Gold Star father Darin Hoover experienced "anger all over again" watching the Taliban parade around in billions of dollars worth of U.S. military equipment, calling it a "disgusting" display nearly three years after his son and 12 other American service members were killed in Afghanistan.
"It's anger all over again," he told Newsmax's "National Report." "You know, the first major foreign policy decision that was made by the Biden-Harris administration was leaving Bagram and leaving all of that equipment behind in the middle of the night."
The Taliban, celebrating their third year in power in Afghanistan, held a parade Wednesday at Bagram Air Base, formerly the largest U.S. military base in the country, riding in abandoned U.S. military heavy vehicles and showcasing U.S. weaponry.
"This is the same Taliban that we've been fighting for 20 years," he said. "This is the same Taliban that's been working with ISIS. These are the same that are part of the government now, just as they were before. Nothing has changed except they're emboldened, and they have $7-$12 billion worth of our equipment that was left behind.
"It's just frustrating. And it's so, so disgusting that the very first foreign policy decision that was made led to exactly what we're having right now."
His son, Marine Staff Sgt. Taylor Hoover, was 1 of 13 U.S. service members killed at Abbey Gate at the Kabul airport on Aug. 26, 2021. Darin Hoover said he still does not have an explanation. He said no answers, no condolences, no communications have ever come from Biden or his administration, save for a form letter.
"We have petitioned for the White House to at least hear us, give us some answers," he said. "We still haven't heard from them. Haven't from day one. No phone calls, no texts.
"The only thing that we got was a letter, looked like it had been a Xeroxed copy, saying we're sorry that your service member was killed. It wasn't even anything personal to each one of the kids.
"To this day we've heard nothing."
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Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
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