The decisions that led to the chaotic Afghanistan withdrawal in August 2021 are being investigated by Congress and debated in contentious campaigns, but for one day—or one morning, anyway—Capitol Hill paused to praise and honor 13 young Americans who gave their lives protecting the defenseless.
During a Sept. 10 ceremony in the somber Capitol rotunda, family members of the 11 Marines, their Navy corpsman, and the Army airborne ranger killed in the Aug. 26, 2021, attack at Hamid Karzai Airport’s Abbey Gate were posthumously awarded Congressional Gold Medals, the nation’s oldest, highest congressionally issued honor. George Washington was its first recipient.
