Gold Star dad recalls knock at his door that 'changed everything'

This is part 3 of Fox News Digital's Freedom Isn't Free series honoring America's fallen heroes. 

Gold Star father Jim McCollum "start[ed] chasing what really matters in life" after his son's death in Afghanistan.

U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. Rylee J McCollum was killed in action alongside 12 other American service members at then-Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan on Aug. 26, 2021. Rylee was 20 years old and left behind a wife and unborn daughter. 

To the Gold Star father, the phrase "freedom isn’t free" means sacrifice.

"Sacrifice. It all comes down to sacrifice… It's 20 years of this war. It's 248 years of our country. All the sacrifices made to give us the freedoms and allow us to have and do the things that we do. We owe so much to so many people," said McCollum.

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McCollum added, "I always go back to the Star Spangled Banner and Taps. You can't look at that flag or hear either one--I can't anymore--without tearing up. I've always had respect for the flag and loved what it represents, but it has definitely taken on a whole new meaning."

USMC Lance Cpl. Rylee J. McCollum was killed in action on Aug. 26, 2021. (Jim McCollum)

Rylee, a native of Wyoming, was a lifelong wrestler and a "history buff." 

McCollum reflected on Rylee's dedication to the Marine Corps at an early age, saying, "It was one of the fun things we've always said, even at wrestling tournaments and with coaches, he'd have conversations with adults at seven, eight, nine years old."

"It was never, ‘I hope I can become a Marine’ or ‘I want to be a Marine.’ He was steadfast, 'I'm going to be a Marine.' And like several of the kids on his 18th birthday, he signed that dotted line," McCollum added.

"It was never, ‘I hope I can become a Marine’ or ‘I want to be a Marine.’ He was steadfast, 'I'm going to be a Marine.' And like several of the kids on his 18th birthday, he signed that dotted line."

— Jim McCollum

Rylee graduated from high school and left for Camp Pendleton in 2019, when he completed boot camp and met his wife, Gigi Crayton. They were married on Valentine's Day 2021.

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McCollum recalled, "they were supposed to deploy, I believe, in April. And then COVID hindered that, which actually benefited Rylee. He had just got married, and they had a baby on the way, and he was able to take care of getting housing at Camp Pendleton."

"We make fun of him a little bit because Rylee was Rylee, and sometimes he was kind of irresponsible. But to see him step up and become that man and take care of his wife and child that was on the way… I couldn't be more proud of the steps he had taken and how much he had matured," McCollum said.

Rylee McCollum, left, left behind his birth family as well as his own Gold Star wife Gigi and unborn child when he was killed in action in August 2021. (Jim McCollum)

Rylee went to Jordan on his first deployment with the 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines in April 2021. McCollum remembered what gave him peace of mind in those days, saying, "I would pay more attention to that little green dot on Messenger. And because he would be talking to his wife most often, and as long as I saw that little green dot, I was good."

Following President Biden's announcement of the American withdrawal from Afghanistan, Rylee was deployed to the conflicted country to assist in the humanitarian efforts of evacuating American citizens and refugees at Kabul Airport.

McCollum remembered the fateful day, saying, "as the information came out, I was convincing my daughters, and I think I was trying to convince myself that there's no way this kid from Wyoming, in Kabul, Afghanistan, was involved. Statistically, it's an impossibility."

Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Rylee McCollum enlisted in 2019 after graduating from high school. (Jim McCollum)

"I kept telling my kids, no news is good news. I hate that phrase now, but they're always telling you no news is good news--you know, 'everything's good.' And that worked until 3:30 in the morning and two Marines were standing on my door, and then that kind of changed everything," recalled McCollum.

Daughter Levi Rylee Rose McCollum was born at Camp Pendleton Hospital on Sept. 17, 2021, around three weeks after the death of her father. Among other awards, USMC Lance Cpl. McCollum is a recipient of the Purple Heart and Global War on Terrorism Service Medal.

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McCollum reflected on the community built alongside other Gold Star families of the 13 lost that day, saying, "I may have lost a son, but I've gained a family."