--- title: "Navy corpsman killed in Kabul airport attack posthumously promoted and awarded Purple Heart" description: "The Navy corpsman who was killed last month in a suicide bombing in Kabul has been posthumously promoted and awarded the Purple Heart." date: "2021-09-07" modified: "2021-09-07" authors: - name: "David Roza" job_title: "YouTube Writer/Editor" link: "https://taskandpurpose.com/authors/david-roza/" url: "https://taskandpurpose.com/news/navy-corpsman-maxton-soviak-purple-heart/" categories: - "Afghanistan" - "Around the World" - "Military Branches" - "Navy" - "News" tags: - "death" --- # Navy corpsman killed in Kabul airport attack posthumously promoted and awarded Purple Heart ![]() *Navy Hospital Corpsman Third Class Maxton Soviak stands in triumph after winning an inter-service wrestling match on Guam in 2019. Soviak was posthumously promoted after being killed in a suicide bombing attack in Kabul, Afghanistan on Aug. 26, 2021. (Instagram / Max Soviak)* The Navy corpsman who was killed last month in a suicide bombing at the Abbey Gate of Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan has been posthumously promoted and awarded the Purple Heart and Fleet Marine Force Corpsman warfare badge in honor of his sacrifice, the Navy announced on Tuesday. Hospital Corpsman Third Class Maxton W. Soviak, 22, was among [13 U.S. service members]() killed in the Aug. 26 bombing, which U.S. officials blamed on the Islamic State terrorist group. [At least 90 Afghan civilians]() were also killed, along with 11 U.S. Marines and an Army special operations soldier. Eighteen other American service members and many more Afghans were wounded. “Petty Officer Soviak gave the ultimate sacrifice in service to this country,” said Carlos Del Toro, Secretary of the Navy, in a statement on 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.” ![]() *WASHINGTON (Aug. 28, 2021) An undated portrait of Navy Corpsman Maxton W. Soviak during recruit training released by his family. (Courtesy photo)* A native of Berlin Heights, Ohio, Soviak was assigned to the 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, at the time of the attack. He enlisted in the Navy on[ Sept. 26, 2017](), and had been with the 1st Marine Regiment since September 2020. “Max always was smiling. We had a lot of good conversations,” Vince Ragnoni, who taught Soviak electrical technology at a career center while he was in high school, told[ CBS Pittsburgh]() last month. “Max was good for pulling shenanigans and liked to get other people to laugh.” For a time Soviak was not sure what he wanted to do after high school, but he eventually decided to join the Navy. Ragnoni last spoke with Soviak shortly after graduating high school. “He had just joined the Navy and he started telling me about what he’d be doing,” Ragnoni said. “I thanked him for his service. I told him I knew he would do great things. He was happy and excited about that.” https://www.instagram.com/p/CM0-VcnpIMQ/ Photos on Soviak’s[ Instagram account]() show the corpsman rock climbing, skiing, fishing, and winning an inter-service wrestling match on Guam in 2019. One picture from March 24 shows him diving off a wall into deep blue water on Guam. “If the world was coming to an end,” he wrote, “I don’t wanna close my eyes without feeling like I lived.” ## More great stories on Task & Purpose - **Air Force C-17 crews are exhausted** [**but proud after largest airlift in US military history**]() - [**The Pentagon’s filtered version of the Kabul rescue mission**]() **looks nothing like what really went down** - **Before they left, US troops** [**gave the Taliban and ISIS the middle finger in messages left at the Kabul airport**]() - **‘That’s what I’m here for’ —** [**What it’s like to deploy the barriers at a military base gate**]() - **Marine commander** [**relieved over viral video calling out military leaders for Afghanistan withdrawal**]() **Want to write for Task & Purpose?** [**Learn more here**]() **and be sure to check out more great stories on** [**our homepage.**]() ## Author David Roza writes scripts about military news for the Task & Purpose YouTube channel, and he also writes articles about military pay, benefits, health care, child care, culture, and other personnel topics on a freelance basis. Roza previously covered the Air Force and Space Force for Task & Purpose from 2019 to 2023 and for Air & Space Forces Magazine from 2023 to 2025. In the course of that reporting, he has set off a ‘Hollywood explosion’ with Air Force bomb techs, turned the (unarmed) keys of a nuclear missile bunker, hovered over the Nevada desert on an Air Force rescue helicopter, and got the best sleep of his life on the floor of a C-17 over the central Pacific. Share tips and story ideas with David at [david.roza@teamrecurrent.io]()