Pentagon Upgrades Valor Awards for 7 Marines Impacted by Attack During Afghanistan Withdrawal

Seven U.S. Marines who manned a checkpoint in the face of an impending suicide bombing during the 2021 civilian evacuation from Afghanistan have had their valor awards upgraded, the Pentagon announced on April 22.

The Marines were assigned to Company G, 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines, and were tasked with guarding the Abbey Gate entrance to the Kabul airport on Aug. 26, 2021, when a suicide bomber approached the checkpoint and set off his explosive. Thirteen U.S. troops and about 170 civilians were killed in the blast, with dozens more injured.

The decision to upgrade the valor awards for those Marines followed a recommendation from the Afghanistan Withdrawal Special Review Panel.

Panel Chairman Sean Parnell, assistant to the secretary of war for public affairs, said a review determined that several Marines involved in defending the Abbey Gate checkpoint had seen their awards inappropriately downgraded.

“These awards have now been upgraded to levels that more accurately reflect the extreme risk these Marines knowingly accepted and the lives they saved under direct enemy fire,” Parnell said in an April 22 statement.

He noted that the Marines tasked with guarding the key checkpoint continued to assist with the civilian evacuation effort despite indications that an attack was coming.

“The Marines at Abbey Gate were positioned in the direct blast zone with minimal cover, fully aware of an imminent suicide attack, yet they held their ground to keep evacuation operations running,” Parnell said.

“Their actions that day were heroic. The original awards did not reflect that reality. Today’s upgrades correct that injustice.”

Eleven U.S. Marines were killed in the blast, along with a U.S. Navy corpsman and a U.S. Army special operations soldier.

“The Marines we upgraded are very deserving of the awards. They fought with valor in a terrible situation,” senior Pentagon adviser Stu Scheller wrote in a post on X on Wednesday.

Scheller did not identify the award recipients by name, but disclosed that one recipient of a Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal with a “Combat” device saw his award upgraded with a Bronze Star with a “Valor” device.

Scheller said three more Marines who had previously received Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medals with “Combat” devices were upgraded to Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal with “Valor” devices.

Another Marine who previously received a Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal with a “Combat” device was upgraded to a Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal with a “Valor” device.

A Marine who previously received a Certificate of Commendation had his award upgraded with a Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal with a “Combat” device.

A seventh Marine, who had no previous award related to his actions on the day of the Abbey Gate attack, became the recipient of a Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal.

Parnell credited Anthony Tata, undersecretary of war for personnel and readiness, and Scheller for championing the award upgrades.

Scheller had been serving in the Marine Corps at the rank of lieutenant colonel at the time of the Afghanistan withdrawal, and had faced court-martial after publicly criticizing senior military leadership for its handling of it. Scheller ultimately received a letter of reprimand and was docked $5,000 of his pay after he pleaded guilty to charges, including conduct unbecoming of an officer.

After President Donald Trump retook the White House, the Pentagon brought Scheller on as an adviser to review the Afghanistan withdrawal and help with reforming the military promotions process.

This past week, Parnell announced that the review panel had concluded its substantive phase of interviews with the key U.S. military officials involved. Parnell said the panel had also reviewed more than 9 million documents relevant to the withdrawal, significantly surpassing the approximately 3,000 documents the Pentagon reviewed during President Joe Biden’s term.

Parnell said the current review will amount to the “most thorough, transparent, and honest accounting,” and that the panel’s final report will be ready in the coming months.