Hegseth awards upgraded valor medals to three Abbey Gate Marines on fifth anniversary of deadly bombing
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth pinned upgraded valor awards on three Marines who held the line at Abbey Gate five years ago, and accused previous Pentagon leadership of burying their heroism for political convenience.
At a Pentagon ceremony marking the fifth anniversary of the deadliest single attack on U.S. forces during the Afghanistan withdrawal, Hegseth presented 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 V device, Fox News reported. The three are among seven Marines whose awards were upgraded after a War Department review found the original recommendations had been inappropriately downgraded.
The Aug. 26, 2021, suicide bombing at Abbey Gate in Kabul killed 13 U.S. service members and at least 170 Afghan civilians. The Pentagon identified the bomber as Abdul Rahman al-Logari, a member of Islamic State-Khorasan Province. It remains the single bloodiest moment of America's chaotic exit from a 20-year war, and for five years, the Marines who stood in the blast zone and dragged the wounded to safety waited for the recognition their commanders originally recommended.
Hegseth did not hold back about why the wait lasted so long.
"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. You see, a military that downplays its frontline heroes to avoid uncomfortable political truths only projects weakness."
Five years in the blast zone's shadow, three Marines finally get their due
Hegseth described the conditions the three Marines faced at Abbey Gate as "almost unfathomably unpredictable, difficult, and fraught with an unknown amount of risk, yet known at the same time, which is sort of the worst duality." They stood at an exposed checkpoint in Kabul with minimal cover, fully aware of an imminent suicide threat, because thousands of evacuees and fellow service members depended on them staying put.
When the bomb detonated, 13 of their comrades died. Rather than seeking cover, Eby, Gretzon, and Houston secured the perimeter, kept fellow Marines focused, and pulled the wounded to safety. Hegseth, who has been restructuring Pentagon senior ranks since taking office, framed the ceremony as part of a broader effort to restore what he called a "sacred trust" between the War Department and the warriors it sends into harm's way.
He told the audience that the nation's ability to deter adversaries depends on more than weapons, systems, or budgets.
"It starts with the sacred trust between the War Department and the warriors we send into harm's way."
The original award levels before the upgrade remain unclear. S1 and supporting sources do not specify what Eby, Gretzon, and Houston initially received, nor do they identify the other four Marines among the seven whose awards were also upgraded. What is clear is that a War Department review, conducted under Hegseth's leadership, concluded the original submissions had been deliberately lowered.
Hidden classified documents surface as Pentagon reopens Afghanistan withdrawal review
The ceremony carried a second, sharper edge. Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell announced that classified documents directly relevant to the Abbey Gate investigation had been recovered from safes where, he said, they had been deliberately concealed.
"Recently, my team recovered highly relevant classified documents, material that should have been disclosed, stashed and hidden away in safes where they would not be found."
The documents are tied to an ongoing Afghanistan Withdrawal Special Review Panel that Hegseth has said will produce a final report by the end of the year. That broader review goes well beyond the three Marines honored Wednesday, it aims to examine the full chain of decisions that led to the collapse of the Kabul evacuation. Hegseth has taken a series of aggressive steps to reshape the Pentagon since assuming his post, including launching a joint Pentagon-DOJ task force to prosecute leakers.
The Pentagon's original investigation of the Abbey Gate attack found no associated enemy small-arms fire after the blast, concluding that shots fired in the aftermath were warning shots from U.S. and coalition personnel. A 2024 supplemental review reaffirmed those findings. Hegseth's own remarks, however, described the three Marines as having pulled the wounded to safety "under direct fire", a characterization the existing investigations do not appear to support. Neither Hegseth nor the Pentagon addressed the discrepancy during the ceremony.
Hegseth calls the award downgrades a symptom of institutional weakness
Hegseth cast the original downgrading of the Marines' awards as more than a bureaucratic error. He described it as a deliberate choice by leaders who prioritized political comfort over honoring front-line courage, a pattern he has worked to reverse across multiple areas of Pentagon leadership. His tenure has included clashes with senior Army leadership and a broader push to reassert civilian control over military culture.
"Yet for half a decade, this building allowed bureaucratic caution or maybe politics to stand in the way of proper recognition. Today, on this milestone anniversary, we declare that those days are over."
He added a pointed warning aimed at the Pentagon's institutional culture:
"America's warriors will be fiercely supported, and our military's lethal edge will not be compromised by deskbound bureaucracy or lawyers in the cheap seats."
Hegseth described the Marines' conduct at Abbey Gate as "the very definition of the warrior spirit that we're reviving here," tying their individual valor to his broader campaign to reorient the Defense Department toward lethality and away from what he views as risk-averse institutional culture. He has faced his own share of scrutiny during that campaign, including questions about his use of encrypted messaging apps.
Trump marks the anniversary with a direct shot at Biden's withdrawal
President Trump marked the same anniversary with a Truth Social post honoring the 13 service members killed at Abbey Gate and placing blame squarely on the prior administration. The New York Post reported on the broader ceremony and Trump's remarks.
"This catastrophe was a result of Sleepy Joe Biden's totally botched Withdrawal from the Country, which left our wonderful Servicemen and women defenseless, and allowed the Taliban to free thousands of bloodthirsty terrorists and criminals held at Bagram Prison."
Trump called the Abbey Gate bombing "one of the greatest atrocities in the History of our Nation" and said it resulted from "the sheer incompetence of Joe Biden and the Democrats who were in charge." His framing aligned with Hegseth's broader argument at the ceremony, that the failures at Abbey Gate were not simply operational but reflected a leadership class unwilling to face hard truths or honor the people who bore the consequences.
The ceremony was aired live on Newsmax and the free Newsmax2 streaming platform. Hegseth closed his remarks with a line from the book of Proverbs, applied directly to the three Marines standing before him:
"The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are as bold as a lion."
Several open questions remain. The identities of the other four Marines whose awards were upgraded have not been disclosed. The original award levels remain unspecified. And the broader Afghanistan withdrawal review, with its newly recovered classified documents, has yet to produce its final report. Hegseth has said that report will arrive by year's end.
Five years is a long time to wait for a medal you earned in a blast zone. The Marines who held that gate deserved better from the building that sent them there, and the leaders who let paperwork bury their courage owe the country an explanation that goes well beyond a ceremony.