House Speaker Mike Johnson, Republican of Louisiana, and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Democrat of New York, will host a gold medal ceremony to honor the 13 U.S. soldiers killed at Abbey Gate during the withdrawal from Afghanistan.
President Johnson will posthumously award Congress' highest honor, the Gold Medal, to the 13 Americans killed in an ISIS-K suicide bombing at Kabul airport in August 2021. The president spoke the names of the victims and apologized to their families at the start of Tuesday's ceremony.
The 13 U.S. military personnel killed at Abbey Gate were: Marine Staff Sergeant Darin T. Huber, Marine Staff Sergeant Johany Rosario-Pichard, Marine Staff Sergeant Nicole L. Gee, Marine Corps Corporal Hunter Lopez, Marine Corps Corporal Dagan W. Page, Marine Corps Corporal Humberto A. Sanchez, Marine Corps Lance Corp David L. Espinoza, Marine Corps Lance Corp Jared M. Schmitz, Marine Corps Lance Corp Riley J. McCollum, Marine Corps Lance Corp Dylan R. Merola, Marine Corps Lance Corp Kareem M. Nikoui, Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Maxton W. Sobiak, and Army Staff Sergeant Ryan C. Knaus.
Gold Star families accuse Kamala Harris of 'games playing' over Trump's Arlington National Cemetery visit
“Our nation owes these servicemen and women and men who were with them in Kabul here today, and even deeper, we owe them an apology to the families here. I know many of you have not yet heard the words, so I say it now: I am sorry,” Johnson said in his opening remarks. “The United States government should have done everything in its power to protect its soldiers. It should have done everything it could to help those who were fallen and injured at Abbey Gate. The families left behind deserve continued transparency, gratitude, and recognition for you and those whose families are not here. I promise you that you are not alone in carrying the burden of that day. While we can never fully measure your loss, we can and must commemorate the ultimate sacrifice made.”
The gold medal is displayed in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda in Washington on Sept. 10, 2024, ahead of a ceremony to commemorate the 13 U.S. service members killed in a suicide bombing at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Afghanistan. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
“We honor and honour the 13 patriots who valiantly lost their lives in battle,” Jeffries said in a speech after receiving the Congressional Gold Medal.
“The 13 heroes we honor here today represent the very best of America. They were beloved sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, spouses and friends who, knowing the dangers of the mission, answered the call of duty and risked their own safety for their fellow Americans, allies and partners in Afghanistan. They defended freedom and democracy until their last breath. They held the gates,” Jeffries said. “The Gold Medal we present to you today is the highest honor the United States Congress can bestow, but no honor can truly compensate for the incredible sacrifices made by our fallen soldiers and their families here today.”
“This Congressional Gold Medal also symbolizes our firm commitment to you. We have never forgotten your suffering. We will never forget the supreme sacrifice your loved ones made. Our gratitude will be eternal,” he said. “May the memory of these sons of God, guardians of peace and defenders of freedom continue to inspire us all to defend freedom and democracy at home and around the world, just as they so bravely did.”
Photos of fallen American soldiers are displayed during a press conference by House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-Texas) at the Capitol in Washington, Monday, September 9, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
House Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) acknowledged that the 13 US soldiers who were slain “have healed the wounds of war that spanned their entire lives.”
“In an instant, 13 young Americans from every corner of our nation were bound together forever. In an instant, their heroic service became the ultimate and eternal sacrifice,” McConnell said, after reading personal details of how each of the fallen soldiers was being remembered by their families. “Today, the name Abby Gates carries a heavy price: anger, confusion and unspeakable grief. But we today, with the highest honor in Congress, declare that these two words will forever represent the courage, the bravery of your sons and daughters and our heroes, and we confer them in the depths of the hearts of a grateful nation.” ”
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-Texas) speaks about his committee's Afghanistan report on Capitol Hill in Washington, Monday, September 9, 2024. He was joined by Republican lawmakers and family members of military personnel who died during the evacuation. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York noted that among the 13 US soldiers killed at Abbey Gate “some were younger than the Afghanistan war itself.”
“But to the civilians desperately trying to escape Taliban control through Abbey Gate that fateful day, these 13 Americans were more than heroes. They were protectors and saviors who fought for a cause much larger than themselves, delivering freedom to people who might never have had it again,” Schumer said. “As we remember these 13 fallen heroes, we also remember all Americans who have served in Afghanistan, including the 2,400 killed, the more than 20,000 wounded, and the hundreds of thousands of Americans who have served in uniform.”
“Tomorrow we mark the anniversary of September 11th, a day to reaffirm this sacred promise: never forget,” Schumer said. “And that's what this morning's ceremony is about. We will never forget the sacrifice of those 13 service members who lost their lives. And it is now our mission, gathered under the dome of the Statue of Liberty, to ensure that the sacrifice of all our service members is not in vain.”
About 170 Afghans were killed in the attack. Tuesday's ceremony came two days after Rep. Mike McCaul, the Republican chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, released a 350-page report that harshly criticized the military's actions. Afghanistan withdrawal 2021 It pointed out areas of significant mismanagement.
The Republican-led report begins by recalling that Biden, as a senator in the 1970s, rushed to withdraw from the Vietnam War, which, along with the withdrawal from Afghanistan, shows “a pattern of disinterested foreign policy positions and a willingness to abandon strategic partners,” according to the report.
The report also states: Biden's He argued his hands are tied by the Doha agreement former President Trump struck with the Taliban, which gave U.S. troops a deadline of summer 2021 to withdraw, and made clear that officials have no plans to withdraw Americans and allies while troops are still there to protect them.
Three years after the attacks, President Trump met with the families of the 13 US soldiers killed at Arlington National Cemetery.
Biden and Vice President Harris were absent and issued statements that day but did not release the names of the 13 victims.
Donald Trump stands next to Misty Fuoco, sister of Sergeant Nicole Gee who died in the Abbey Gate bombing, during a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, on August 26, 2024. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Harris later accused Trump of playing politics with the visit, but in a series of short videos she said eight families had invited him and blasted the Biden-Harris administration over a withdrawal three years ago that left 13 US troops dead.
The vice president criticized the Trump campaign for taking photos and video of the wreath-laying ceremony, and the Army said Arlington National Cemetery officials “had abruptly removed the Trump campaign's efforts to inform them of federal law, Army regulations and Department of Defense policy, which clearly prohibit political activity on cemetery grounds.”
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Gold Star families who lost loved ones in the failed Afghanistan withdrawal slammed Harris for attacking Trump's visit to pay tribute to the fallen.
Fox News' Morgan Phillips, Nicholas Kalman and Andrea Vacchiano contributed to this report. This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
