Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Wednesday elevated the military honors of three Marines who were on the front lines at Kabul's Abbey Gate when a suicide bomber struck during the U.S. evacuation from Afghanistan five years ago.
At a Pentagon ceremony marking the anniversary of the August 26, 2021 attack, Hegseth presented Gunnery Sgt. Jonathan Eby and Lance Cpl. Jordan Houston with the Bronze Star Medal with a "V" device for valor, and Cpl. Michael Gretzon with the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal with a "V" device. The three Marines were providing security at the gate when the blast killed 13 U.S. service members and 170 Afghan civilians.
Hegseth praised the Marines for their courage under fire, saying they "stood in the direct blast zone with minimal cover, fully aware of an imminent suicide threat." He added, "Yet they stayed on that line because they knew that their brothers in arms and thousands of innocents depended on them."
The upgraded awards follow a recommendation from the Pentagon's Afghanistan Withdrawal Special Review Panel, which concluded earlier this year that the original decorations "did not reflect" the danger and heroism displayed at Abbey Gate. Hegseth had ordered a review of the chaotic withdrawal last year, and the Trump administration has repeatedly faulted former President Joe Biden for the deadly end to America's longest war.
Independent assessments have generally spread blame between Trump and Biden—Trump for negotiating a 2020 withdrawal agreement with the Taliban, and Biden for proceeding with the pullout, which triggered a collapse of Afghan forces and a rapid Taliban takeover.
Hegseth used the ceremony to criticize the previous administration, accusing it of letting "bureaucratic caution, or maybe politics, to stand in the way of proper recognition." He argued that "a military that downplays its frontline heroes to avoid uncomfortable political truths only projects weakness," and charged that "leadership in this capital city failed to match that frontline courage with administrative backbone, inappropriately downgrading the original award submissions that these men rightfully deserved."
Earlier Wednesday, chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell announced that a review had uncovered classified documents related to the Kabul attack, which he claimed were "stashed and hidden away in safes where they would not be found." Parnell, who chairs the Afghanistan Withdrawal Special Review Panel, declined to detail the contents but called them "highly relevant classified documents" and "material that should have been disclosed." He said the documents made clear "why someone would try to hide them," and vowed, "We are following the evidence to wherever it leads and to whoever it touches."
The developments come as Hegseth considers a new Army secretary spokesperson and as his $1.5 trillion defense request faces scrutiny from analysts who argue it undermines security. Meanwhile, the political fallout from the withdrawal continues to shape battleground races and broader debates over national security policy.
