Hegseth Honors Abbey Gate Heroes and NYT Answers With a Story on His Generals

Thirteen American troops died at Abbey Gate covering a withdrawal Joe Biden botched from the start.

Five years later Pete Hegseth finally gave three of those Marines the medals they earned.

The New York Times marked the same week with a story calling his Pentagon rudderless.

Pentagon Finally Upgrades Valor Awards Biden Left Sitting for Five Years

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth marked the fifth anniversary of the Abbey Gate bombing by upgrading the valor awards of three Marines who fought to save lives in the chaos outside Kabul's airport.

Gunnery Sgt. Jonathan Eby and Lance Cpl. Jordan Houston both had their awards upgraded to a Bronze Star Medal with the "V" device for valor.

Cpl. Michael Gretzon received the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal, also with the valor device.

Hegseth did not soften why it took five years.

"For half a decade, this building allowed bureaucratic caution, or maybe politics, to stand in the way of proper recognition," he said. "Today on this milestone anniversary, we declare that those days are over."

He went further, blaming the Pentagon itself for sitting on paperwork while Marines waited.

"Leadership in this capital city failed to match that frontline courage with administrative backbone, inappropriately downgrading the original award submissions that these men rightfully deserved," Hegseth said.

Thirteen U.S. service members died at Abbey Gate on August 26, 2021, killed in an ISIS-K suicide bombing while providing security for a withdrawal the Biden administration bungled from start to finish.

Sean Parnell, chairman of the Afghanistan Withdrawal Special Review Panel, used the anniversary to reveal new findings from the ongoing review into what actually happened that day.

The New York Times Marks the Same Week by Calling the Army Rudderless

The New York Times used that same week to publish a story arguing Hegseth has left the Army "essentially rudderless" while it struggles to counter cheap drones and missiles.

The piece leans on the Army Chief of Staff post sitting empty since April, when Gen. Randy George was fired without public explanation.

It also claims Hegseth has forced out at least three senior officers viewed as potential successors to George, with Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll expected to leave within months.

RedState's streiff called it a "bizarre hit piece," timed to land the same week Hegseth stood with Gold Star families honoring the fallen.

Nobody at The New York Times published a story asking why it took five years and a new administration to get three Marines their proper medals.

Nobody there asked Biden a single hard question about Abbey Gate on the anniversary of the attack.

They found time, instead, to argue the man modernizing the Army for a drone war is the problem.

That was not even the only unflattering Hegseth story the paper ran that week. The Times had also published a piece days earlier questioning his wife Jennifer's role at the Pentagon, a report The Federalist accused of "nakedly lying" about her actual duties.

The New York Times Has a Pattern It Will Not Admit To

You can set your watch by this. Every time Hegseth does something that makes the Pentagon look competent, a hit piece shows up within days to change the subject.

This is the same paper that's been hunting Hegseth since his confirmation hearing, and now it has decided a Chief of Staff vacancy is the story on the week he is handing valor medals to Marines who ran through gunfire.

Firing generals who are not moving fast enough on drone defense is a defense secretary doing his job, not a scandal – but The Times only found urgency for one story this week, and it was not the one about the men who bled at Abbey Gate.

Gold Star families buried their kids because of decisions made in Washington. The reporters who never once asked Biden about it found plenty of energy to dig into Hegseth's Pentagon shakeup the same week he made Biden's administration look negligent by comparison.

Sources:

• Fox News Staff, "Hegseth upgrades Abbey Gate Marines' valor awards after 5-year delay: 'Those days are over,'" Fox News, August 26, 2026.
• Streiff, "As Pete Hegseth Honors Abbey Gate Heroes, NYT Launches Bizarre Hit Piece Targeting Him," RedState, August 27, 2026.
• Ward Clark, "Trump Vows Abbey Gate Heroes Will Never Be Forgotten," RedState, August 26, 2026.
• Nick Arama, "Sean Parnell Honors Service Members Killed on Abbey Gate Anniversary, Makes Shocking Revelation," RedState, August 26, 2026.
• The Federalist Staff, "The NYT Is Nakedly Lying About Jennifer Hegseth, And It's Pathetic," The Federalist, August 21, 2026.