The remains of Navy Fleet Marine Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class Maxton “Max” W. Soviak, who was one of the 13 U.S. service members killed during an ISIS-K attack at the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, Aug. 26 are returning to Ohio.
Eleven Marines and one soldier also died in the attack.
Soviak’s remains are scheduled to arrive at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport at approximately 10:25 a.m. Wednesday, according to a Navy news release. Starting at the airport, a private procession is scheduled to run west on the Ohio Turnpike to U.S. Route 250 at Exit 118 (Norwalk) near Milan, Ohio.
At that point, a public procession will begin. It will turn east onto State Route 113E and pass by Edison High School, Soviak’s alma mater. The public procession will then head north on Berlin Road to West Main Street in Berlin Heights, Soviak’s hometown, then east on W. Main Street to South Street (State Route 61), concluding at the Morman-Hinman-Tanner Funeral Home.
Members of the public who wish to pay their respects are asked to stage themselves along the processional route no later than 11:30 a.m. Veteran service organizations with motorcycle escort units are asked to stage at the commercial vehicle transfer near the toll booths at Exit 118.
“All members of the community are invited and encouraged to pay their respects to Corpsman Soviak and his family along the entire public processional route,” Erie County Sheriff Paul Sigsworth said in a news release. “Please exercise caution if parking along a road right-of-way to ensure that your vehicle is entirely off of the traveled portion of the roadway.”
Soviak, 22, was assigned to 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, out of Camp Pendleton, California. He first enlisted in the Navy in 2017.
RELATED
He was posthumously advanced to the rank of Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class, and was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart and Fleet Marine Force Corpsman warfare badge.
“Petty Officer Soviak gave the ultimate sacrifice in service to this country,” Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro said in a news release Tuesday. “While this promotion and the Fleet Marine Force Corpsman warfare badge are awarded posthumously, I have no doubt his dedication to this nation, his displayed skill as a Hospital Corpsman, and devotion to the mission at hand warrant this recognition.”
Soviak’s family, including his 12 siblings, have asked that their privacy be respected as they grieve with close family and friends.
“Max was a wonderful son who loved his family, his community, and was proud to serve in the U.S. Navy,” Soviak’s family said in a statement last month. “He was excited about the opportunities the Navy would offer him and planned to make the Navy a career. We are incredibly proud of his service to our country.
“His final words to his mother over FaceTime when he was telling her goodbye — after she told him to be safe — were, ‘Don’t worry mom, my guys got me. They won’t let anything happen to me.’ Today, she realized that they all just went together,” the statement said.
