When loved ones die, one of the kindest, most empathetic things someone can say to the grieving left behind is: “Tell me about them.” That means ‘I care enough to remember them with you.’ It comforts aching, broken hearts.When military members are killed in the line of duty, one of the cruelest, reprehensibly callous things a commander-in-chief can do is ignore the families of those who died on his failed watch.Some Gold Star families of 13 men and women killed in Afghanistan during the 2021 US withdrawal were on stage at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee Wednesday. They held photos of their loved ones lost and stood under a large “Make America Great Once Again” banner.Their pain is still raw. And, although time can make the pain more gentle, it’ll never go away. Their deeply moving statements about how they were treated generated mixed emotions. Absolute disgust for President Joe Biden’s indifference. And admiration for former president Donald Trump’s compassion. Biden didn’t bother to call the families of the 13 killed on Aug. 26, 2021, in an ISIS-K suicide bomber terror attack at the Abbey Gate in Kabul, Afghanistan’s Hamid Karzai International Airport, during his ill-planned abrupt, chaotic pullout. ISIS gunman then opened fire on soldiers and civilians. Eighteen soldiers were wounded, some horrifically. At least 200 civilians were killed.Their repeated calls to the White House, looking for answers, were ignored.. This disgrace, this pathetic joke of a commander-in-chief glanced at his watch more than once like he was in a hurry to leave during the dignified transfer ceremony — the return of the fallen in foreign combat to home soil — as flag-draped caskets of 11 Marines, a Navy corpsman an army solider were carried off an Air Force C-17 Globemaster aircraft.The serial lying braggart rubbed salt in the wounds of these families during the recent presidential debate with Trump. Biden declared he’s the “only president this century” that had no soldiers die during his term. What a devastating blow to families whose loved ones he forgot about.Biden also ignored the three military members killed, and dozens injured, in Jordan in January by an Iranian-backed militia drone attack. And the two Navy Seals also killed in January trying to board a ship carrying Iranian made weapons to the Houthi terrorists in Yemen.A crowd of almost 2,500 delegates, patriots united like Republicans have never been before, many with anguished looks on their faces and tears in their eyes, raised their hand in fist bumps and leapt to their feet chanting “never forget” the deaths of those troops in aged 20 to 31. They died when assisting with Biden’s helter-skelter evacuation efforts of Americans and Afghans.With them was Trump, a fierce defender of military personnel willing to fight and die for their country long before he took a bullet for America in a failed assassination attempt Saturday at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. A bandage covered his right ear that was partly shot off. .He listened to Gold Star family members speak with a serene look on his face, with affection, with emotion in those eyes. It’s not the first time he listened to them. And he went beyond making phone calls.“While Joe Biden has refused to recognize their sacrifice, Donald Trump spent six hours in Bedminster (his New Jersey estate) with us,” said Christy Shamblin, mother-in-law of Marine Sgt. Nicole Gee, 23, one of the fallen.Days before she died, Gee posted a photo on Instagram of her cradling a wee Afghan child with the caption “I love my job.”“He allowed us to grieve. He allowed us to remember our heroes,” said Shamblin adding that Trump “made us feel understood.”“Donald Trump carried the weight for a few hours with me. For the first time since Nicole's death, I felt like I wasn't alone in my grief.”In August 2021, Biden hailed “extraordinary success” of the withdrawal from Afghanistan, leaving $85 billion worth of military equipment for the Taliban and Americans behind.“Joe Biden said the withdrawal from Afghanistan was an extraordinary success,” said Gee’s aunt Cheryl Juels.“Look at our pain and our heartbreak and look at our rage. That was not an extraordinary success. The humiliation of our nation was not an extraordinary success.”Biden owes the troops who served in Afghanistan a “debt of gratitude and an apology,” she said.“Joe Biden may have forgotten that our children died, but we have not forgotten. Donald Trump has not forgotten.”Herman and Alicia Lopez stood side by side to speak about their son Capt. Hunter Lopez, 22, “whose name Joe Biden has refused to say out loud.”“In the nearly three years since Hunter's been gone, there has been silence. Silence from that empty space at the dinner table, where Hunter would have joined his brothers and sister and us for family gatherings,” said Alicia“And there has been a deafening silence from the Biden and (VP Kamala) Harris administration. Despite our pleas for answers and accountability, they have pushed us away. And try to silence us.”Both parents are in law enforcement. Their son, who didn’t make it home, had wanted to carry on in the family “tradition.”“The Biden administration has not owned up to the bad decisions. They have not been transparent about their failures. And their so-called leaders work to protect themselves rather than our sons and daughters who took the oath to defend our country,” she said.