Gold Star families give first-ever testimony on Afghanistan withdrawal

foreign again I uh I want to thank the the Mayors and our Assembly women who are here today let me make it clear we're not here to make speeches this will be the last other than short closing remarks that I make we're here to hear from you it's a free form it's sort of like when they come and they testify in Congress it's not about q a it's about what you want to tell us and so uh I do I do have a an order that that people believe we should go in but I'm I'm not going to do that I'm going to say that each of you get up when you're comfortable come say what you want to say if you think of something after you sit back down and you need to get back up again please feel free to this is your day this is about what you know that the world doesn't know and I would ask that you uh you you take this opportunity to make it public this is being simulcast and it will be recorded and as a result it will be part of the official record of the Congress and hopefully something that you're you're you're the great grandchildren will all have to uh to remember their loved ones by so with that who wants to be first okay thank you I want to get mine done so I can listen to everybody else's and be able to listen um good morning everyone thank you for being here um Congressman Isa thank you and thank you to your team they're wonderful and thank you all for being here um I am Kelly Barnett staff sergeant Darren Taylor Hoover's mom he goes by Taylor um thank you California for for having us um I know you you have your political issues but I love California um California to me is my son he he served for 11 years he was in California for 11 years I was out here as much as I could I I love it here not just because of the food but I love it here and I'm I thank you for giving us this voice and letting us kick this off um we haven't had one and we got one so thank you um Taylor and I had have this thing where we watched we watched a lot of movies we we love to to do movie quotes So you're going to hear a lot of those and if and if you know the movie then we can be friends so um and I quote uh um it was mine first but he kind of took it over it's uh fear causes hesitation and hesitation will cause your worst fears to come true um my worst fear has come true and I have been hesitant about speaking out and I'm not doing that anymore so every opportunity I can you're going to see this this mug but it's for my son I'm gonna be brave and and tell you about my kid he's a amazing kid and I want you to know that I I'm not a victim we're not victims we're parents to some mighty heroes I want you to know that okay um Taylor is my my firstborn my my only son he's the first Grand grandson birth grandkid on both sides hero to our whole family there's I have seven siblings and we have between us like 30 kids so there's a lot of us and um he's the hero he's the oldest he's the hero the light in the room um The Protector the one everyone always went to for advice or for a funny story or to hear a funny story um uh Taylor had this amazing ability um to when someone needed him or when someone was speaking with him he would the rest of the world would fade and he would give that person his whole attention his whole um you know everything possible to make sure that person knew that they were important and that they they counted I wish I had that ability um I I really do what a cool dude he definitely was um the Marine Corps was always his goal since he was little six years old and up that's that's all he talked about sorry Congressman no army men he only played with Marines um that's right he went to boot camp September 13 2010 and we had this talk I told him you know you made this choice this is going to be hard um you're going to do it you're going to do it 100 10 and I don't want to hear any I said some other words but I don't want to hear any griping about it I said if they beat you down in boot camp you just you just pretend like I'm looking over you telling you to get up and again some Choice words um I said I'd rather them them beat you down there than something else happened to you somewhere else where someone else tried to beat you down um and that was always a thing between us he would always tell his friends and it was just a a thing he said it helped him through boot camp and SOI and his his first deployment so um boot camp SOI um he deployed five times three of them to Afghanistan his first deployment he had uh I don't know if it was a pleasure but he had the opportunity to be with some of the the last of the the real war horses over there they were his you know his Sergeant um and he he became such an awesome man an awesome machine um such a good person and that's where he he learned his leadership skills and basically his life skills um I'm so thankful to those people and to the Marine Corps for what they did for my son he always took care of his business he took care of his family he took care of his friends he took care of his men he uh like all of us he had he experienced a few years back some very traumatic things in his life tested him and he decided that it wasn't going to beat him and he didn't let it beat him he kind of enacted his his motto movement his life to him that meant you keep going you keep pushing you fall down 10 times you get up 100 times you keep going um and he did he came out wiser stronger completely focused on what life really meant and what he wanted to do in the Marine Corps he loved his family he loved his friends he loved his animals his two dogs Aries and Bella um and he loved his men he didn't have any women that served under him so that's why I say he loved his men um with a deep passion um gearing up for this deployment he he would call me every morning on his way to to Pendleton and he would tell me you know Mom I'm frustrated I'm worried I don't know if I'm getting getting through to these guys I don't know if they're going to be ready there I don't know if they're going to be prepared um you know they're doing this or that you ask me later if you want to hear some funny stories about what they were doing there's some sad ones but there's some really funny ones too um but he would uh you know you know ask me Mom you know what do I do so we'd pray together you know I'd tell him to keep pushing you know keep going and he did he would pray and he would ask his old war horses you know for advice you