President Joe Biden released a Friday statement honoring the 13 service members who were killed in a bombing in Afghanistan at Kabul’s airport one year ago.
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“One year ago, 13 proud and patriotic American service members, as well as more than 100 innocent Afghan civilians, were killed in a heinous terrorist attack at Abbey Gate outside the Kabul Airport. Many more were injured and will carry the impact of their wounds and experiences for the rest of their lives,” the president said regarding the Aug. 26, 2021, bombing.
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The service members were killed as the military conducted a massive large-scale noncombatant evacuation operation from the Hamid Karzai International Airport following the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan. This occurred during the final month of the 20-year U.S. military presence in the country.
“Today, I am praying for the families of those 13 fallen warriors, who lost a piece of their soul one year ago. Our nation can never repay such incredible sacrifice — but we will never fail to honor our sacred obligation to the families and survivors they left behind. I am also holding in my heart all those who lost their child, partner, parent, sibling, loved one, or battle buddy over our two decades of war in Afghanistan,” Biden said. “2,461 American troops made the ultimate sacrifice. 20,744 were wounded, so many whose lives are forever marked by their injuries. It is a painful reminder that there is nothing low-cost or low-grade about war for those we ask to fight for us.”
The Washington Examiner spoke to a number of families of the 13 service members ahead of the anniversary of the bombing, and every one of them expressed frustration from Washington, and the Biden administration in particular, for how their deaths were handled.
“We didn’t hear one single word from the administration, not a single word, and still [haven’t],” Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Darin T. Hoover’s father, also named Darin, said. “Not that we would take it because of the way that this happened. Six months into it … the administration sent out letters to the families. And it was a canned letter. Everybody’s was exactly the same. They photocopied it, or it appears as though they photocopied it, and then just stamped Mr. Biden’s name to it. And that was it. Nothing personal.”
Biden has faced criticism for the way he handled the withdrawal from Afghanistan, which marked a turning point in his job approval ratings. “Today, we remember the 13 American heroes who were killed in an attack on the Kabul airport during Biden’s disastrous withdrawal,” the Republican National Committee’s Tommy Pigott said in a statement. “We will never forget them.”
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The president’s statement also included the names of the 13 service members. Mark Schmitz, the father of the late Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Jared M. Schmitz, had been pressing Biden to say their names.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin released their own statements honoring their deaths as well, though the president’s remarks came after the White House released statements from Biden on abortion and inflation.
