Gold Star Father Calls Prior Abbey Gate Review a 'Cover‑Up' as New Pentagon Probe Examines Millions of Documents

Gold Star father Darin Hoover says the Pentagon's new review into the deadly Abbey Gate suicide bombing feels more substantive than past inquiries, but he remains convinced that crucial information may have been deliberately withheld from families and the public.

Hoover, whose son Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Darin "Taylor" Hoover was one of 13 U.S. service members killed in the Aug. 26, 2021 suicide bombing during the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, told Fox News Digital that bereaved families received little beyond a standard, impersonal response for years.

"For the first three-and-a-half years… we weren’t getting anything from the prior administration. It was crickets," Hoover said. "The only thing we all got was a canned letter saying how sorry they were. There was not anything individual mentioned about any of the kids."

The transfer of remains after the Abbey Gate attack — which claimed the lives of 11 Marines, one Army soldier and one Navy sailor — drew additional public scrutiny when then-President Joe Biden appeared to check his watch during a dignified transfer.

New Review Vastly Broader Than Earlier Inquiry

The Afghanistan Withdrawal Special Review Panel, chaired by Sean Parnell, has completed the substantive phase of interviews with senior military and civilian leaders and is preparing findings and recommendations for a final report expected "in the coming months." Parnell said the panel has reviewed more than nine million documents — a stark contrast to an earlier Pentagon review that examined roughly 3,000 documents.

"The 3,000 pages… doesn’t even make a ripple," Hoover said. "Now we’ve got over a million pages being reviewed. Why was everything so top-secret that none of us could see it? They owe us the answers."

Parnell characterized the earlier review as "significantly narrower in scope" and said it had been "over-classified at the highest levels," which effectively kept important material out of public view. The panel has interviewed senior figures involved in planning and executing the withdrawal, including retired Generals Mark Milley and Kenneth McKenzie Jr.

Gold medals are displayed in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda ahead of a ceremony honoring 13 American service members who died in the Abbey Gate suicide bombing at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Afghanistan on Sept. 10, 2024, in Washington, D.C.

Families Demand Accountability

Hoover explicitly accused officials of withholding information. "Yes, absolutely, information was kept from us," he said. "That smells exactly like a cover-up. What is it that they saw, or what did they feel needed to be hidden so nobody could know what it was?"

He said meaningful accountability should follow if the new review uncovers failures in leadership or decision-making. "If they did something wrong or failed to act, they should no longer be allowed to lead where life and death is at stake," he said. "I would love to see pensions taken away… and if possible, I’d love to see people go to jail."

Hoover also described the bombing as evidence of broader systemic failures between civilian and military agencies: "The right hand didn’t know what the left hand was doing. And it all got stalled somewhere in the middle."

Context And Next Steps

Previous official reviews have documented breakdowns during the withdrawal. A State Department review found gaps in crisis planning and preparation for worst-case scenarios, and retired Gen. Milley described the evacuation timeline as "too slow and too late."

The special review panel was established by War Secretary Pete Hegseth at the direction of President Donald Trump, Parnell said in a statement. Parnell pledged that the panel's work would be "the most thorough, transparent, and honest accounting the American people have received of what happened in August 2021," aimed at identifying failures so the United States can avoid repeating the tragedy.

Hoover said one difference now is direct engagement from President Trump and Hegseth's promise of a broader accounting; he said Trump spent 45 minutes meeting with families and gave them his undivided attention. Hoover noted that the trial of an ISIS-K‑linked suspect accused of approving the bombing is scheduled to begin in Alexandria, and some Abbey Gate families plan to attend.

With Memorial Day approaching, Hoover urged the public to remember the fallen, honor their sacrifice and reflect on how and why those service members lost their lives.