know put their advice into play um and uh you know this went on for a few weeks and he he called me one morning and he was just in the best mood and he told me Mom you know they're doing so good they got it I'm so proud of them he's like you know don't worry about me you know we these guys I got total confidence and then we're going to be great um and uh he celebrated in their victories he wanted them to be as good or better than him and all of his skills and all of his abilities that he taught them and when they exhaled that's how he he celebrated in that um he he was a true leader we you know I I know that from the time he was born he always LED but he led by his heart and his knowledge he never led by his title ever that never went to his head he didn't like the titles but he always always always gave his whole heart to everything that he did like I said he was deployed five times his first two deployments were to Afghanistan I'm back in the muck when that was going on his last one of course was in August of 2021 I thought this was you know going to be a piece of cake deployment compared to those where I prayed every day you know numerous times for his safety I got complacent and uh that was that wasn't the case um and I and I beat myself up every day for that but I do know that he was prepared and what happened happened for a reason unfortunate but I know that he was where he was for a reason um on this deployment he hits his platoon 28 of them were chosen to for a special mission to be on a ship the Lewis B puller which is funny because that's one of the his nicknames was chesty because he was so motivated um he had a few others tactical Taylor and the hoove dog they caught him all kinds of things but he was on the ship there was 139 people on that ship it was a special Mission it was at the Strait of Hormuz and I ran so you know what was going on over there at the time you can that's it's going on still but he was on that mission from May till the end of July there's 28 Marines in like I said 139 people total 28 Marines for their security and the rest were Sailors and people from one of the three letter agencies starts with the c um and uh um end of July they left um the ship and went back to join the rest of 2-1 and then he left for Afghanistan August 15 August 16th um I served time on Afghan soil his concern began the moment that he landed and saw what he saw his words were chaos no communication lack of leadership um he said he never seen anything like it and like I said he was in Afghanistan two times before he told me Mom I I now know that the com the command cares nothing for us my son these 12 others left this Earth thinking that their command cared nothing for them the wounded bill that clear command felt nothing for them the survivors felt that their command felt nothing for them I feel this as well after seeing their friends die picking them up off the ground sending them off him being told to destroy everything at that airport they were told you got to clean up the airport we can't leave it dirty for the Taliban they had to clean up the airport what kind of disrespect what kind of hatred for our military what kind of miss confusion deceit lost angry sad heartbroken and disgusted these are the feelings that the surface members felt and are still feeling these are the feelings I'm feeling Taylor's Dad's feeling his sisters his family his friends we were to tell lies give an incomplete reports incorrect reports total disrespect there were gunshots all I wanted to know where my kid was where he fell how long did he last did he fight I was told to my face he died on impact that's not true the only reason that I know this is because Witnesses told me the truth I was lied to and basically told to shut up that that's the way it was not true he lived for a little while but not on impact he was giving out his ammo tourniquet around his leg I don't understand the reasoning for that lie it makes no sense other than the fact that did they really even do an investigation did they talk to Witnesses I don't know please don't be distracted by the mess that you're seeing on TV aliens who cares are they real I don't know if they are I got some people I got a list of people please take them um please psycho um I can read that list to you now Biden the Biden Administration blinken Millie Austin Whited ball unfortunately there's more that's just the ones that I'm focused on at this moment incompetent cowards evil some are a few of those some are all of those I want Justice I want accountability why would I just not say oh we we made a mistake our plan was wrong I'm so sorry you know that would have been that would have been something you know I understand Wars war is hell I understand that but no we didn't get that staff sergeant Taylor Hoover staff sergeant Ryan Christian canaus Sergeant Nicolo G Sergeant johanni Rosario bacardo Corporal Humberto Sanchez torpo Hunter Lopez Corporal William Deegan page Lance corporal David Lee Espinosa Les Corporal Riley J McCollum Lance corporal Dylan r morola Lance corporal Kareem m nakui Lance corporal Jared M Schmitz Corman Maxton w soviak they deserve justice [Applause] good morning to all of you I first want to start by saying thank you and acknowledging Congressman Isa and the rest of his staff and the various Mayors sitting here on the on the stand but most of all I want to I want to thank all of you for being here to listen to the hurt the anger anger the anguish that we feel for our children my name is Darren Hoover I'm the father of Marine Corps staff sergeant Darren Taylor Hoover I'm his dad but not the same as we have different middle names he's a man unto himself a self-made man that left a hole in our families when he was taken from us by terrorists he's left behind some pretty big shoes to fill and if I'm being honest with you and with myself they will never be filled not for lack of trying as we we strive every day to do but that's the measure of the man he is and that he was raised to be we miss him immensely and time will never heal that wound Kelly and I were blessed with Taylor and as his parents like all other parents were given the sacred responsibility protect and provide for his well-being we were tasked with also teaching him about life now he's taught us so much more than we ever did with him we raised him to know right from wrong we raised him to be a patriot and to love this country that we are blessed to call