Defense

Valor awards upgraded for Marines who defended Abbey Gate during Afghanistan withdrawal

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by Ellen Mitchell - 04/22/26 2:23 PM ET

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by Ellen Mitchell - 04/22/26 2:23 PM ET

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The Marine Corps has upgraded the valor awards given to Marines who guarded Abbey Gate at the Hamid Karzai International Airport on Aug. 26, 2021 — the day a suicide bomber struck the gate and killed 13 service members and 170 Afghans, the Pentagon said Wednesday.

“After reviewing the original awards and determining that several had been inappropriately downgraded, these awards have now been upgraded to levels that more accurately reflect the extreme risk these Marines knowingly accepted and the lives they saved under direct enemy fire,” Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement.

Parnell said the decision — recommended by the Afghanistan Withdrawal Special Review Panel at the direction of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth — is meant to correct the original awards which “did not reflect” the danger the location posed and the service members’ heroic actions.

An unspecified number of Marines in Company G, 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment will receive the award upgrades, but the statement did not note what the new awards are. Eleven Marines, one Army soldier and one member of the Navy were killed in the suicide bombing at Abbey Gate.

The Pentagon didn’t immediately respond to a request for details on the awards.

“To the Marines of Company G and to every service member who stood at Abbey Gate: your actions were seen, your sacrifice was measured correctly, and your valor is now properly recognized,” according to the statement.

Parnell, who is chairman of the Afghanistan Withdrawal Special Review Panel, added that the group will “continue its broader work to ensure the lessons from 2021 are learned and that we never again place our warfighters in positions where their courage is not fully honored.”

Hegseth last year ordered a review into the U.S. evacuation from Afghanistan in August 2021 as the country fell to Taliban control. The Taliban captured the capital of Kabul on Aug. 15, 2021, spurring a chaotic and deadly evacuation of American citizens and Afghans who had aided the U.S. government in the country’s nearly 20-year war.

The House voted to posthumously award the Congressional Gold Medal to the 13 service members killed in the mayhem. The fallen service members also received Purple Hearts and were awarded the Combat Action Ribbon.

Most assessments have concluded blame is shared between President Trump and former President Biden for the deadly end to America’s longest war — Trump for signing a 2020 deal with the Taliban to withdraw all U.S. forces and Biden for announcing he would proceed with the withdrawal, setting off panic as Afghan forces abandoned their posts, allowing the Taliban to sweep into Kabul.

Trump in his second term continues to insist the blame lies entirely at Biden’s feet, with the Pentagon’s review panel last week announcing it has wrapped up interviews with senior military and civilian leaders and reviewed more than 9 million documents.

Parnell said the panel is now preparing its findings and recommendations, with a final report to be delivered to Hegseth in the coming months.

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