EXCLUSIVE: Gold Star families talk Trump’s leadership, Biden’s failures after Afghanistan withdrawal
“Our kids’ names were actually said and repeated by everybody.”
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“Our kids’ names were actually said and repeated by everybody.”
In exclusive interviews with The Post Millennial, the Gold Star family members of those US soldiers killed during the withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021 reflected on what they see as the path forward for the country and their support of Donald Trump, as well as the failures of the Biden administration during and after the withdrawal. They also addressed the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee on Wednesday.
As the Gold Star families spoke at the convention, tears were shed by many in the audience as they introduced themselves as well as spoke on the lives of their fallen children. They expressed their anger wtih Joe Biden for looking at his watch multiple times while standing on the tarmac when all 13 of the soldiers killed at the Kabul Airport came home in coffins draped in the American flag. The crowd honored them with their silence, and at the end of their speeches, joined in saying all 13 names of the soldiers, slamming Biden for not mentioning their names. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) as well as CEO of Proxy Strateiges Marlon Bateman accompanied them at the RNC.
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View on XBefore and after the speeches, TPM was able to speak to the family members of Staff Sgt. Taylor Hoover, Lance Cpl. Rylee McCollum, Sgt. Nicole L. Gee, Cpl. Hunter Lopez, and Cpl. Humberto "Bert" Sanchez.
Christy Shamblin, mother-in-law to deceased Sgt. Nichole Gee, speaks at the RNC in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Photo credit: Libby Emmons
Speaking to TPM, Darin Hoover, the father of deceased Staff Sgt. Taylor Hoover, repeatedly said "it has been an honor" to share the message of the Goldstar families at the RNC. He said that the country is in need of a strong leader like Trump in order set things on the right path.
A military source who was there the day of the withdrawal, and was part of the group with Staff Sgt. Hoover, said that after the blast and being critically injured, Hoover began to give out his ammunition to other members of his platoon who were able to keep on fighting. He had led a platoon of about 40 service members. As he was taken up by the emergency team, he gave a final thumbs up to his squad and later died from his injuries.
Staff Sgt. Taylor Hoover
When asked what he thought of getting the opportunity to speak at the convention, Hoover told TPM: "It's been an honor," he said of the opportunity, "We'd like to change with the way things are handled, so that there's not a family who loses their child under the same circumstances as we did."
"We just got to keep going along and pushing until we get those changes made," Hoover added. He told TPM that the botched Afghanistan withdrawal under President Joe Biden that led to Taylor's death was something that could have been prevented. "The biggest thing that made that preventable is that it was so rushed," he added. "Biden wanted to get out and get his little feather in his cap to get out by the anniversary of 911."
When asked about his thoughts on the path forward for the country in light of the assassination attempt on Trump, Hoover added that it was a blessing that the GOP nominee wasn't gravely injured and said of the RNC, "Everything is positive here. Everybody is upbeat. They're positive in their remarks. And you know, it takes a strong leader in order to do that."
Jim McCollum of Wyoming, the father of deceased Lance Cpl. Rylee McCollum, told TPM that the opportunity for the families to speak and be at the RNC has "been amazing."
Lance Cpl. Rylee McCollum
"I was sitting there thinking a little bit earlier: To be in this atmosphere and supporting Trump in the manner that we can, and kind of hanging back a little bit for the support that he's shown and given to us, is absolutely surreal."
Jim recently did an interview where he spoke about why Rylee was in the military and said that "freedom isn't free," referring to the sacrifice that Rylee gave with his life.
When asked about the freedoms he though Rylee wanted to protect the most, Jim responded, "Being the youngest, my youngest child, and having older sisters, and then being in the situation where he was, women's rights and justice for women and justice for those that don't have a voice or can't have a voice, and recognizing the things that we take for granted here."
After the Afghanistan withdrawal, the Taliban rose to power again in the region, where, according to the US State Department, law criminalizing rape has faced a "de facto dismantling" and that the "Taliban severely eroded enforcement of these laws."
When asked about how to go forward after the attempted assassination on Trump, Jim McCollum added, "I mean, there's such a realism and disappointment, disbelief, that something like that this day and age, after all these years, could happen, but you feel the division."
"Everybody's always calling for, you know, let's tone down the rhetoric and so on and so forth. You know, I'll give the Democratic Party credit, they did that for about 12 hours, but then immediately started in again," he added.
Jim McCollum then said of the RNC and the unity around Trump as the GOP nominee, "It has been absolutely wonderful to be around people and see the realness of what America really is again, and find hope. You see hope in it, and you're surrounded by people that have the same vision and want the same things, and not for red or blue, but for all Americans."
Speaking to Christy Shamblin and Cheryl Jules, the mother-in-law and aunt to Sgt. Nichole Gee respectively, they reflected on having the opportunity to have all 13 of the service members' names heard, spoken, and repeated by everyone in the room.
Sgt. Nicole L. Gee.
