Hegseth Upgrades Abbey Gate Marines' Valor Awards Five Years After Kabul Bombing

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth upgraded the valor awards of three Marines who risked everything during the Abbey Gate bombing at Kabul's airport, declaring on the attack's fifth anniversary that the era of downgraded heroism is over.

At a ceremony Wednesday in the Pentagon's Hall of Heroes, Hegseth presented upgraded Bronze Star Medals with "V" devices for valor to Gunnery Sgt. Jonathan Eby and Lance Cpl. Jordan Houston. Cpl. Michael Gretzon received the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal with a "V" device. The recognition came exactly five years after the Aug. 26, 2021, ISIS-K suicide bombing that killed 13 American service members and roughly 170 civilians during the chaotic U.S. evacuation from Afghanistan.

"For half a decade, this building allowed bureaucratic caution, or maybe politics, to stand in the way of proper recognition," Hegseth said. "Today, on this milestone anniversary, we declare that those days are over."

Heroes Who Held the Line at Abbey Gate

Each of the three Marines earned the upgraded honors through actions in the direct blast zone. Eby, then a staff sergeant, was screening evacuees from an exposed position when the suicide bomber struck. With his platoon commander and half his platoon wounded or killed, he took command, rallied the remaining Marines, reestablished security and helped evacuate the wounded. His award citation says his actions "undoubtedly saved the lives of many."

Houston was roughly 32 feet from the blast and knocked unconscious. He came to with shrapnel wounds but stayed in an exposed position to cover fellow Marines and deliver lifesaving treatment to the more seriously wounded. He concealed his injuries because he feared being pulled from the fight, later removing shrapnel from his own body before seeking medical care.

Gretzon was hit by shrapnel as well, suffering an arm wound severe enough that he applied his own tourniquet. After medics bandaged him, he immediately returned to his squad and kept working until his platoon sergeant personally ordered him to the casualty collection point.

Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Eric Smith paid tribute to their character. "I don't know where we find such men, but I'm not sure we deserve them," Smith said.

The Darkest Day of a Failed Withdrawal

The Abbey Gate bombing remains the deadliest single attack on U.S. forces in Afghanistan since 2011. The 13 Americans killed were Marines Staff Sgt. Darin T. Hoover, Sgt. Johanny Rosario Pichardo, Sgt. Nicole L. Gee, 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 and Lance Cpl. Kareem M. Nikoui; Navy Corpsman Maxton W. Soviak; and Army Staff Sgt. Ryan C. Knauss.

The attack unfolded as the Biden administration's withdrawal collapsed into chaos, with far too few American forces on the ground to manage the desperate crowds surging toward the airport. Gold Star families, lawmakers and veterans hammered the administration over the evacuation for years.

Correcting a Five-Year Injustice

Hegseth said the original award submissions were "inappropriately downgraded" by leadership in Washington.

"For too long, 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," he said. "A military that downplays its frontline heroes to avoid uncomfortable political truths only projects weakness. The world watches how we treat our heroes."

The ceremony's chaplain asked for continued comfort for the Gold Star families. "Today our hearts remain anchored to the memory of the 13 warriors who gave their last measure of devotion on August 26th of 2021," he said.

Accountability Still Rolling

The upgrades come as the War Department's Afghanistan Withdrawal Special Review Panel continues digging into the attack and the withdrawal. Panel chairman Sean Parnell said Wednesday that investigators recently recovered "highly relevant classified documents" that should have been disclosed long ago but were "stashed and hidden away in safes where they would not be found." After reviewing the material, Parnell said, "it became clear why someone tried to hide them."

President Trump has made honoring the fallen a priority since returning to the White House. He hosted the families of the 13 service members and helped facilitate the capture of Mohammad Sharifullah, the terrorist identified as being behind the Abbey Gate attack.

Five years later, the message from the Pentagon is unmistakable: the men and women who stood in the blast zone will no longer be forgotten, and the bureaucratic excuses that kept them from the recognition they earned are finished. The review panel's work suggests more answers, and more accountability, are still to come.