Bacon, House GOP Military Veterans Share Heartfelt Testimonies on Abbey Gate Anniversary

Washington – Today, Representative Don Bacon (NE-2) and veteran members of the House Republican Conference mark the fourth anniversary of the deadly terrorist attack at Abbey Gate in Kabul, Afghanistan, which claimed the lives of 13 U.S. service members and left dozens more wounded. To honor these fallen heroes, the House Republican Conference released a tribute video featuring military veterans serving in Congress. In the powerful video, the veterans–many of whom served in Afghanistan–share heartfelt testimony about the personal impact of the Biden administration’s disastrous withdrawal as they reflect on the devastating, preventable chaos it caused. 

Representative Don Bacon (NE-02) served nearly thirty years on active duty in the U.S. Air Force, culminating his military career at the rank of Brigadier General. He served 16 assignments with four deployments to the Middle East, including one to Iraq from 2007 to 2008 during Operation IRAQI FREEDOM. 

Watch Rep. Bacon’s testimony here, and written as delivered below: 

“I served nearly thirty years in the Air Force. I had multiple deployments in the Middle East. And one of the things that changed my life was 9 /11. We saw the Pentagon hit, the World Towers, and the fourth airliner that crashed in Pennsylvania. We deployed, and we kicked the Taliban out of government. We ended up killing Osama bin Laden. We ended up going in Iraq as well. 

“In Afghanistan we lost 2,459 Americans over the course of those two decades. But President Biden made a terrible decision four years ago to withdraw our forces the way he did. Our military recommended against his withdrawal plans and he overruled them. His withdrawal cost us two decades of investment in Afghanistan and it ended up costing 13 more lives when that bomber attacked our forces that were trying to save lives at the airport in Kabul. 

“Today I'm thinking of Daegan Page, one of the 13 Americans killed, who is from Omaha. I've gotten to meet his family. We love his family and our sympathies still go with them. But also the other 12 families that lost their sons and daughters or spouses. 

“President Biden made a terrible decision. He withdrew our air support from the Afghan forces, withdrew our mechanics from the Afghan airplanes and the Afghan soldiers without air power collapsed quickly. President Biden said it would take two years, at least for the government to fail. It took one month because of the reckless decision making that he did. 

“So today, yes, I'm angry. As angry I've ever been on anything that any president has done in my lifetime. But I also know that we had men and women serving in uniform, doing the best they could, following orders, serving their country, and we had some that paid the ultimate sacrifice. So today our hearts and minds, our prayers are with those 13 families today.”

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