Jules told TPM, "You know, we were just having a conversation about it, and it was so well received. We had so much support there. In the last, almost three years, we've been pretty much ignored by this administration, and so we just kind of felt like nobody really cared. And we learned today how wrong we were."
"Our kids’ names were actually said and repeated by everybody," Jules added. Shamblin said, "We're proud to be here and proud to support President Trump, but the return that we got tonight was unexpected because it helps our heart."
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"We don't want this to happen again, and if we can bring awareness so that the next time, we have an evacuation, it is casualty free," Jules said. When asked about what they thought of Biden's false claim that nobody had died under his administration, they said that they weren't surprised by the fact that Biden lied about his record.
TPM also spoke to Gold Star parents Alicia and Herman Lopez about their experience at the event and what it meant for them after their son, Cpl. Hunter Lopez, passed away in the Afghanistan withdrawal. They both spoke about their family's tradition in law enforcement and military service during their segment at the RNC.
Cpl. Hunter Lopez
"It was actually an honor to be given the opportunity to hear kids' names and to say our kids' names," Alicia Lopez told TPM. "And for those that couldn't make it, we did receive communication from them, and they said that they're very proud that they heard their son's or daughter's name." The Lopez's were able to say each name of the 13 military members who passed away in the bombing.
Herman Lopez, when asked about the lack of public recognition of Hunter and the other 12 slain soldiers from the Biden administration’s withdrawal, said that he thinks "it's an indication that Biden knows that the mission was not a success, the withdrawal, the ending of this war was not a success."
"If he has to acknowledge that our sons and daughters passed away, and that evacuation and that withdrawal, then that's essentially admitting that the withdrawal was a mistake and it was not done correctly," Herman Lopez added. Herman added that Biden's "effort to make it go away, [as] he tries to convince the American people that it was a success ... is really just part of the cover up."
When they were asked about their thoughts on crime in the US, as both parents work in the Riverside County Sheriff's Office in California, Alicia told TPM, "I personally think that we just need to get a commander in chief who acknowledges and respects law enforcement and military."
"With Joe Biden, we don't have that. He's too busy trying to teach our kids their proper pronouns and forgetting about the men and women who put on uniforms to protect our cities and our country."
Herman said that although they are supported by their local community at the Riverside County Sheriff's Office, that the public writ large will focus on mistakes, and will leave criminals unaccountable, saying that sometimes there is "more scrutiny of law enforcement than there is of people breaking the law."
"We're always striving to improve, but the smallest of mistakes sometimes get magnified, and again, there's people out there that are committing heinous crimes, and instead of them being held accountable, there's some kind of justification behind why they did what they did. So, the accountability is just not there, and it seems to be a message of this administration is just a lack of accountability," Herman added.
Coral Briseno, the mother of Cpl. Humberto "Bert" Sanchez, told TPM she was very grateful for the opportunity to have their message heard at the convention, calling it a "blessing just to be there." She also commented on Biden claiming that there were no military deaths under his administration during the debate with Trump.
Cpl. Humberto "Bert" Sanchez
"That was slap in the face for us. For me, personally, I feel like the sacrifice of my kid was bigger than him not just being willing to acknowledge that they made a mistake. they killed my kid," Coral stated. Coral also spoke of Bert's willingness to help others during his lifetime. The family had started raising funds for Afghan refugees after his passing, in honor of his sacrifice for those in the country.
"So I talked to him the 21st like, just five days before they got killed. And I remember talking to him... He was really sick. He was really upset of the situation and the environment that they were working on. And I said, 'I came to this country trying to give your sister a better life. These moms are trying to get out to give their kids a better life and a future. Help them do whatever you can to help them.' My kid and the other 12, they died helping kids to have a better life."
"I just got my citizenship, and that day, when I went to do my own I saw several kids taking their fingerprints and that just warmed my heart, because I know those kids probably didn't meet my kids, but they probably crossed through Abbey Gate, and that's how they are here, having a better life, having a future. They were doing God's work on earth."
Overall, the Gold Star families as well as the military source that TPM spoke to said that the way in which the Biden administration handled the withdrawal was a failure. The military source there the day of the bombing of Abbey Gate said there were "layers of failure" during the pull out. He added that testimony from some in a US investigation into the withdrawal saying that the service members were "not getting shot at" during the withdrawal were false. The source added that he would "100 percent blame it on timing" in reference to the botched withdrawal.
"There [were] layers of failures from the [Biden] administration, as well as the Department of State, and then some higher-level issues in the chain of command."
TPM was able to speak to the family members of just five of the victims of the Abbey Gate bombing during the Afghanistan withdrawal. Those victims' whose families were not at the RNC are listed below with their photographs.
Sgt. Johanny Rosario Pichardo
Cpl. Daegan W. Page
Lance Cpl. David L. Espinoza
Lance Cpl. Jared M. Schmitz
Lance Cpl. Dylan R. Merola
Lance Cpl. Kareem Mae'Lee Grant Nikoui
Corpsman Maxton W. Soviak
Staff Sgt. Ryan C. Knauss