Last weekend, businesses and organizations across America honored the 13 servicemen and women who died in Afghanistan on Aug. 26. Vigils, flag-draped seats, and 13 beers — all in honor of the 11 Marines, one soldier, and one Navy corpsman who gave their lives in service to our country. Sadly, some of them wouldn’t have been old enough to drink the beers set out in their memory. Most of them were babies on Sept. 11, 2001.
The news coming out of Afghanistan over the last month has been heartbreaking and infuriating. It has been 20 years since terrorists attacked the United States and the principles of freedom and democracy that we hold dear, yet today, the Taliban holds its strongest position since Sept. 11, 2001. The worst part is that it didn’t have to be this way. Regardless of how you feel about the decision to withdraw, there is no question that President Joe Biden’s withdrawal was chaotic and reckless.
Biden’s botched exit strategy included depending on Taliban terrorists. The administration reportedly gave these terrorists the names of Americans and Afghan allies who needed to be evacuated, which amounts to a kill list. I facilitated the evacuation of four of my constituents with a team of veterans there, even as the Taliban had already arrived at their family’s home looking for them. My fear is that they were on the list given to the Taliban, in addition to other Americans and Afghan allies who may still be trapped behind enemy lines.
In Biden’s hasty exit, he also armed Taliban terrorists with billions of dollars worth of U.S. taxpayer-funded military vehicles, weapons, and gear. There have been many broken promises from this administration, which assured us that American forces would stay until every citizen was evacuated. Instead, Americans were left behind. The Taliban has also rolled out the welcome mat for China and other U.S. adversaries. To put it mildly, the crisis in Afghanistan is bad, and it’s due to Biden’s actions, or rather inaction.
For 20 years, my brothers and sisters in arms have faithfully upheld their sworn duty to protect and defend the U.S. During the war on terror, I served as an emergency medicine doctor for my platoon. I also had the unenviable duty of being the mortuary affairs officer. I was called every time someone died in our combat theater to examine the body and sign the death certificate before the family could be notified. I have seen up close what it means to sacrifice everything for our country, and this is just one reason why I am so disgusted by what Biden has allowed to happen in Afghanistan. Our commander in chief has disrespected the sacrifice of America’s heroes, but their sacrifice was not in vain.
The Biden administration’s feckless leadership has left service members, gold star families, and my fellow veterans asking a heartbreaking question: Was it all for nothing? Overseas deployments, years of missed birthdays and holidays, amputated limbs, PTSD, thousands of lives lost — what was the point? It’s no wonder the veterans crisis hotline has seen a 98% increase in the number of texts it has received in the past few weeks.
As a veteran myself, I have one message: Their sacrifice was not in vain. The sacrifices made by every service member and veteran during the war on terror ensured that an entire generation of Americans grew up without fear of a terrorist attack like what we saw on Sept. 11, 2001. Furthermore, our presence in Afghanistan planted the seeds of liberty. These are facts our troops and their families can take pride in, no matter who is in the White House. We have already seen some Afghans stand up to protest the oppressive Taliban regime. I pray that liberty will someday surge back stronger than before in Afghanistan.
Our 13 fallen heroes — Darin T. Hoover, Johanny Rosario Pichardo, Nicole L. Gee, Hunter Lopez, Daegan W. Page, Humberto A. Sanchez, David L. Espinoza, Jared M. Schmitz, Rylee J. McCollum, Dylan R. Merola, Kareem M. Nikoui, Ryan C. Knauss, and Maxton W. Soviak — join a revered group of Americans who have laid down their lives for the cause of freedom. They did their duty, and they did it well.
Now, it’s our job to carry on the cause of freedom for which these heroes gave their full devotion.
Ronny Jackson represents Texas’s 13th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives.
