No, The Family of Roseville Hero Sgt. Gee Did Not Have to Pay for her Arlington Interment

Multiple media reports flashed across the internet today, relating the horrible story of the family of Roseville’s own Marine Sgt. Nicole Gee having to pay $60,000 to have her remains moved to Arlington National Cemetery.

That is not true.

What is true is this photo – taken days before she and a dozen other members of the United States military and more than 170 Afghans were killed by a suicide bomber during the chaotic evacuation effort at the Kabul airport – of her caring for an infant:

Gee herself posted the picture to her social media accounts with the caption “I Love My Job.”

After the bombing, Gee’s family – dazed by the events – decided to have her remains sent to Roseville, where a memorial service was held about a month after the bombing.  During that time, however, the family – including her husband and fellow Marine Sgt. Jarod Gee – thought it would be her wish to be interred at Arlington National Cemetery, a distinct honor capping off a Marine – albeit cut short – that was full of honors.

The moving of remains is not unheard of, said Gee’s mother-in-law Christy Shamblin, but not a typical situation. The family was told by the Department of Defense that they would have to pay for the flight to move Gee, but they were not told that that charge would later be re-imbursed by the Pentagon.

Shamblin also stressed that at no time was there ever a mention of a dollar amount, let alone $60,000.

“This was an unusual process and I think there was a miscommunication,” Shamblin said. “We were never ‘refused’ by the DoD.”

The worry of paying for a flight did not last, as Laura Herzog, founder of the veteran’s service group Honoring Our Fallen was almost immediately able to secure a donation of a private flight (taken care of by a Vietnam veteran pilot) to move Gee from Roseville to Arlington.

“An awesome organization,” Shamblin said Honoring Our Fallen.

Gee was interred in Arlington in September, 2021 – here are pictures of the event from CBS News Sacramento.

Exactly how the untrue story “went viral” can be traced back to a Fox News appearance by Florida Republican Congressman Cory Mills yesterday in which he said that Gee’s family was expected to pay $60,000 until Honoring Our Fallen stepped in and covered the cost.

For her part, Herzog stressed the flight they arranged was “an in-kind donation” and, again, that money was never discussed.

Shamblin said Wednesday afternoon she was taken aback by the media notoriety, especially because of the fact that it wasn’t true.

She did say that she hopes that the lines of communication will be better going forward for families who lose loved ones in the future to avoid any confusion during such an emotional time.

Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-Rocklin), this morning sent a letter to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin asking about the initial reports.  This afternoon, a spokesman said that “Kiley is working with the Pentagon on getting greater clarity as to how these matters are handled and assuring that Gold Star families are given the greatest measure of support.”

As for Sgt. Gee, this is what she did in the Marines:

Nicole’s military awards and accomplishments include the Purple Heart Medal, Combat Action Ribbon, Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Medal, Afghan Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Sea Service Deployment Ribbon, NATO Medal, Expert Rifle Qualification Third Award, becoming a Black Belt Martial Arts Instructor, setting weightlifting records at Al-Jaber Air Base, and of course, perfect scores in Combat Fitness Tests. (N.B. – no matter how in shape you think you are, you are not in as good a shape as Gee was.)

She deployed with the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit in February 2021. During her deployment, Nicole’s stops included Spain, Greece, Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Kuwait. Nicole was meritoriously promoted to Sergeant while in Kuwait on August 2, 2021. 

Her last stop was a humanitarian mission in Afghanistan, where she assisted in evacuating more than 100,000 refugees.

Her hometown of Roseville has named a road for her, she lay in a place of honor, her family loves her, and she served her nation – and the people of other nations – proudly, honorably, and with distinction.

Oo-rah, indeed.