home we raised him to help others as they needed it or saw the need to do so even if it seemed insignificant at the time we never know the hearts that we're able to touch with just a kind word or a helping hand up Taylor is the poster child for being a loving and caring human and took that responsibility to a whole other level this compassionate and caring man was always looking out for others but especially his Marines if someone came to him and asked him a question of what question of him that he didn't know he would research the answer so that he could give the correct information back and also expected that from his Marines this compassionate caring was put to paper by his Lieutenant at the time of his death Lieutenant Byrd and is as follows it's called the grown ass man what is my number one rule Taylor would ask this question to his Marines at least once a week and you could always count on it being asked on a Friday afternoon before the Marines were released for the weekend and always without fail Taylor would point to one of the Marines in the formation and he would answer back be a grown ass man staff sergeant Taylor would reply exactly and with that the Marines would go on and enjoy their weekend it was part of our weekly rituals that we had and this was always the last thing the guys were told before we left for the weekend or the week back on a Friday in February we had a whole group of young marines who had just joined our platoon a few days earlier all of them were 18 or 19 year olds on a just graduated high school approximately eight years eight months before that when it came time for Taylor to ask his weekly question he pointed to one of our brand new Marines and said as he did every Friday what's my number one rule lo and behold this poor young kid did not know the answer as this was his first Friday with the platoon and as you can imagine uh I don't know staff sergeant and this kid said this in a voice that was barely Audible and full of fear as he looked down at the ground at this point everybody in the platoon is silent and no one is really sure what is about to happen even the more senior Marines had a look of hesitation on their faces you could see him see them trying to calculate what Taylor was going to do next this was the first time this had ever happened and I myself was pretty curious to see how this was going to turn out well you know what today's your lucky day said Taylor we're going to give you the answer to this hey Sergeant tree can you tell this young Marine what my number one rule is your number one rule is to be a grown ass man staff sergeant said Sergeant Tree in a loud booming voice so that everyone especially the new Junior Marines could be sure to hear exactly now I'll tell you what I'll give you another chance said Taylor to the now clearly flustered young Marine what do you think I mean by that and once again in the most quiet voice that a human could possibly admit this poor young kid goes I don't know staff sergeant I figured that said Taylor so let me tell you being a grown ass man means that you will always look out for the Marines that you see around you because they will always look out for you if you see someone needs help go over and ask them what you can do to help them if you need help with anything you need to be mature enough to ask for help being a grown ass man means that if you make a mistake that you will own up to it and then work to correct it it means that if you have to think twice about doing something then you probably shouldn't do it if you make a mistake it's okay because no one is perfect we will still stand by you and support you but a grown ass man learns from his mistakes but understand this you as a grown-ass man need to understand that there is no such thing as a mistake when it comes to morality you are well aware of what things like lying or stealing are that are wrong and those in fact are not mistakes those are conscious decisions that you as a grown-ass man are not allowed to make does that make sense it does staff sergeant said this young Marine though not in a quivering whisper as he'd been speaking but in a tone that was filled with confidence and respect Taylor was the big brother and the father figured that so many young marines never had a lot of them had come to us from broken homes or been raised by their grandmothers or other family members it wasn't that they hadn't been taught what was right from wrong it was that some of them had just never had a father figure that truly cared for them Taylor was exactly that person there was never a time when he was not acting in a way that should not be emulated he would never hesitate to pull a marine regardless of rank and pulled into the side and ask him how things were going if he had the slightest inclination that there was something bothering him there are so many young men that Taylor took the time to Mentor to coach to listen to when he saw that they were going through something or just needed someone to confide in and I can see with the fullest confidence that there are countless young men who have become not just better Marines but better fathers husbands sons and friends because of the influence that he had on them the loss of Taylor is a void that simply cannot be filled I want to ensure everyone that Taylor will forever live on and that his impact will live on through those that he considered his brothers when new Marines check in they will hear the stories not on just his heroic actions but they will they will come to embody the values that he stood for and just like those he directly LED they will as well go on to better men because of it now as I said in the beginning that his mother and I took the responsibility for Taylor's safety and his well-being and in that day in September we transferred that responsibility to the Marine Corps the Department of Defense and the others in the various Administration since he joined the Marine Corps 11 years before his death the most recent Administration Department of Defense in the Marine Corps did not uphold their end of that contract I know there are those that will say that Taylor and his brothers in arms signed on the dotted line I knew the consequences that could occur as we have been at War for 20 years and they would be correct but this didn't need to happen in the manner that it did and for those who would power over our military know that they made a conscious decision that led