Commentary by Sanford D. Horn
August 28, 2024 (addendum included September 12, 2024)
In what started out as a mostly quiet, unobtrusive event to memorialize 13 fallen heroes of the American military, ended up as front page fodder due to the pettiness of one person - Vice President Kamala Harris. The 13 Gold Star families planned a simple, yet meaningful, wreath laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery on Monday August 26 to remember and celebrate their children’s lives lost at Abbey Gate during a suicide bombing.
The Gold Star families of the Afghanistan 13 invited former President Donald Trump to join them in honoring the memories of their sons and daughters who unceremoniously lost their lives on August 26, 2021 during the failed and chaotic withdrawal from Kabul. In an unprecedented evacuation, the Biden-Harris administration pulled the military troops from Afghanistan first, not last, as should be protocol. In fact, Harris doubled-down indicating only she and Biden remained in the room where the disastrous decision emerged, and still to this day continues to call it a “success.” The families of the 13 fallen troops most certainly know better.
This is the same Biden-Harris administration that saw Biden check his watch on occasion during the dignified transfer of the remains of the Afghanistan 13, and Harris failed to attend at all. Biden and Harris have done nothing but insult the memories of the fallen as well as their families, and yes, Harris made it political by condemning Trump for attending an event to which he was invited.
Say the names of the fallen:
Marines:
Sgt. Johanny Rosario Pichard, 25, Lawrence, MA
Sgt. Nicole L. Gee, 23, Sacramento, CA
Staff Sgt. Darin T. Hoover, 31, Salt Lake City, UT
Cpl. Hunter Lopez, 22, Indio, CA
Cpl. Daegan W. Page, 23, Omaha, NE
Cpl. Humberto A. Sanchez, 22, Logansport, IN
Lance Cpl. David L. Espinoza, 20, Rio Bravo, TX
Lance Cpl. Jared M. Schmitz, 20, St. Charles, MO
Lance Cpl. Rylee J. McCollum, 20, Jackson, WY
Lance Cpl. Dylan R. Merola, 20, Rancho Cucamonga, CA
Lance Cpl. Kareem M. Nikoui, 20, Norco, CA
Navy:
Navy Corpsman Maxton W. Soviak, 22, Berlin Heights, OH
Army:
Staff Sgt. Ryan C. Knauss, 23, Corryton, TN
“Let me be clear,” began Harris. “The former president disrespected sacred ground, all for the sake of a political stunt. If there is one thing on which we as Americans can all agree, it’s that our veterans, military families, and service members should be honored, never disparaged, and treated with nothing less than our highest respect and gratitude,” wrote Harris on X. Harris’s words ring hollow, as her deeds speak volumes. Harris has yet to meet with the Gold Star families. And quite frankly any attempt to do so would be disingenuous at best, insulting to be sure.
Naturally, Trump accepted the invitation offered by the Gold Star families, and spoke little, while spending as much time as the families wanted just listening to their memories of their children. Both Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg (Ret.) a former National Security adviser to former Vice President Mike Pence, and former Democrat Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, now a supporter of Trump, said the former president comported himself with dignity, respect, and reverence to the memories of the fallen as well as their families.
Another criticism levied by Harris indicated Trump turned the event into a photo session as people snapped photos and even filmed a video. Much ado about nothing as the photos and filming came at the behest of the families, and Trump appropriately acquiesced. Photos requested by grieving families trumps the rules or laws - no pun intended.
Asked about the video, Kelly Barnett, mother of Darin T. Hoover, responded, “we’re just so tired - we’ve been disrespected so much in the last three years - it’s been three years - no response from them [Biden-Harris, who were invited to the wreath laying]. No ‘I’m sorry,’ no ‘we stand with you,’ no ‘we know it was a mistake, we know it went down wrong, because we know mistakes happen in war.’ It was just important that we let Donald Trump know - because he’s been there for us. He’s been our rock. He’s been there for us to give us a little bit of peace, and carry that grief with us for a little while, and that’s what he did that day,” said Barnett.
“Absolutely hypocritical,” is how Jim McCollum, father of Lance Cpl. Rylee McCollum, described Harris’s comments toward Trump. “We invited President Trump to be there, the families that were in Arlington asked him to bring his filming crew to capture the moment. My understanding is that they didn’t want people on their phones. They wanted them to be in the moment, to be present. Trump was gracious enough to be there, for one, which I thought was an absolutely beautiful thing - it made me proud that he was there representing all 13 kids…. Much like the RNC, where our kid’s names were finally recognized, this was some recognition that we’d been longing for. It was absolutely beautiful for me to see, and in a blink of an eye, she [Harris] turned it political and into something it absolutely was not,” said McCollum.
On CNN Dana Bash called Afghanistan a “sore spot” for Biden and Harris. “A sore spot? They murdered my son,” said Alicia Lopez, mother of Cpl. Hunter Lopez. “They murdered the other 12. I don’t think that would be a sore spot. I think they have a lot of explaining to do and they’re choosing not to and they’re choosing to politicize something that was meant to be an experience between a former president and the families and honoring our children. Instead, she’s turning it into something to get the attention away from him,” said Lopez.
Asked what she would say to Harris, given the opportunity, Lopez said with a grin, “I probably can’t say those words on national TV. I don’t think she qualifies to be the Commander in Chief, so I would kindly ask her to step down and let President Trump be our Commander in Chief so that he can take care of our military,” said Lopez.
In a video presented on The Chris Salcedo Show on Newsmax on Monday, September 2, another parent weighed in about Harris’s comments. “This is Mark Schmitz, Gold Star father of Marine Lance Cpl. Jared Schmitz. The irony behind your post, that you give a rat’s ass about our military or our veterans - Jared’s brothers and sisters in arms - the rest of the 12… is an outright lie. We’re living proof of that. You’re despicable. You have zero business running this country. And I pray to G-d Americans wake the hell up and get your ass out of office. You have spit in our face for the last f-ing time,” said a still grieving Schmitz, and rightfully so.
On Tuesday, September 10, after three years and two weeks, official recognition of the Abbey Gate 13 came in the form of a ceremony posthumously issuing all 13 servicemen and women the Congressional Gold Medal, as voted unanimously by Congress. Along with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Congressional Gold Medal is the highest civilian award. This recognition, obviously long overdue, helped the surviving family members take one step toward closure, something unlikely to ever be achieved by the families of the fallen.
The Abbey Gate families, and the families of all the fallen during the Afghanistan War deserve that, and so much more. They, and the nation, deserve a Commander in Chief that will lead via peace through strength so as to not require sending American troops into harm’s way in foreign wars. After 20 years, Afghanistan is once again under the tyrannical thumb of the Taliban, due in part to the fecklessness of Biden and Harris. The rights of women and girls have once again been stripped away. Actress Meryl Streep said a “squirrel has more rights than Afghan girls.” Can’t argue with that, but what is arguable is why Streep supports Harris. This would not have happened under a Trump administration. After all, Kamala Harris supports the right of transgender women, actually biological males, to participate in female sports, while Donald Trump vehemently opposes this. Trump will end this insanity about bio-boys invading women’s spaces, restore order with the military, and give the homeless veterans the help they need and deserve, all on the way to Making America Great Again.
Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN.
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