Congress bestowed its highest honor Tuesday on the 13 American service members killed in a terror bombing at Kabul’s airport during the disastrous US withdrawal from Afghanistan three years ago.
Lawmakers gathered in the Capitol Rotunda with weeping families of the fallen heroes for the posthumous award ceremony — which came days after the release of a blistering House report on the US pullout.
“I know many of you have yet to hear these words, so I will say them — we are sorry. The United States government should have done everything to protect our troops,” House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said in a swipe at the Harris-Biden administration.
The 13 US service members who were killed during the terror attack at the Kabul airport during the withdrawal from Afghanistan were posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal on Sept. 10, 2024. WILL OLIVER/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
House Speaker Mike Johnson apologized to the families of the fallen troops. Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images“Those fallen and wounded at Abbey Gate deserved our best efforts,” he added, referring to the spot where the Americans were killed in the Aug. 26, 2021, ISIS-K suicide bombing at Hamid Karzai International Airport.
“The families who have been left to pick up the pieces continue to deserve transparency and appreciation,” Johnson went on.
The other three main congressional leaders — House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). — were on hand for the solemn event, as were Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) and Rep. Lisa McClain (R-Mich.), who helped introduce legislation to award the Gold Medals.
Some of the pols embraced the Gold Star family members who were presented with the Congressional Gold Medal, which has been awarded fewer than 200 times since 1776.
Congressional Gold Medals sit on display ahead of the ceremony for the 13 American service members killed by an ISIS-K suicide bomber. Getty Images
Jim McCollum, father of fallen Marine Lance Cpl. Rylee McCollum, receiving the medal for his son. AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite
Alicia Lopez (left), the mother of Cpl. Hunter Lopez, and Paula Knauss Selph (right), the mother of Army Staff Sgt. Ryan Christian Knauss, at the ceremony in the Capitol. Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty ImagesThe 13 fallen service members were Sgt. Johanny Rosario Pichardo, Sgt. Nicole L. Gee, Staff Sgt. Darin T. Hoover, Cpl. Hunter Lopez, Cpl. Daegan W. Page, Cpl. Humberto A. Sanchez, Lance Cpl. David L. Espinoza, Lance Cpl. Jared M. Schmitz, Lance Cpl. Rylee J. McCollum, Lance Cpl. Dylan R. Merola, Lance Cpl. Kareem M. Nikoui, Navy Corpsman Maxton W. Soviak and Staff Sgt. Ryan C. Knauss.
“A big part of us died with our children on August 26, 2021,” said an emotional Coral Doolittle, the mother of Sanchez. “We deeply appreciate the efforts of Congress and the speaker of the House for making this moment possible.”
“Thank you from all 13 families.”
Family members with the medals posthumously awarded to their loved ones. Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
The Congressional Gold Medal is the highest honor awarded by Congress. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty ImagesIn addition to the American service members, 168 Afghans were killed in the bombing as they tried to get on board evacuation flights out of the war-torn country.
The ceremony took place two days after the House Foreign Affairs Committee released a 345-page report on the fiasco that ended America’s 20-year war in Afghanistan.
The Republican-led panel blasted President Biden and his administration’s handling of the withdrawal, concluding that he was so intent on the pullout that he ignored contrary advice from military leaders, NATO allies and top Afghan officials. The committee’s findings accused the White House of prioritizing optics and failing to prepare for basic aspects of the bugout.
The ceremony was attended by House Speaker Mike Johnson, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and other members of Congress. REUTERS/Annabelle GordonJohnson, during Tuesday’s ceremony, assured the Gold Star family members that “you are not alone in shouldering the burdens from that day” and stressed that “we can never fully measure your loss.”
Jefferies said the fallen service members “represent the best of America” and had served with “tremendous valor.”
“No honor can truly repay the incredible sacrifice made by our fallen,” the House minority leader said, while Daines told the audience: “It was their duty to serve. It is our duty to remember.”
Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell highlighted the personal qualities and ambitions of the 13 fallen heroes. Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty ImagesMcConnell went through the names of the fallen one by one to recount their personal stories and their service to their country.
Schumer took note of how some of the victims “were even younger than the war in Afghanistan itself.”
“It now falls on us — to all of us gathered here under the dome of Lady Liberty — to ensure the sacrifices of all our service members were not in vain,” Schumer stressed.
Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer underscores the obligation to ensure the dead service members’ sacrifice wasn’t in vain. REUTERS/Annabelle Gordon“We must care for them and their families and defend the values of freedom and democracy they so nobly fought for.”
About 2,500 US service members were killed and more than 20,000 were wounded during the US-led war in Afghanistan.
The Congressional Gold Medal ceremony took place just one day before America marks the 23rd anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks that killed almost 3,000 in New York City, northern Virginia and Shanksville, Pa.