to the chaotic and frantic withdrawal from Afghanistan for the Secretary of Defense General Austin the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General milley to say that they're satisfied with the withdrawal of our troops is nothing short of disgusting and ignorant retired Marine Corps General McKenzie can be included in this as well as these were his Marines and he should have known better with all of these generals having approximately 90 years of experience combined and to come up with the plan that they attempted to carry out is Despicable and to say to Congress that they thought it was a good withdrawal are sorely sorely mistaken then to have individuals like John Kirby come in and say that he did not see from the chaos from his perch is both tone deaf and ignorant we've all seen the pictures in the videos as he was speaking now to the Secretary of State our kids were not trained extensively on what to look for when looking for the green cards the passports and the other pieces of paper that were needed to get out of that country and to assist our Americans that were there our allies the Afghans which just wanted to get out and a new life out from under the Taliban rule to have the ambassador to Afghanistan changed out Midway through all of this should be a huge red flag why was that done because the prior Ambassador was not on board with the decisions being made and the way it was being handled if that's the case then something needs to be done in closing I'm calling out secretary blinken secretary Austin General milley General McKenzie Lieutenant Colonel Whited who could not give the order to the snipers to take out the bomber before he detonated his vest and ultimately the president do what our son did be a grown-ass man admit your mistakes learn from them so that this doesn't happen ever ever again you all need to resign immediately our sons and daughters have more Integrity in their little toes then every one of them combined you owe it to our families here today to the other Gold and Silver Star families that have gone before and most of all to the veterans who have given so much for this country so that we have the freedoms that we enjoy today thank you thank you [Applause] Christy you want to go next good morning my name is Christy shamblin and I'm proud to be Nicole Sergeant Nicole G's mom-in-law her Becky her mama Becky Herrera would be here today but she unfortunately passed before Nicole and I like to think that she was waiting for her in heaven I'm not a speaker and this is not my comfort zone so please be patient with me I'd like to thank Congressman Isa and you all for being here today it's really important and it means so very much to us thank you as I thought about what I could say today I thought of Nicole in the bright light that she brought to our lives she was known for being a positive and encouraging person to so many people in her life as she was ambitious driven caring she was a badass Marine that's right [Applause] one of my favorite memories of Nicole includes the picture that was taken of her just days before her murder in Afghanistan she's holding an infant and she posted with that I love my job she's in the middle of the most horrific conditions I've ever witnessed in my life and she's proudly serving her country and loving her job doing 100 percent she held nothing back strive to be the best she could and she encouraged everybody in her life to do the same in their own way my son was an active duty Marine at the time of her death also they were a marine couple stationed at Lejeune Lejeune in North Carolina I'm very proud of my son as God has seen fit sometimes in my life he put us together on the day he was notified and we left the next day to Dover Air Force Base for what I now know is called a dignified transfer I can't even begin to piece together the words if it would convey to you the devastation that her murder has brought to our family when your child is murdered you feel like there is no justice and you question your very existence I'm happy to tell you that success with the support of the Marine Corps and mental health professionals does come in small doses and you gain small footings every day to make a new chapter in your life we're grateful so very grateful for people like yourselves and the Americans who want to hear our children's stories because we don't get to make new memories with our children all we have is their mem their you know our memories all we have is the stories that we get to share with you guys we're grateful for the support of people like Congressman Isa and several other congressmen who have been taking us and really allowing us to have our voices heard and to make it better for both our active duty service members our veterans and the next families that will have to welcome their children home in a casket draped with a flag it will happen again it is the cost of the greatest country on Earth and it's the cost of our freedoms and I we want to make sure that while we can't bring our children back the next ones will be treated with more respect the respect that they earned by dying for our country helping for a positive change is the silver lining for our family when our leaders including the Secretary of Defense and our commander-in-chief call this evacuation a success as if there should be celebration it is like a knife in the heart for our families and for the people who came back and for every service member that served over this 20-year War I live every single day knowing that these deaths were preventable my daughter could be with us today and that wasn't just one decision it was many decisions many times over it could have been stopped so to call it a success is an ultimate disrespect for the very people that deserve every ounce of respect that we can give them that day there were 13 avoidable deaths of our service members 30 plus critically wounded Wounded Warriors who have our hearts these young men and women came back bigger Patriots than they left I don't know how that's possible and I admire them from the bottom of my heart we left thousands thousands of allies behind billions of dollars in resources for them to use against us this was not a success and doing the same thing and expecting different results is the definition of insanity what we're asking for is to stop the insanity and make it better for the next group thank you [Applause] hello I'm completely out of my wheelhouse