Five years ago, 13 American service members were killed at Abbey Gate during the final, chaotic days of America’s withdrawal from Afghanistan.
asserted
members → kill → Afghanistan
Eleven Marines, one soldier, and one sailor reported for duty that day, surrounded by thousands of desperate people trying to escape a country falling back into Taliban control.
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Marines → report → control
At 5:36 p.m. on Aug. 26, 2021, an ISIS-K terrorist detonated a suicide bomb in the crowd, killing those 13 Americans and countless Afghan civilians.
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terrorist → detonate → Americans
I served over 20 years in the United States Marine Corps and Navy, deploying to combat zones in Africa, the Persian Gulf, and Afghanistan.
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I → serve → Africa
In Kandahar, I led the emergency medicine department and felt the cost of war: lost limbs, traumatic brain injuries, and catastrophic wounds that changed young Americans’ lives forever.
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that → lead → lives
For two decades, Americans answered the call to protect freedom in Afghanistan.
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Americans → answer → Afghanistan
Some never came home.
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Some → come → ?
Others returned with wounds, both visible and invisible, that they will carry for the rest of their lives, and their families will carry those burdens with them.
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families → return → them
As the Taliban swept across the country and reclaimed Kabul, we saw images of desperate Afghans clinging to an American aircraft as it fled the chaos.
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it → sweep → chaos
For those of us who served there, these were not distant images on a television screen.
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these → serve → screen
They brought back the faces of those we treated, the friends we lost, and the sacrifices we made.
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we → bring → those
Then came Abbey Gate.
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Gate → come → ?
The 13 Americans killed that day were carrying out an extraordinarily dangerous mission.
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Americans → kill → mission
They were helping American citizens and vulnerable Afghans escape an impossible situation created by incompetent leadership.
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citizens → help → leadership
Despite credible threats, they remained at their posts because people were depending on them.
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people → remain → them
Their courage must never be diminished by the failures of leadership that placed them in such a dangerous position.
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that → diminish → position
The withdrawal was not a failure of the men and women wearing the uniform; it was a failure of decision-making in Washington.
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it → wear → Washington
America’s leaders must show the same devotion to duty as our men and women in uniform.
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leaders → show → uniform
When we send our sons and daughters into harm’s way, we assume a sacred obligation to them and their families.
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we → send → them
Their lives can never become figures on a spreadsheet, and their names cannot be invoked once a year before a crowd at a rally.
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names → become → rally
America must never take the sacrifice of its warriors for granted.
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America → take → warriors
We must be deliberate when sending them into danger, provide clear missions and sound planning, and demand answers when their leaders fail.
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leaders → send → answers
We owe them more.
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We → owe → more
We owe the Gold Star families of Abbey Gate the full truth.
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We → owe → truth
We owe Afghanistan veterans an honest accounting of the Biden administration’s decisions that preceded Kabul’s collapse.
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that → owe → collapse
And we owe the next generation of American warriors and leaders better.
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we → owe → warriors
Accountability will not bring back the 13 Americans killed at Abbey Gate or remove the pain their families carry.
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families → bring → pain
It matters because memory without action is not enough.
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memory → matter → action
If we refuse to learn from our failure, we risk asking another generation to pay the same terrible price.
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we → refuse → price
The story of Afghanistan must not be reduced to the way the war ended.
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war → reduce → way
For 20 years, American service members fought bravely, treated the wounded, hunted terrorists, protected one another, and answered the call of freedom.
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members → fight → freedom
Nothing that happened in August 2021 can erase the honor of their service.
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that → happen → service
On August 26, we remember the 13 heroes killed at Abbey Gate.
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we → remember → Gate
We remember their families and every American who served in Afghanistan.
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who → remember → Afghanistan
We also remember the burden carried at home, and we cherish their sacrifice by learning from the failures that led to those devastating final days.
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that → remember → days
We will remember their courage.
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We → remember → courage
We will insist on accountability.
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We → insist → accountability
We will learn from this failure.
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We → learn → failure
And we will never forget Abbey Gate, because their sacrifice and our responsibility do not end there.
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sacrifice → forget → Gate
Dr. Rich McCormick is a decorated veteran and Emergency Room physician who proudly serves Georgia’s 7th Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives.
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who → decorate → Representatives
…and 1 more, not listed.
The Aporia