“We have another son serving in the army. We do not trust Joe Biden with his life. We have faith that Donald Trump to lead our military,” said Herman.He then named the service members killed in the attack at Abbey Gate.They are: Marines Lance Cpl. David Espinoza, 20; Sgt. Nicole Gee, 23; Staff Sgt. Darin Taylor Hoover, 31; Lance Cpl. Dylan R. Merola, 20; Lance Cpl. Rylee McCollum, 20; Lance Cpl. Kareem Nikoui, 20; Cpl. Daegan William-Tyeler Page, 23; Sgt. Johanny Rosario Pichardo, 25; Cpl. Humberto Sanchez, 22; Lance Cpl. Jared Schmitz, 20; Army Staff Sgt. Ryan Knauss, 23, and Navy Hospital Corpsman Maxton Soviak, 22.“And my son Cpl. Hunter Lopez, 22,” he said.“Biden has to go.”The next speaker was Sgt. William Pekrul, a decorated — two Bronze Stars and a Silver Star — Second World War veteran.“I’m 98 years old,” said the feisty vet with an endearing smile. The crowd went wild..“It hurts my heart to see what our current president and vice president have done to the country I love so well. They humiliated us in Afghanistan. We (are) pushed around in China. Terrorists run wild in the Middle East. And they let our own southern border get overrun,” said Pekrul.“Some call us the Greatest Generation. That’s an honour considering America is the greatest nation in the history of the world,” said Pekrul, who got a little choked up, adding that he “kissed the ground” when he made it back home.“And we gave thanks to Almighty God for delivering us from evil. But not many of us came home. I still miss a lot of my friends … There aren't many of us left today.”The father of 11 children spoke of witnessing the “horror of the Nazi war camps.” “In the Battle of the Bulge (Dec. 16,1944 to January 25, 1945) my friends and I fought to stop the Nazis’ last major portion of Western Front. A few months later (Adolf) Hitler was dead. The Nazis were defeated.”He was with the 29th Infantry during the June 6, 1944, D-Day Normandy Invasion.“America is still worth fighting for,” he told the cheering crowd. “And where I come from when somebody comes for my home, you dig in your boots in the ground and never look back. That's the attitude that saved the free world those years ago.”That attitude, that loyalty, that honour and sense of duty that seems to escape Biden who betrayed Gold Star families and their family members who gave the ultimate sacrifice, still burns in Pekrul.“President Trump back in commander in chief, I would go back to re-enlist today. And I would storm whatever beach you want, (if) my country wants me to fight again," said Pekrul.
When loved ones die, one of the kindest, most empathetic things someone can say to the grieving left behind is: “Tell me about them.” That means ‘I care enough to remember them with you.’ It comforts aching, broken hearts.When military members are killed in the line of duty, one of the cruelest, reprehensibly callous things a commander-in-chief can do is ignore the families of those who died on his failed watch.Some Gold Star families of 13 men and women killed in Afghanistan during the 2021 US withdrawal were on stage at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee Wednesday. They held photos of their loved ones lost and stood under a large “Make America Great Once Again” banner.Their pain is still raw. And, although time can make the pain more gentle, it’ll never go away. Their deeply moving statements about how they were treated generated mixed emotions. Absolute disgust for President Joe Biden’s indifference. And admiration for former president Donald Trump’s compassion. Biden didn’t bother to call the families of the 13 killed on Aug. 26, 2021, in an ISIS-K suicide bomber terror attack at the Abbey Gate in Kabul, Afghanistan’s Hamid Karzai International Airport, during his ill-planned abrupt, chaotic pullout. ISIS gunman then opened fire on soldiers and civilians. Eighteen soldiers were wounded, some horrifically. At least 200 civilians were killed.Their repeated calls to the White House, looking for answers, were ignored.. This disgrace, this pathetic joke of a commander-in-chief glanced at his watch more than once like he was in a hurry to leave during the dignified transfer ceremony — the return of the fallen in foreign combat to home soil — as flag-draped caskets of 11 Marines, a Navy corpsman an army solider were carried off an Air Force C-17 Globemaster aircraft.The serial lying braggart rubbed salt in the wounds of these families during the recent presidential debate with Trump. Biden declared he’s the “only president this century” that had no soldiers die during his term. What a devastating blow to families whose loved ones he forgot about.Biden also ignored the three military members killed, and dozens injured, in Jordan in January by an Iranian-backed militia drone attack. And the two Navy Seals also killed in January trying to board a ship carrying Iranian made weapons to the Houthi terrorists in Yemen.A crowd of almost 2,500 delegates, patriots united like Republicans have never been before, many with anguished looks on their faces and tears in their eyes, raised their hand in fist bumps and leapt to their feet chanting “never forget” the deaths of those troops in aged 20 to 31. They died when assisting with Biden’s helter-skelter evacuation efforts of Americans and Afghans.With them was Trump, a fierce defender of military personnel willing to fight and die for their country long before he took a bullet for America in a failed assassination attempt Saturday at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. A bandage covered his right ear that was partly shot off. .He listened to Gold Star family members speak with a serene look on his face, with affection, with emotion in those eyes. It’s not the first time he listened to them. And he went beyond making phone calls.