and uh that's my son right there between the American flag and the marine flag his name was Kareem em nakui [Music] um I just got this I don't know how to work it there we go um okay I would like to uh thank God our creator I want to thank Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit and father God may you see fit to bless our country so we may honor and glorify your name I'd also like to thank Congressman Isa for listening to our story for leading this charge we are all deeply thankful to you and your staff and to the city of Escondido one of President Donald J Trump's campaign promises was the end war in Afghanistan I think he recognized as he saw the corruptness of the Afghan government and the Afghan National Security Forces Colonel Christopher kolenda said quote I was disgusted disgusted knowing that the Afghan military commanders were creating ghost soldiers so they could take their pay that they were selling their soldiers food Fuel and ammunition on the black market as part of the kleptocracy that had become the Afghan government end quote I'm sure that president that the president could see that the public government would not be able to assure the one thing that he wanted American soldiers to stop being killed so he negotiated with the Taliban the Doha agreement which was categorized as a good deal by Colonel krimrich and for 18 months there were no American casualties in the house of Foreign Affairs subtle Community Congressman Crowe asked of Colonel colinda if after that agreement was signed did the Taliban stop attacking U.S soldiers in which he replied yes Congressman Isa asked Colonel kermage if he saw the actions in the last nine months of the Trump Administration as having any cause to the loss of the 13 soldiers lives in which crimmage stated not during the Trump Administration and there was ample time in the Biden Administration to change the course that led to the August 26 attack when Congressman Crowe asked Colonel Seth kermage if the U.S forces had not left in August of 2021 would the Taliban had resumed combat operations against the U.S soldiers he said and I quote I believe that if we had not pulled out by that date they would have had a hard time once the winter started to be able to actually execute that which would have given the Afghan government the time and the space to get their feet set to fight back end quote crimich also spoke of the three strategic objectives laid out by The Binding Administration in which he said we were not successful and the senior decision makers had selective intelligence blindness and that administrations controlled how we withdrew and when we withdrew Congressman McCall stated quote I was there we were there for the briefings from state from DOD and from the IC and for months President Biden ignored warning from his own generals and his own intelligence community and by bipartisan members of Congress about what happened on the ground end quote he classified the president as having quote a blind eye and during the first two months of President Biden's Administration he was too busy reversing as many Trump policies as he could that he neglected to meet the April deadline on April 14th President Biden came out and said that he has negotiated an extension and that he was ending the 20-year war in Afghanistan to compete completed by September 11th and as he pointed out and as pointed out by Congressman Mass Jen saki stated quote the president is the ultimate decision maker that he was a decision maker who chose to draw the date of September 11th he was the decision maker who pulled out the people with the guns out before the people with the guns before the people at the gun before the people without the guns the decision maker who collapsed the Opera operations to H Kaya airport it was Joe Biden the ultimate decision maker and that none of these decisions were in the Doha agreement end quote Congressman Walt asked Kermit did President Biden ignore the advice of three four-star Generals in which he replied yes well of course he did there are interviews in which he prided himself on being tough with generals and that Afghanistan had a diplomatic solution not a military solution and this explains why the state chose hki instead of Bagram Bagram excuse me that is why they they left only 113 men Colonel sergeant major said quote the defensibility of Bagram Bagram was exponentially greater end quote and that 2 000 soldiers can completely man Bogan and 2500 soldiers were left in country and president Trump left office he understood that some of the embassy felt that the Taliban would not advance and that a Neo would not be necessary June 14th he was given the order to close Bagram by July 4th 2021. H Kyle was to remain open as a quick reaction force to the Embassy which was four miles away all talks of conducting a Neo ceased which was against the law Colonel Sergeant Major Smith said that he closed Bagram on July 2nd and the Taliban controlled 50 percent of Afghanistan with the 113 American soldiers left in country from 10th Mountain division Congressman Waltz also stated that not a single official has resigned been relieved been court-martialed or even laterally transpired transferred my life and that of my family's um has been on pause since the early morning of August 26 2021 the difference between the minutes of my life before that day and the minutes that passed after that day are contrasted drastically the smells of the season a certain song an image a picture brings back the image and the images and the feelings the pain and anxiety and anxiety the thing that upsets me most is that he exploded the most precious thing that a child learns from his parent trust cream enlisted and stood on that wall because he Associated his government in the likeness of his parents and the protection and love he witnessed growing up he Associated and compared to his government my son needed a commander-in-chief who cared solely about his life a commander-in-chief who when sent a picture to the Taliban leaders whose Taliban Leader's house and asked him why do you send me a picture of my house replied you have to figure that out Abdul instead his commander-in-chief chose to use him as a pawn so we could meet his September 11th Deadlight and get the Optics he wanted and never honor my son or his brothers and sisters for their sacrifice for his picture there was something I'd like to do with Kareem um when he would leave to