A gathering of 12 Gold Star families at the request of Rep. Darrel Issa (R-CA) has resulted in something that should have been said louder years ago- it’s time for President Joe Biden to admit he botched this operation, got Americans killed needlessly, and step down as Commander in Chief. Held on August 7th as a public forum at the Escondido City Hall, it began precisely at 11 a.m. as family members shared the heartbreaking stories of their loved ones who died at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan.
Darin Hoover has been one of the most vocal voices about the disrespect Biden offered these families during their time of loss. As the father of fallen Marine Corps Staff Sergeant Darin T. Hoover, 31, of Salt Lake City, Utah, he got to see how horrible the man can be up close. As such, he is now calling out the leaders behind this failed pullout from Afghanistan for the enormous cost they passed along to the American and Afghani people.
“I’m calling out Secretary Blinken, Secretary Austin, General Milley, General McKenzie, Lt. Col. Whitehead — 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 than every one of them combined.”
Broadcast by Fox News, his words were seen not only in the City Hall but across the nation.
Cheryl Rex is the mother of fallen Marine Lance Corporal Dylan R. Merola, 20, and she told her story about the lies concocted about the loss of her son. “I was being given false information. While this colonel was describing Dylan’s wounds, he was describing the report as intended for a right-handed person. My son’s personal trait was that he was left-handed, so when I questioned, ‘How could my son obtain wounds on the opposite of his body that he was illustrating?’ he could not respond, leading the conversation to the JAG to change the subject.”
Of the footage she was shown, three minutes were inexplicably missing, and nobody was able to answer what really happened. Even colder were the lies President Biden shared with her during the Dignified Transfer of his remains. “When he approached me, his words were, ‘My wife, Jill, and I know how you feel. We lost our son as well and brought him home in a flag-draped coffin.’”
Flat out, this man does not know her loss, or the loss of the Hoover family, or anyone else. While Beau’s cancer was service-connected, and Biden has increased service-connection capabilities for Veterans, he was able to come home. Joe and Jill as well as the rest of the Biden family could be by his side. These families never got that opportunity.
Those who sign up are well aware of the risks. Since 2001, and especially 2003, it was known that we were a nation at war. Even as we were leaving Afghanistan, people who continued to sign the check to pay the ultimate price were aware of the risks. What they weren’t aware of was the contempt their Commander In Chief would speak about them with.
They weren’t aware of how much they would have to fight the VA to be taken care of. Nobody ever told them how civilians would diminish and degrade their accomplishments. The way hiring managers discredit military leadership or professional development schools. They regard them as nothing and treat them as less than their civilian counterparts.
This is yet again another chapter in the book of piss poor treatment for Veterans as well as those still serving. These parents are right, the man is shameful and needs to leave office. His hatred for those wearing the uniform is palpable, and he is an insult to this nation’s storied history.