“While Joe Biden has refused to recognize their sacrifice, Donald Trump spent six hours in Bedminster (his New Jersey estate) with us,” said Christy Shamblin, mother-in-law of Marine Sgt. Nicole Gee, 23, one of the fallen.Days before she died, Gee posted a photo on Instagram of her cradling a wee Afghan child with the caption “I love my job.”“He allowed us to grieve. He allowed us to remember our heroes,” said Shamblin adding that Trump “made us feel understood.”“Donald Trump carried the weight for a few hours with me. For the first time since Nicole's death, I felt like I wasn't alone in my grief.”In August 2021, Biden hailed “extraordinary success” of the withdrawal from Afghanistan, leaving $85 billion worth of military equipment for the Taliban and Americans behind.“Joe Biden said the withdrawal from Afghanistan was an extraordinary success,” said Gee’s aunt Cheryl Juels.“Look at our pain and our heartbreak and look at our rage. That was not an extraordinary success. The humiliation of our nation was not an extraordinary success.”Biden owes the troops who served in Afghanistan a “debt of gratitude and an apology,” she said.“Joe Biden may have forgotten that our children died, but we have not forgotten. Donald Trump has not forgotten.”Herman and Alicia Lopez stood side by side to speak about their son Capt. Hunter Lopez, 22, “whose name Joe Biden has refused to say out loud.”“In the nearly three years since Hunter's been gone, there has been silence. Silence from that empty space at the dinner table, where Hunter would have joined his brothers and sister and us for family gatherings,” said Alicia“And there has been a deafening silence from the Biden and (VP Kamala) Harris administration. Despite our pleas for answers and accountability, they have pushed us away. And try to silence us.”Both parents are in law enforcement. Their son, who didn’t make it home, had wanted to carry on in the family “tradition.”“The Biden administration has not owned up to the bad decisions. They have not been transparent about their failures. And their so-called leaders work to protect themselves rather than our sons and daughters who took the oath to defend our country,” she said.“We have another son serving in the army. We do not trust Joe Biden with his life. We have faith that Donald Trump to lead our military,” said Herman.He then named the service members killed in the attack at Abbey Gate.They are: Marines Lance Cpl. David Espinoza, 20; Sgt. Nicole Gee, 23; Staff Sgt. Darin Taylor Hoover, 31; Lance Cpl. Dylan R. Merola, 20; Lance Cpl. Rylee McCollum, 20; Lance Cpl. Kareem Nikoui, 20; Cpl. Daegan William-Tyeler Page, 23; Sgt. Johanny Rosario Pichardo, 25; Cpl. Humberto Sanchez, 22; Lance Cpl. Jared Schmitz, 20; Army Staff Sgt. Ryan Knauss, 23, and Navy Hospital Corpsman Maxton Soviak, 22.“And my son Cpl. Hunter Lopez, 22,” he said.“Biden has to go.”The next speaker was Sgt. William Pekrul, a decorated — two Bronze Stars and a Silver Star — Second World War veteran.“I’m 98 years old,” said the feisty vet with an endearing smile. The crowd went wild..“It hurts my heart to see what our current president and vice president have done to the country I love so well. They humiliated us in Afghanistan. We (are) pushed around in China. Terrorists run wild in the Middle East. And they let our own southern border get overrun,” said Pekrul.“Some call us the Greatest Generation. That’s an honour considering America is the greatest nation in the history of the world,” said Pekrul, who got a little choked up, adding that he “kissed the ground” when he made it back home.“And we gave thanks to Almighty God for delivering us from evil. But not many of us came home. I still miss a lot of my friends … There aren't many of us left today.”The father of 11 children spoke of witnessing the “horror of the Nazi war camps.” “In the Battle of the Bulge (Dec. 16,1944 to January 25, 1945) my friends and I fought to stop the Nazis’ last major portion of Western Front. A few months later (Adolf) Hitler was dead. The Nazis were defeated.”He was with the 29th Infantry during the June 6, 1944, D-Day Normandy Invasion.“America is still worth fighting for,” he told the cheering crowd. “And where I come from when somebody comes for my home, you dig in your boots in the ground and never look back. That's the attitude that saved the free world those years ago.”That attitude, that loyalty, that honour and sense of duty that seems to escape Biden who betrayed Gold Star families and their family members who gave the ultimate sacrifice, still burns in Pekrul.“President Trump back in commander in chief, I would go back to re-enlist today. And I would storm whatever beach you want, (if) my country wants me to fight again," said Pekrul.