go sorry when he would leave to go back to Camp Pendleton he would tell me goodbye I love you I would be on the other end of the house far away and I would wait to hear the uh The Door Creek because of the hinge the front door and as soon as I heard that I would yell as loud as I could his name green and this was the pay homage to every father-son movie ever made you know I would yell and in his little voice and I'd be like avenge me you know and I would come and look at him and he'd have the biggest smile and now all I hear is him and it's soft avenge me thank you thank you [Applause] good morning my name is Cheryl Rex I am the mother of Lance corporal Dylan morole I want to thank Congressman Isa and all the dignitaries that are present today so that I may have this opportunity to speak publicly for the first time since the botched and chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan which took the life of my son and 12 other service members 170 Afghan civilians and left hundreds wounded I am seeking answers to my many questions that have gone gone unanswered since August 26 2021. Dylan was on his first appointment to Jordan when the withdrawal from Afghanistan began that quickly turned into an evacuation of our Afghan allies and civilians when he and his Battalion were then redirected to Estes in this process my son was only 20 years old it begins with the moment when I saw two uniform Marines awaiting my arrival to inform me that my son had been identified as one of the 13 service members that had been killed at Abbey gate during Operation Freedom Sentinel also known as operation enduring freedom I was told to pack an overnight bag and be ready to go to Delaware for a dignified transfer to receive my son's body myself and the other families are 13 were waiting for the plain arrival to the United States when Joe Biden our elected president entered the room when he approached me his words to me were my my wife Jill and I know how you feel we lost our son as well and brought him home in a fog-draped coffin my heart started beating faster and I started shaking knowing that their son died from cancer and they were able to be by his side also wondering how someone could honestly sorry be so heartless to say he knew how I felt a little over 24 hours and learning of my son's death after this encounter I have never had any personal correspondence nor has my son been honored or his name spoken by this commander-in-chief or his administration on what I feel is because of their failures and poor planning to exit our troops from Afghanistan a return home and the following days I started to receive phone calls from Dylan's commanding officers which leads me to a conversation I had stated I had that stated ma'am we decided to hold Abigail open for just one more hour in hopes to save a few more lives knowing that the imminent attack was approaching the gate that statement is ingrained inside my brain knowing that they had closed the gate my son would be alive today I have wondered who gave that order to hold that gate open for one more hour and for whom within the following weeks Dylan's Battalion began returning to Camp Pendleton is when Marines have the opportunity to reach out to the families I was very fortunate that I lived close enough to the base that several of the Marines came to visit me and began telling me their stories every story being told coincided that Abigail was ambushed and was a complex attack not just a single suicide bombing which was being reported on news outlets I had spent the first couple of weeks wondering if my son's remains were not going to be intact to learning that my son had suffered injuries and had been medically traded with his and his body was viewable whatever ounce of comfort that may have brought me I knew I would be able to see my son one last time I laid down Dylan to rest witnessing thousands of people from across our country offering their condolences and support and again nothing was brought forth from anyone in our current Administration the anger I held inside on how are 13 kids were not being recognized nationally was becoming prominent how could so many people pay their respects but nothing at all from the president of the United States on something he had conducted my social media account started receiving little to no attention and my son's name seemed to be slowly not being recognized I knew then that I was being targeted and shut down publicly by media Outlets I could hardly search anything that had to do with Afghanistan went just a month ago our situation was everywhere How could a worldwide event quoted the largest evacuation in American history just disappeared when failures are made those who are involved in those failures want it to be forgotten and that's what I felt was happening by our current leadership those Marines who had poured their hearts out to me and had been by my side grieving over their experiences their stories were beginning to change I knew they were being told they couldn't speak about their experiences any longer on January 19 2022 a colonel in his Jag briefed me on the after action report of what was supposed to be the truth and facts of what happened at Abigail during this brief it was explained to me where my son's location had been during the time of the attack and also his wounds in accordance with his autopsy report that is when I personally confirmed to myself that everything even the way my son died was being covered up I was being given false information while this colonel was describing Dylan's wounds he was describing the report as intended towards a right-handed person my son's personal trait was like he was left-handed so when I questioned How Could my son obtain wounds on the opposite side of his body that he was illustrating he couldn't respond leading the conversation to The Jock to change the subject they continued into showing me Drone footage that ultimately they claimed had a three-minute unexplainable lapse this Colonel told me ma'am you wouldn't want to see it anyways I had already seen my son's lifeless body and laid him to rest who was this colonel to make a decision what I was capable of watching Afghanistan was no longer being spoken about and nothing seemed to be available anymore while I was continuing my search for answers I was starting to feel defeated as to not being able to find anything I felt I needed to find some kind of proof that would show that these