Nearly one month after he was killed, fallen Marine Lance Cpl. Rylee McCollum of Jackson’s baby has been born.
Levi Rylee Rose McCollum was born Monday and weighed 8 pounds and 10 ounces. She was born at the Naval Hospital at Camp Pendleton in California.
“Welcome to the world my sweet baby 
i love you with my whole heart,” a social media post from McCollum’s wife, Jiennah Crayton, said.
McCollum was one of 13 soldiers killed in Afghanistan last month as the U.S. military pulled out of the country after 20 years of fighting.
His body was brought back to Wyoming on Friday and he was given a hero’s welcome with a massive procession through downtown Jackson. No announcements have yet been made about his funeral arrangements.
Since his death, people from all over the country have come together to honor the Marine for giving the ultimate sacrifice while serving his country.
On Sunday, Chronicles Distilling in Cheyenne hosted a fundraiser for the McCollum family, raising more than $73,000 in the process.
Distillery co-owner Chase Lesher was a machine gunner in the Marines and served in Afghanistan, and his brother, co-owner Aaron Lesher, also served in Iraq in the Marines, which made them want to host the fundraiser.
“The news of the Marines and sailor that lost their lives during the bombing…angered us greatly,” Chase Lesher said in an announcement for the fundraiser. “Finding out that one of the Marines…was from Wyoming and had a wife with a child due within a month made it even more emotional for us.”
In addition to the fundraising effort by Chronicles, three GoFundMe pages have been launched in the wake of McCollum’s death, all raising money for McCollum’s wife and unborn child.
In total, more than $827,610 has been raised for the family since McCollum was killed.
His mother, Kathy McCollum, recently sent a message to former President Donald Trump, saying that he should again run for president and that President Joe Biden was a “corrupt pseudo president.”
“Thank you, Kathy. America feels your loss and fully understands your pain. Rylee will never be forgotten,” Trump said in a message back to Kathy McCollum, which was posted on his website.
Kathy McCollum also called her son a sacrificial lamb and noted that Trump would never have allowed the Taliban to retake control of Afghanistan. Biden pulled out the military at the end of August after 20 years of war in the country.
“I can’t live with knowing my son’s life was taken for nothing,” Kathy McCollum said. “So Biden could repay his debt to China. They will now have full control of Afghanistan and my son will be a sacrificial lamb. My son was murdered for Biden optics. I will become more vocal soon. Grieving and not sure I can control my mouth.”
“But watched Biden disrespect my son while I was standing across from him and he was checking his watch, and then Pelosi denying my son recognition and turning her back. Just as she tore up Donald’s speech. We cannot give up our country. So even if no one gets back with me. I will always fight for the Trump administration just as my son did.”
The Marine’s father refused to meet with Biden after the soldier was killed and brought back to the United States.
“I had no desire to meet with the president,” Jim McCollum said. “Everything he’s done [with the withdrawal from Afghanistan], every step along the way has been absolutely backwards.”
“A high school kid could make better decisions than they’ve made in this,” he said.
Originally it was reported that only the late Marine’s wife had stayed in the room to meet with Biden but McCollum’s sister, Cheyenne McCollum, also stuck around briefly.
“I chose to stay with my brother’s wife,” Cheyenne said. “She wanted the chance to look him in the eye and see if it was going to be a sincere conversation or apology. And I was able to stand about 15 seconds of his fake, scripted apology and I had to walk out.”
She said Biden wouldn’t at look her or at McCollum’s wife in the eye. Instead, she said, he looked down and showed no sympathy.
https://cowboystatedaily.com/2021/09/14/fallen-marine-rylee-mccollums-baby-is-born/
