In a powerful and emotional speech, Darin Hoover Sr., the father of the fallen Marine, Darin Taylor Hoover Jr., who was killed during the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, blasted Joe Biden and senior military officials. Calling for their resignations, Hoover Sr. demanded accountability for the mistakes that led to his son’s death.
Hoover Jr., along with several other American service members, was tragically killed during the final stages of the US military’s withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021. His father has now pointedly criticized those in charge of the operation.
“In closing, I’m calling out Secretary Blinken, Secretary Austin, General Milley, General McKenzie, Lieutenant Colonel Whited, who could not give the order to the snipers to take out the bomber and ultimately the president,” Hoover Sr. said. “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.”
He added, “Our sons and daughters have more integrity in their little toes than every one of them combined. You owe it to our families here today, to the other gold and silver star families that have gone before, and most of all to the veterans who have given so much for this country, so that we have the freedoms that we enjoy today.”
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Similarly, Christy Shamblin, whose daughter-in-law, Sgt. Nicole Gee, was also killed during the withdrawal operation, expressed her frustration and grief over the preventable deaths. She chastised the Biden administration for the consequences of their decision-making.
“I live every single day knowing that these deaths were preventable. My daughter could be with us today. And that wasn’t just one decision, it was many decisions, many times over it could have been stopped. This was not a success,” Shamblin stated.
She continued, expressing her admiration for the service members and lamenting the abandonment of US allies in Afghanistan. “These young men and women came back, bigger patriots than they left. I don’t know how that’s possible. And I admire them from the bottom of my heart. We left thousands, thousands of allies behind. Billions of dollars in resources for them to use against us.”
Christy Shamblin, whose daughter-in-law, Sgt. Nicole Gee, was killed during Biden’s Afghanistan withdrawal:
“To call it a ‘success’ is an ultimate disrespect for the very people who deserve every ounce of respect that we can give them.” pic.twitter.com/SBk3KHrbLh
— GOP (@GOP) August 7, 2023
The strong criticisms highlight the controversy and fallout surrounding the US withdrawal from Afghanistan. In Joe Biden’s speech on the end of the war in Afghanistan, he referred to it as a “success.” The speech marked the end of the United States’ 20-year engagement in the country.
The withdrawal process was marked by a terrorist attack that killed more than 180 Afghans and 13 U.S. service members, and tens of billions of dollars in military equipment falling into the Taliban’s hands. Despite these challenges, the Biden administration remained adamant about meeting its self-imposed Aug. 31 deadline.