WAYCROSS, Ga. – The parents of Spc. Kennedy Sanders shared precious memories of her with News4JAX, and President Joe Biden called to offer his condolences after she was one of three United States soldiers killed in a drone strike in Jordan.
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Oneida Oliver-Sanders and Shawn Sanders showed photos of their daughter being silly and spending time with kids.
Onieda Oliver-Sanders and Shawn Sanders share photos of Spc. Kennedy Sanders
Kennedy Sanders was known to her parents as “Munchkin”.
“For the longest, Kennedy was also always so small,” Olivier-Sanders said. “But she was always so energetic and then as an athlete she was very aggressive to be so small.”
Her mother talked about the best way to describe her daughter.
“Free living,” Oliver-Sanders said. “Just unlimited. It’s been this way since she was a child. Never had to worry about her with peer pressure. She always did her own thing. Her flaw was that she didn’t know how to say no to many people.”
Oliver-Sanders said there wasn’t a conversation between her and her daughter about joining the army, but there was one between her, the recruiter, and her father.
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“She contemplated different MOS jobs in the service, and she ended up doing what she was doing so she could continue to go to school,” Shawn Sanders said.
He added that Kennedy was excited about serving her country.
“Anything that she did, she dove headfirst; she was excited,” Shawn said. “She made the best of the situation so you wouldn’t know if she was upset or not.”
Kennedy last spoke to her parents on Saturday, the day before the drone strike, around 12:30 p.m.
“She was just calling and telling me that she would want to purchase a motorcycle and I was like ‘no’,” Oliver-Sanders said.
“We talked about her promotion, but she wanted a Corvette. That was a dream car with the posters in the room,” Shawn said.
Going from those conversations with their daughter to the current circumstances has been difficult for them.
“I’m still in disbelief,” Oliver-Sanders said. “I’m just angry, and I’m upset that I’ll never be able to see my baby again. I won’t be able to touch her, hug her, and see her. I’m anxious because I don’t know what kind of state she’ll be in when we do get to see her.”
“I have enough respect for the armed services and the White House and everybody that I will eventually get the truth,” Shawn said.
After the interview, President Biden called the Sanders family to offer his condolences.
“I wish I didn’t have to make this call,” Biden said. “I know there is nothing anybody can say or do to ease the pain; I’ve been there. By the way, we’re promoting her posthumously to sergeant.”
They thanked Biden as they were brought to tears upon hearing the news.
“The day will come when you walk by a park Kennedy played in or open a closet and smell the fragrance of her clothes or something like that and you’ll smile before you cry. That’s when you know you’re going to make it. It takes a long time to get there but I promise you will get there,” Biden said.
Biden also spoke with the family about his experience with loss.
“My son spent a year in Iraq, and 1% of these kids are the ones that take care of 99% of us. Look, I know. I really do know. I got one of those phone calls telling me my wife and daughter are dead,” Biden said. “When a tractor-trailer hit them when I was a young senator. My son Beau lived near a burn pit in Baghdad. He came down with glioblastoma of the brain tumor, and lost him, too.”
Biden was looking at a picture of Kennedy while he was on the phone with them. He said that she had a beautiful smile.
“Thank you, Mr. President. She did light up every room she was in,” Oliver-Sanders said.
The family also shared how Kennedy was good friends with Breonna Moffett, who was also killed in the strike.
“They were always together,” her mother said. “That gave me some comfort to know that they were with each other when it happened.”
The Waycross community is hurting from the loss but they are hoping to honor her by changing the name of the street where she grew up and played basketball.
There are also talks about creating proclamations and nonprofits in Kennedy’s honor.
Biden also asked the family if he could be with them when they go pick up her body on Friday. The family said they would be honored.