WASHINGTON — Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin called it "a painful milestone."
Two years ago — on Aug. 26, 2021 —13 American military members were killed outside an airport in Kabul, Afghanistan in what Austin described as "a horrific terrorist attack."
On Tuesday, lawmakers heard from families of the fallen who are demanding answers.
During the chaotic exit after 20 years of war, the U.S. military did manage to get more than 124,000 civilians — more than 6,000 of them Americans — out of Afghanistan before the troop withdrawal deadline.
But 13 U.S. service men and women — 11 Marines, a Soldier, and a Sailor — were killed in a suicide bombing at the Abbey Gate outside Kabul's Hamid Karzai International Airport during the operation's closing days. Approximately 170 Afghan civilians also died.
"This administration wanted to sweep what happened under the rug. They know they bear the brunt of the blame. They want to escape accountability," Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) said.
The Republican-led House Foreign Affairs Committee that McCaul chairs held a roundtable on Tuesday with ten of the 13 Gold Star families related to Abbey Gate victims.
They took aim at President Joe Biden.
"I want to know why this administration is unable to take responsibility for its actions in the days and weeks and months leading up to that fateful day," Darin Hoover, father of Staff Sergeant Taylor Hoover, said.
"I don't want to hear lies. I don't want to hear excuses from Joe Biden and the administration," Kelly Barnett, mother of Staff Sergeant Taylor Hoover.
"President Biden and the executive administration must accept responsibility publicly for the chaotic withdrawal at the end of the 20-year war," Paula Knauss Selph, mother of Staff Sergeant Ryan Christian Knauss, said.
In a statement, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin noted the somber anniversary, saying "As we mark this painful milestone, my heart is with the families of these 13 American heroes. We will never forget what they gave to serve this country that we love."
An independent assessment by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction in May 2022 placed blame for the rapid collapse of the Afghan government and the return of the Taliban on both the Biden and Trump administrations, and previous ones, for failing to set up the Afghan military to function without U.S. support.