Gold Star mother revisits legacy of Marine Cpl. Daegan Page

It’s been more than a year since the death of 23-year-old Cpl. Daegan Page. The Marine was among the 13 servicemembers and hundreds of Afghan civilians killed by an ISIS suicide bomber outside the Kabul Airport on Aug. 26, 2021. 

Page helped facilitate the evacuation of American and Afghan civilians as Taliban forces began to take over the country and the U.S. ended its longest war. 

“I got up this morning and I realized I won’t talk with him [Page] today. I won’t talk to him ever again until we’re reunited in heaven,” Wendy Adelson, Corporal Page’s mother, said. 

In a one-on-one with Straight Arrow News, Adelson shared newfound memories from those who served alongside him and the long-lasting impact of the Afghanistan War. 

“We were there a long time, and a lot of people died in that long time,” Adelson said. “I understand why we went there. I don’t know if I will ever understand why we stayed as long as we did.”

Straight Arrow News asked Adelson if she had any grievances against President Biden’s decision to pull troops from Afghanistan and if she was able to separate her politics from the decision.

“I have to separate the two,” Adelson said. “I cannot spend time being political when I have to focus on grieving my child, celebrating my child, and doing good in his honor and his name.” 

In the days following Page’s death, Adelson and her family joined 12 other Gold Star families as they awaited the bodies of their loved ones. Adelson also had the opportunity to speak with President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden. 

She expressed that it was difficult for her to do but “appreciated the moment.”

However, if she could speak with the president again, she would tell him, “I need to have some kind of peace that says that someone is making sure that there is some sort of accountability to the people that made the decision to kill my child and 12 others that day as well as hundreds of Afghan citizens.”

Some Afghans that fled their country have resettled in Omaha, Nebraska. Adelson told us she had the opportunity to meet a few of them and thinks of them often. 

“There are children now that are going to experience a life and young men and women that would not have experienced life or may not be living today if it wouldn’t have been for him [Cpl. Daegan Page] and 12 others that day as well as hundreds of Afghan citizens,” Adelson said.        

The family has established the Corporal Daegan Page Foundation to keep the marine’s legacy alive. The nonprofit’s mission is to help people live the “Dae way.”

“Daegan never took life for granted,” Adelson said. ” Life wasn’t always easy for Daegan but he found a way to push through everything either by finding an adventure, having an experience, or jumping in and really overcoming the challenge and that’s what we want to do.” 

Over the last year, people from all across the country have stepped up to help this family grieve, from Gold Star families to complete strangers. A bronze-like state of a soldier guards their home. 

“When we returned home,” Adelson said. “This was in our driveway and we have no idea who it came from.” 

Veterans also helped erect a flag pole. 

“The Navy veteran and marine veteran came and put this flag pole up for us,” Adelson said.  

There’s also a 200-pound sculpture inscribed with Cpl. Daegan Page’s name is accompanied by combat boots, a helmet, and a gun. 

“The delivery driver was happy because it was very, very heavy because it’s made out of stone,” Adelson said. 

Inside Adelson’s home are countless commissioned paintings of Cpl. Daegan. 

Adelson was so overwhelmed by all the acts of generosity this year that she couldn’t even recall when she received her son’s Purple Heart.