people these marines were not lying about their stories and possibly bring some acknowledgment back into the public eye days turned into weeks weeks turned into a couple of months as the one-year Mark approached I knew in my heart that my son and I are 13 we're not going to be honored or spoken more than just a small new community that we were circulating in but in my head I kept thinking Maybe just maybe their names would be spoken on national TV or even just anything to honor their sacrifices and people would remember them as a mother of two marines I hold a different perspective of Honor it wouldn't have taken much effort to say their names and hold a moment of silence on this date I wasn't surprised one bit when nothing was said for them everybody every day I had just hoped and prayed that people wouldn't forget this withdrawal being that U.S troops had spent the past 20 years defending and protecting the Afghan civilians I was fighting an endless battle without being heard from zero honor or respect from our current Administration being publicly removed to lies and cover-ups over facts and truths that were that sorry that there was Zero accountability and no real evidence provided or at any on it or any honest information was being given to me months following a couple of Veteran Marines contacted me asking if I knew about the upcoming Congressional hearings that would start to take place I started to think is this true maybe we can we are able to start getting answers to some of my questions on my son's death I am extremely grateful to those Marines telling their stories which have all been everything I had been told from the very beginning I feel with our combined efforts and our commitment to exposing what was really happening in Afghanistan Maybe I can finally get some truths about my son's death and the American people would see the failures that actually occurred I feel I deserve real answers real truths real facts and someone to be accountable for the failures that occurred that took my son's life I am here now with those hopes with those same hopes that you are willing to stand by my side and help me get those truths and answers I've been looking for for almost two years the impact of tragedy is painful the impact of losing your child in a manner that have that could have been prevented and led people who seem to not have any sympathy for human lives is anger frustration disappointment mental stress physical pain and more than just a broken heart that cannot be fixed I hope one day as a mother I can understand why my son was chosen to leave this earth behind every heart is a hero behind every hero is a story behind every story reveals what they endured for you for me and for all mankind thank you for allowing me to share just a glimpse of what I have been holding inside my heart since that date of August 26 2021 as the day I lost my son Lance corporal Dylan marula because Legends live forever and their stories will always be told [Applause] okay my gosh I'm shaking already sorry um good morning everyone I'm gonna thank congressman and all of you guys for being here for open this place for us to talk and express ourselves and our broken hearts to you and to our community my name is corroborciano I am the mother or Corporal Berto Sanchez right there I always call him my green eye boy where Hispanics Mexicans but he has green eyes don't ask me where because I don't know they said it was my grandma I didn't meet my grandma so um funny story my green eye boy ah let's just start 711 days ago since I received a knock on my door in the middle of the night 711 days of a broken heart trying to glue my family together learning how to survive our new lives first we start minute by minute then we learn how to live day by day then month by month and I'm gonna tell you something it hasn't been easy we struggle a lot all this time I ask myself what if I didn't sign those papers to let him go at the age of 17. why I did not hug him longer the last day I saw him the last time I spoke with him was on the phone and August 23rd I was fighting whatever fighting for him to help and save more innocent women and children why instead of pushing him to help save or let people I did not tell him that I love him and I was so proud of him why did I didn't make sure he knows how much I love him the truth is I raise a loving protector and caring human being the kind of person that will give his life for the ones he loved and that that is something that I am really proud of my son loved this country as much as he loved his family I expected the government to love my son as much as I do to protect them just like I protect him for the first 17 years of his life unfortunately that didn't happen they failed to protect najus my son but 12 of his brothers and sisters that day they failed to protect countless Afghans who died that day too the commander-in-chief fail on the old he took when he entered this country's executive system to protect our country from foreign and domestic enemies he felt everybody everyone everyone asked me what can I do what can I do for your family every single person that they end over every single people that I don't even remember faces they're like what can we do for you here's my car here's my number tell me what you want me to do I never have an answer for that but today I can tell you I want answers I want the truth I want to go to sleep knowing my son did not they know died on vain I want to know that this type of failure will not repeat itself again 22 service members taking their own lives every day how many more lies will be lost after this catastrophic equation last time I knew they were seven service members from Daddy and Kabul that took their own lives and who cares nobody cares nothing gets public nobody knows how many more need to struggle because they cannot talk they got told whatever you see whatever you think you saw didn't happen they cannot even talk to us and that it's a shame how many more parents have to go through this nightmare if we don't do anything with this Administration we need to get to the bottom of this and find out the root of this failure we need to implement laws to protect our marine Soldiers and Sailors I am tired of hearing people told me what can I do the time to act as now make sure history does not repeat itself the last day I see my son I was March of 2021. he was leaving for his last deployment and the Jordan and I remember