As we reported earlier, there was some truly heartbreaking testimony before Congress from Gold Star families who had lost their loved ones in the suicide bombing at the Abbey Gate at the Kabul airport during the withdrawal from Afghanistan.
I wrote about the 13 after they were killed. The thing that was most striking about them was how young and devoted to their country they were, and what a loss it is that such dedicated people were so wrongly taken from this world. Please take a look at their stories and never forget them — they deserve that and so much more. Their families finally got a chance to speak publicly together about how their children were taken from them in such a horrific way. But, as they all noted, what was bad on top of all of that was the way Joe Biden and his administration dealt with it. They’ve waited two years for answers which they haven’t gotten.
Perhaps one of the most touching stories of the young people was that of Sgt. Nicole Gee, 23, who is described as a “Marine’s Marine.” Her last Instagram post showed her holding a young baby at the Kabul airport, amidst all the chaos, and she said, “I love my job.” Her “mom-in-law,” Christy Shamblin, told Congress about that on Monday.
#RIP U.S. Marine Sgt. Nicole Gee, 23 years old
“She was a Marine’s Marine”https://t.co/XNaqfDVbq6 pic.twitter.com/R37vuZRzmn
— Mike Saccone (@mikesacconetv) August 28, 2021
Amongst all the horror imposed on the families, Biden added more with his actions. Cheryl Rex is the mother of Lance Corporal Dylan Merola, 20. When he was returned home, during the “dignified transfer” ceremony, Rex said that Biden told her, “My wife, Jill & I, know how you feel. We lost our son as well and brought him home in a flag-draped coffin.” Rex said she started shaking because she knew that wasn’t true, and she couldn’t believe what he had just said. What a horrible thing to say to a mother who had just lost her son.
As we had previously reported before this hearing, in addition to talking about his son who had died of cancer, the parents also detailed how Biden kept checking his watch during the ceremony.
During the hearing, Kelly Barnett, the mom of Staff Sgt. Darin Taylor Hoover — the oldest killed at just 31 — tearfully said those killed “left this Earth” feeling their command cared nothing for them. The wounded and the survivors felt they were not cared for, and she felt this as well.
'Command Cares Nothing For Us.' – Gold Star Mom Kelly Barnett gives heartbreaking testimony about her son
"They were told – 'You gotta clean up the airport. We can't leave it dirty for the Taliban…' What kind of disrespect, what kind of hatred for our military?" pic.twitter.com/X1GZ6zInEI
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) August 7, 2023
She said that after seeing their fellow service members killed, then being told to destroy everything at the airport, “They were told – ‘You gotta clean up the airport. We can’t leave it dirty for the Taliban.'” She asked what this was, “What kind of disrespect, what kind of hatred for our military?”
What kind of a man was Taylor Hoover? Even after he was shot, his first act was to reach into his vest to hand his ammo to his fellow Marines to be able to fight back and save themselves.
Yet two years later, there’s still been no accountability. No one has been fired, and the Biden administration even refuses to acknowledge that it was anything but a success. Incredibly, in the wake of the debacle, the National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications, John Kirby, refused to even admit there was any chaos in the withdrawal.
Darin Hoover’s father said it for so many people. He said he was calling out the leadership involved, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Joe Biden, telling them to resign.
Darin Hoover, father of fallen Marine Staff Sgt. Darin Taylor Hoover, Jr., tells Biden over the botched Afghanistan withdrawal:
"Do what our son did — be a grown ass man. Admit to your mistakes … resign immediately." pic.twitter.com/cgTi7TDlwe
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) August 7, 2023
“Do what our son did — be a grown-ass man,” Hoover said.
Admit to your mistakes. Learn from them, so that this doesn’t happen ever, ever again. You all need to resign immediately. Our sons and daughters have more integrity in their little toes than every one of them combined. You owe it to our families, here today, to the other Gold and Silver Star families that have gone before, and most of all, to the veterans who have given so much for this country so that we have the freedoms that we enjoy today. Thank you.
But after all that, perhaps one of the worst slaps in the face to the Gold Star families was how the liberal media treated what they said, ignoring it when the parents are so desperate to get accountability.
Instead of covering the hearing, ABC’s World News Tonight, CBS Evening News, and NBC Nightly News wasted airtime by covering the Mega Millions lottery numbers (ABC), the anti-American women’s soccer team losing in the World Cup (CBS), and another update on an investigation into a plastic plant fire (NBC).
Fox covered it.
They noted the Pentagon’s statement on the matter.
“Tonight the Pentagon is responding to all of that damning testimony, writing in part that ‘The Department of Defense expresses our deepest condolences to the Gold Star Families who lost loved ones during the tragic bombing at Abbey Gate. We are forever grateful for their service, sacrifice, and committed efforts during the evacuation operation.’”
Before wrapping up and tossing back to [Bret] Baier, [Aishah] Hasnie savagely remarked that “you’ll notice the word ‘successful’ was notably left out of that statement.”
The Biden Pentagon is so “grateful” they can’t even give any accountability to the families. That’s how grateful they are. They should all resign, as Darin Hoover said. But that would take character, and there seems to be precious little of that in the Biden administration.
