, I was like a broken record – ‘stay safe, I love you, stay safe, I love you’ – and she said she was just happy to be there, doing her job. That she wouldn’t want to be doing anything else.’
Misty said Nicole’s last texts were all about her husband of four years Jarod Gee, 25, who is also a Marine and was visiting Citrus Heights when the suicide blast went off.
The mom-of-two said: ‘Yesterday morning, my brother-in-law got a phone call with the news. He lives in North Carolina, and I live in California but he happened to be visiting this week, so he was at a hotel when he found out. He came over and gave me the news in person.’
She added of the moment she learned Nicole was dead: ‘I just stood still, speechless, processing. Thinking, no way. That’s not what you just said. Then you think, well he wouldn’t just say that as a joke or just to say that.
‘You wait for the second phone call that says so sorry for the terrible mix up but there isn’t any mix up and what happened, happened.
‘Still, it’s been a little over 24 hours now and it’s still just as hard to understand as it was yesterday morning. You take it one moment at a time, one thought at a time.’
Misty said: ‘She knew there were risks but she was fearless – nothing would stop her from continuing to help and do what she was doing'
Misty told DailyMail.com that her sister had always been driven and determined to make a difference but hadn’t always planned to join the Marine Corps
In a message sent to Misty on August 14, less than two weeks before she was killed, Nicole (pictured bottom center) wrote: ‘Don’t be scared either! There’s a lot in the news lately… But there’s a LOT of Marines and soldiers going to provide security'
Just days before she was killed in the suicide blast, St. Nicole Gee was photographed holding an Afghan baby
Friends mourned Gee (right) whom they called a 'model Marine' and a 'Marine's Marine'
'She cared about people. She loved fiercely. She was a light in this dark world. She was my person,' said friend and fellow Marine Mallory Harrison in a Facebook post on Gee (center)
Nicole and Misty grew up in nearby Roseville, California – a small commuter city just outside Sacramento where their father Richard, 56, still lives.
Misty describes a happy childhood that came to an abrupt end when their mother Rebecca died at the age of 46 in 2019.
By then, Nicole had moved across the country to be with her husband who is stationed Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, North Carolina, and had joined the Marines herself.
Misty told DailyMail.com that her sister had always been driven and determined to make a difference but hadn’t always planned to join the Marine Corps.
She said: ‘She didn’t always want to be a Marine, but she was always ambitious and passionate. We had an ongoing family joke that she was the golden child because she was exemplary in everything that she did.
‘She was loving and caring and she had straight A’s in high school and did various academic activities.
‘She was an overachiever and after high school, when her and her husband started dating, he knew for a long time he wanted to be a Marine.
‘He joined the Marine Corps and less than a year later, she decided she wanted to join as well. So it was through his passion, drive and desire that motivated her.
‘She absolutely loved it, every second of it.’
Misty said when she heard about the attack on Thursday, her heart ‘dropped’ and she spent the hours after the attack desperately hoping her sister was safe.
She said: ‘I knew there was a chance because I had read [the explosion] was near Front Gate and I knew that’s where she was working.
‘She was working with the women and children at the front gate who were looking to peacefully evacuate.
Military officials salute during a dignified transfer event in 2019 at Dover Air Force Base. The sequence of the dignified transfer starts with the fallen being returned to Dover AFB as soon as possible
Dignitaries board the transport plane for a prayer before a dignified transfer at Dover in 2019. The remains of the 13 US troops killed in an ISIS-K suicide blast are currently en route to Dover Air Force Base
Former Marine Brian Abelli walks past a wreath after placing a rose at the Massachusetts Fallen Heroes Memorial on Saturday. A ceremony was held to honor the U.S. service members killed in a suicide bombing at the airport in Kabul, Afghanistan
‘When I first heard, my heart dropped but I was hoping for the best and hoping for better news. ‘But I did know that there was a possibility that she was one of 13 members of our military who have made the ultimate sacrifice.’
Misty said Nicole’s husband Jarod is traveling to Dover, Delaware, to meet his wife’s body when it is repatriated but said the rest of the family are still reeling and trying to decide when and where to hold a memorial.
They have also started a GoFundMe account to try to cover the costs of the funeral and to pay for cross-country travel for Nicole’s scattered family and friends.
She said: ‘I know she had a lot of people who loved her in North Carolina and she has a lot of people who love her in California and in the states in between.
‘We have a widespread family so I want to make sure that everyone who wants to can come and see her and say their goodbyes.’
Misty told DailyMail.com that she is trying to take comfort in the fact Nicole died doing what she loved but said she is heartbroken she will now never get to meet her youngest nephew Hayden who is just three months old.
Misty, who also has a two-year-old son named Lorenzo, said: ‘She was planning on flying out and visiting us after she got back so she could meet Hayden.
‘She did get to Facetime with him and she talked to him. But she never got to meet him in person.’
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