like it was yesterday he's standing outside the door and he'll hugged me and he said Mom if I don't come back and I said shut up you're gonna come back and then he said no Mom if I don't come back I want you to keep telling my story and you know what his story didn't not end on August 26 2021 I will fight until my last breath to get to the truth I promise this to my kid and I will do it thank you [Applause] foreign and I'm the proud mother of United States Marine Corps Corporal Hunter Lopez I would first like to start off by speaking of my son Hunter has been described as a Marines Marine he knew he had to be prepared physically mentally and tactically he invested countless hours working out reading military history listening to Tactical podcasts he invested hours upon hours at the range on his own time and bought himself the best gear to use he would not settle for second best he did all of this without leaving others behind or to fend for themselves I would venture to say that in addition to service two the country after having trained lived and known his close Marine friends for many years Hunter also dedicated to protecting and looking out for the well-being of his fellow Marines a second I would like to thank everyone who has made this endeavor possible and given all our families a voice this is an important process for us for our family and I believe there is more that needs to be disclosed not only to the families of the Fallen but to all the veterans who served in Afghanistan and to the American public to say it's time to move on and there's nothing more to be said as to the planning and the execution of how our country wrapped a two-decade war is an insult to all of us some may ask why we are just coming forward now and although there is no singular answer reasons include patience patience for the system to work the military asked we allow them time to gather information evidence time to conduct interviews and generally find answers to questions my family had another reason is fade that the right thing would be done and answers to tough questions we had would be answered some answers were provided however as time went on the answers provided were overshadowed by new information and testimony only speaking more only sparking more questions doubts and concerns the reality is that items of concern to my family and I perhaps to all of us can be answered by a true account of who made decisions who did or did not what advice was provided and why or why not was it not followed I have no illusion that anyone will be prosecuted or terminated for ignoring intelligence or making bad decisions not even for lying to all our gold star families this outcome is sad but it is what we have to come to expect from a system that would prefer to hold secrets for decades and Beyond until someone finally has to see decency to unseal classified information [Music] that would bring Solace to grieving families and answers to so many questions and concerns it is unfortunately is I'm sorry it's unfortunate and really it's sad our system is quick to identify it those at fault in far away countries but yet we are challenged to evaluate ourselves we shy away from comprising careers of high-ranking officials book deals and future lucrative public speaking engagements the reality is its fault was to be found in someone if fault was to be found in someone who wore fatigues to work instead of a suit they would be on trial long ago if blame was cast on a young Marine who carried a rifle to defend his country and fellow marines that Marine's name would be on the evening news and media camped outside the front of his or her home mistakes were made without a doubt my request is that those mistakes are owned up to that my family and the other gold star families hear the truth and that we are made aware of who is accountable we do not want a partial truth or truth told in a book release or when information is Declassified 20 30 or 40 years from now As Americans we want this truth as gold star families we deserve the truth we deserved it two years ago and we definitely deserve it today I ask that our children are honored those injured and those that made it home from H Kaya that they be honored by speaking the truth Steph Sergeant Taylor Hoover Sergeant Nicole G sergeant johanni pachardo staff sergeant Ryan house Corporal digging page Corporal Humberto Sanchez a Corporal Hunter Lopez Hospital Corman Maxton Soviet Lance corporal Kareem nakui that's Corporal Dylan merola less Corporal Jared Schmidt Lance corporal David Espinoza last Corporal Riley McCollum [Applause] this brings to a close the statements for today of the families of the Fallen I said for today because their story cannot end today in 1792 George Washington impaneled the first congressional investigation of a failed Battle it is not new for there to be military mistakes it is not new but it is in fact a tradition that investigations don't end until every question has been answered and even though we spent a little over an hour here today with these families we could have spent two or three or four hours and not heard all the questions they have others have told us of things like a a bullet found inside their loved one when in fact we were told it was a bomb and they have evidence others have asked my got my son's phone back but the SIM card containing those pictures those selfies had been removed can I have it back there are many many questions unasked or unspoken today that have been asked that we will get to the bottom of so for the families who came so far and said what they said here today thank you for those in attendance as Witnesses on behalf of all of them all of us have an obligation to retell their stories to not Let It Fade until every question has been answered that's not one member of Congress that's every American's obligation so again you'll hear thank you for your sacrifice it's not a sacrifice you asked for it may well have been a sacrifice that we could have avoided but thank you and thank your loved ones and thank every military person who knowingly signs up to Go In Harm's Way knowing that would happen to your your children your loved ones could happen to them every day this is not the end but it is the end for today we stand adjourned foreign [Applause]

Channel: Fox News

Views: 52,140

Keywords: Fox News Channel, FNC, Fox News, News

Id: FQzeX_jfpW0

Length: 78min 53sec (4733 seconds)

Published: Mon Aug 07 2023