Trump Pentagon’s Abbey Gate review dwarfs prior probe, Gold Star father says
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Gold Star father Darin Hoover says the Pentagon’s new review of the deadly Abbey Gate bombing finally feels different, years after what the Biden administration described as “crickets”; but he still questions whether critical information is being deliberately withheld from military families and the public.
Hoover, his son, Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Darin “Taylor” Hoover, who was among the 13 U.S. soldiers killed in a suicide attack during the withdrawal from Afghanistan on Aug. 26, 2021, told Fox News Digital that families have received little more than a “canned” response for years.
“For the first three and a half years… we got nothing from the previous administration. Those were crickets,” Hoover said. “All we all received was a box of letters saying how sorry they were. Nothing was mentioned individually about any of the children.”
Former President Joe Biden checked his watch during the honorable transfer of U.S. soldiers missing at Abbey Gate, including 11 Marines, an Army soldier and a Navy sailor.
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Darin Hoover and Kelly Barnett are the parents of Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Taylor Hoover, speaking to a House committee, August 29, 2023, in Washington, D.C. (Fox News Digital’s Darin Hoover and Kelly Barnett)
The disappointment comes as the Pentagon said its Afghanistan Withdrawal Special Review Panel has completed the main phase of discussions with senior military and civilian leaders and is now preparing findings and recommendations for a final report expected “in the coming months.”
The panel reviewed more than nine million documents, according to Chairman Sean Parnell. By comparison, an earlier Pentagon review examined nearly 3,000 documents.
Parnell said the earlier review was “significantly narrow in scope” and “over-classified at the highest levels, effectively keeping the most critical and relevant information away from public scrutiny.”
It is precisely this opposition that Hoover demands answers to.
“3,000 pages…doesn’t even make a ripple,” Hoover said. “We now have over a million pages under review. Why was everything so secret that none of us could see it? They owe us the answers.”
THE FAMILIES OF OUR FALLEN HEROES DESERVE MORE THAN UPDATED SURVIVAL BENEFITS
Gold medals are displayed in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda before a ceremony honoring the 13 American soldiers killed in the Abbey Gate suicide attack at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Afghanistan on September 10, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
When asked directly whether he believed important information was being withheld, Hoover did not hesitate.
“Yes, information was definitely kept from us,” he said.
“This smells exactly like a cover-up,” he added. “What was it that they saw, or what did they feel needed to be hidden so no one would know what it was?”
A Pentagon spokesman told Fox News Digital a Statement from Parnell When requested for comment.
In that statement, Parnell said the panel was established by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth at the direction of President Donald Trump “to conduct the most comprehensive military after-action review in modern history.”
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A screen shows fallen American military members killed in the Abbey Gate suicide attack at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Afghanistan in August 2021. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo)
The panel included retired Gen. Mark Milley and retired Gen. Kenneth McKenzie Jr., among other senior officials. He said he met with key figures involved in the planning and execution of the withdrawal, including
“This will be the most comprehensive, transparent and honest account the American people have received about what happened in August 2021,” Parnell said. “Our goal is to identify failures in decision-making so we can prevent the United States from repeating this tragedy.”
If the new review fails, Hoover said, accountability must mean real consequences for those responsible.
“If they did something wrong or failed to take action, they should no longer be allowed to go to a place where life and death are at risk,” he said.
“I’d love to see pensions taken away… and I’d love to see people go to jail if possible,” he added.
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Families of American soldiers killed while withdrawing from Afghanistan in August 2021 listen as the fallen are posthumously presented with the Congressional Gold Medal on September 10, 2024. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo)
He also argued that the bombing revealed a broader system failure between civilian and military institutions.
“The right hand didn’t know what the left hand was doing,” Hoover said. “And it all stopped somewhere in the middle.”
“And our kids did the best they could with the tools they were given,” he added. “They did an outstanding job.”
Other official investigations have previously documented disruptions related to the withdrawal. A State Department review found failures in crisis planning and preparation for worst-case scenarios, while Milley later described the evacuation timeline as “too slow and too late.”
Hoover said what made this moment different was President Trump’s interaction with the families and Hegseth’s promise of a broader accounting.
“He spent 45 minutes with us … giving us his full attention,” Hoover said.
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He added that after years of silence, just getting involved is now important. Hoover noted that the trial of the ISIS-K affiliate accused of giving final approval to the bomber’s explosion will begin Monday in Alexandria, and some Abbey Gate families plan to attend.
“We’re coming up to Memorial Day,” Hoover said. “Please, please, please remember them. Honor them. Remember how we got here, why we came here, and live a life worthy of the sacrifices made.”
