"On the last airplane out was General Chris Donahue, the commander of the 82nd Airborne Division, and my ground force commander there," McKenzie told reporters at the Pentagon.

"And he was accompanied by Ambassador Ross Wilson."

McKenzie said they were the last on the ground at Kabul airport as the United States completed its military withdrawal from Afghanistan.

"The State and Defense team were, in fact, the last people to step on the airplane," the general said.