AMES, Iowa — Joni Ernst was planning her daughter Libby’s second birthday when she heard the news. There had been an attack on the World Trade Center Towers in New York City.
“There were workers in the home replacing our furnace,” she said in an interview with the Washington Examiner. “I was down in the basement helping, getting them set up when my neighbor Wanda called [and] told me I had to turn the TV on right now.”
She turned the television on just before the second plane hit the second tower.
“Shortly after that, my National Guard battalion had called and said, ‘Captain Ernst, we just have to get a 100% accountability of every Iowa national guardsman.’”
It was a moment of great uncertainty.
“Then we saw the Pentagon, and we heard of the plane going down in Pennsylvania, and for days after that, you didn’t know if there was going to be another incident,” she said.
Twenty years later, her life has changed dramatically. She went on to command a National Guard transportation company. Two years later, her unit was deployed to Kuwait, and she was given the job of driving supply convoys into the war zone in Iraq.
When she returned, she continued her service — this time to her community. She ran for Montgomery County auditor in 2004, then for state Senate, then for U.S. Senate in 2014. She was reelected last year.
Twenty years later, she now sees two things she never dreamed of. One brings her great pride: her daughter’s entry into her senior year at West Point Military Academy.
“I am so proud of her, she has a great sense of country and service, and I’m just so proud that she’s chosen to do that, knowing the risk associated with it,” she said.
The other has caused great anguish: President Joe Biden’s disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Ernst said she finds his conduct and his stubborn refusal to answer any questions on the matter since Aug. 21 to be shameful.
“The way it was done was very hasty and haphazard,” she said. “And seeing that last flight out of Afghanistan, it really was gut-wrenching for me, and I know for so many other veterans of the global war on terror.”
Ernst said Biden’s handling of the situation was inexcusable.
“The way we left Americans behind, the way we left thousands and thousands of [Special Immigrant Visa] holders behind, our allies and partners, we just left them,” she said. “He made that call.”
Ernst said several things need to happen in response to this catastrophe.
“Make sure our counterterrorism measures are in place,” she said. “Start working with our allies around the globe like the U.K., France, Germany who feel this was a botched withdrawal and to be aware of the impact this is going to have on the mental health of our veterans, their spouses, and the Gold Star families.”
Ernst said she has heard from several veterans, Gold Star families, and the spouses who lost their husbands in Afghanistan.
“Many of them are wondering now, was this loss, was this effort, worth it?” she said. “What did we gain from this? Because the president has not been clear on this.”
Ernst said she is deeply concerned for their mental health in the aftermath of how the U.S. left Afghanistan and how they are dealing with the left-behind U.S. citizens and SIV and green card holders.
“They feel the heaviness because their brothers from Afghanistan, who assisted them as translators and support personnel, have been left behind,” she said. “They know that their families are in jeopardy. And there is very little that they can do here from the United States.”
“We have been safe in our homeland because of the efforts and the sacrifices of the men and women that served overseas in the global war on terror,” Ernst said. “We have not seen another 9/11 because of them. They have saved lives by taking the fight to the terrorists overseas and protecting our homeland.”
Ernst said she has worked with Sen. Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire to push the Veterans Administration to increase mental and behavioral health efforts for Afghanistan veterans and their families.
“We are aware that this is an issue,” she said. “And it’s going to be an issue. And the president needs to be loud out there about thanking these veterans for their service and sacrifice and addressing the Gold Star families and assuring them that the loss of their loved one wasn’t in vain.”
