Marine Corps disputes claim of corporal who told Trump rally he pulled baby over wall at Kabul airport

Scott Gleeson, USA TODAY
·2 min read
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The Marine Corps refuted a public claim made by a Marine that he was the one who lifted a child over a wall at the Kabul, Afghanistan, airport in a photo that went viral.

Lance Cpl. Hunter Clark was invited to a Sept. 25 rally held by former President Donald Trump, and Clark was introduced to the Perry, Georgia, crowd by Trump as one of the Marines who "helped evacuated children over ... the airport wall. You saw him. He did a great job."

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Clark shook Trump's hand and then told the crowd that was chanting "U-S-A": "Hey, my name is Lance Corporal Hunter Clark, and I’m here from Warner Robbins, Georgia. I am the guy that pulled the baby over the wall, and it's definitely probably one of the greatest things I've ever done in my entire life.

"I just want to thank all the support from all y’all. It really means a lot and I’m glad to be home now."

In this image from video provided by Omar Haidari and taken on Thursday, Aug. 19, 2021, which shows a baby being lifted across a wall at Kabul Airport in Afghanistan by U.S. soldiers. The image grabbed from footage, taken on Thursday, showed the infant being pushed up to the soldiers by people in the crowd gathered outside the airport, amid the chaos of those fleeing the Taliban takeover of the country.

Capt. Kelton Cochran, a member of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, said it wasn't Clark in the image of a Marine lifting the baby and that Clark would be under investigation since the Defense Department typically prohibits active duty members from speaking publicly at political gatherings.

"Regarding the viral photo that began circulating around Aug. 20, 2021, the Marine identified in that particular image was not LCpl Clark," Cochran said in a statement. "The 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) has initiated a command investigation regarding LCpl Hunter Clark's attendance at the event last weekend to determine if any DoD policies were violated."

It is unclear if there were other examples of U.S. troops hoisting babies over the wall at the Kabul airport that Clark might've been taking credit for. U.S. troops aided Afghans in the withdrawal for several days.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Marines dispute corporal's claim he lifted baby at Kabul airport wall