Families of fallen US service members’ emotional moment at RNC, accusations against Joe Biden

In an emotional moment at the Republican National Convention, Gold Star families of U.S. service members who were killed in an August 2021 terrorist attack at Afghanistan’s Kabul airport accused President Joe Biden of "never once" saying their names.

Herman Lopez, the father of U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Hunter Lopez, said each name aloud as the audience stood, repeating the names back:

Marine Corps Lance Cpl. David L. Espinoza. Sgt. Nicole Gee. Staff Sgt. Darin T. Hoover. Staff Sgt. Ryan C. Knauss. Lance Cpl. Rylee J. McCollum. Lance Cpl. Dylan R. Merola. Lance Cpl. Kareem M. Nikoui. Cpl. Daegan W. Page. Sgt. Johanny Rosario Pichardo. Cpl. Humberto A. Sanchez. Lance Cpl. Jared M. Schmitz. Navy Hospitalman Maxton W. Soviak. Cpl. Hunter Lopez. Eleven Marines. One soldier. One sailor. 

The call-and-response followed a prerecorded video that featured the families criticizing Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris for the chaotic withdrawal, and for how they say the administration treated them afterward.

"To this day, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have never mentioned these fallen soldiers' names," the RNC narrator said after the video ended.  

"While Joe Biden has refused to recognize their sacrifice, Donald Trump spent six hours in Bedminster (New Jersey) with us," Christy Shamblin, the mother of Sgt. Nicole Gee, told the crowd. "Donald Trump knew all of our children’s names. He knew all of their stories."

The deadly Aug. 26, 2021, suicide bombing outside Kabul's Hamid Karzai International Airport happened during the closing days of the U.S. military’s Afghanistan withdrawal, after the Taliban took control of the government. Besides the 13 U.S. service members, about 170 Afghan civilians were killed in the blast. The Islamic State Khorasan terror group, known as ISIS-K, claimed responsibility for the attack, which took place as Americans and allies were being evacuated from the country. 

Biden has publicly expressed sorrow over the deaths and traveled to Dover Air Force Base with first lady Jill Biden, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken to receive their remains.

During the RNC’s video, family members accused Biden of appearing bored and peering at his watch several times during the dignified transfer. Videos and photographs show that Biden checked his watch at least two or three times while standing on the tarmac. 

Biden met privately with the families before the dignified transfer, but the extent of his conversations with them are unknown. The White House declined to comment at the time on the private conversations.

The Washington Post reported that some family members blamed Biden for what happened.

For example, the Post reported that two of the three family members of Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Rylee McCollum left the room when it came time to meet with Biden; McCollum’s wife remained. Her sister-in-law later told the newspaper she was disappointed after Biden mentioned his son Beau, describing his military service and subsequent death from cancer. She said it struck the family as scripted and shallow, with the conversation lasting only a couple of minutes. 

In an Aug. 30, 2021, statement, Biden thanked military personnel for executing the "dangerous" extraction from Afghanistan and ended with a "moment of gratitude for the sacrifice of the 13 service members in Afghanistan who gave their lives last week to save tens of thousands." The statement ends with a listing of each name.

On Aug. 31, Biden officially announced the end of the Afghanistan war and spoke about the fallen service members.

"Twenty service members were wounded in the service of this mission. Thirteen heroes gave their lives," Biden said. "I was just at Dover Air Force Base for the dignified transfer. We owe them and their families a debt of gratitude we can never repay but we should never, ever, ever forget."

One year after the attack, Biden released a statement to honor the 13 fallen service members, and again listed their names.

In response to PolitiFact, the White House sent a statement from National Security Council Spokesperson Adrienne Watson:

"President Biden cares deeply about our service members, their families, and the immense sacrifices they have made. That’s why the President attended the dignified transfer of the 13 brave service members who lost their lives in Afghanistan on August 26, 2021; as well as, of the three who lost their lives in Jordan earlier this year. As he said then and continues to believe now: Our country owes them a great deal of gratitude and a debt that we can never repay, and we will continue to honor their ultimate sacrifice."

Biden has faced criticism about the extraction that ended the U.S.’ war in Afghanistan, which  unfolded under his tenure. 

The Trump administration and the Taliban struck the agreement to end the war in February 2020. The deal called for American troops to be out of the country in 18 months, or by May 2021. Trump scaled down to around 2,500 the number of service members in Afghanistan by the time he left office. Biden delayed the May 1 withdrawal date and ultimately pushed ahead with a plan to withdraw by Aug. 31. 

In a declassified June 2023 report examining the withdrawal, the State Department appeared to lay the blame on the withdrawal on both administrations. 

"The decisions of both President Trump and President Biden to end the U.S. military mission posed significant challenges for the (State) Department as it sought to maintain a robust diplomatic and assistance presence in Kabul and provide continued support to the Afghan government and people," the report said. 

But the report also criticized the  State Department officials’ handling of the extraction, saying it found disorganization and that it was "unclear" who in the department had the lead on evacuation efforts. The review also claimed that senior officials failed to make decisions about which at-risk Afghan nationals would be evacuated before the country fell into disarray.

The report detailed how "key questions remained unanswered" when Trump left office. These included how the U.S. would meet the administration’s agreed-upon deadline for the full military withdrawal, how the U.S. could maintain a diplomatic presence in Kabul after that, and what might happen to people eligible for the Special Immigrant Visa program and other at-risk Afghans.